Today is International Women’s Day (IWD), a global event that marks women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements. Back in the early 1900s, IWD was a force majeure, spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change in the face of oppression and inequality.
But gender disparity continues – even in so-called enlightened societies. I’m disappointed to see “pink taxes” continuing to flourish, for example, with women paying more than men for haircuts, disposable razors, underwear and toiletries.
There is good news. The marketing world is tackling gender disparity by creating initiatives to help women excel and – with true insights into what inspires
women – building brands with purpose.
Companies as catalysts
Led by the inspirational Charlotte Beers, WPP’s “X Factor” programme mentors and develops women by preparing high potential female leaders for the next level. Meanwhile, WPP Stella offers a forum to discuss issues impacting women’s lives and careers, and introduces group-wide initiatives to address these.
There’s also Unilever’s Chocolate Villa: a five-day women’s leadership and career development programme, with ongoing coaching helping to clarify career choices, build support networks and prepare for leadership roles.
Coca-Cola’s 5by20 aims to empower 5 million female entrepreneurs by 2020. It’s transforming grandmothers, mothers and daughters from Tanzania to Mexico into businesswomen, with their own bakeries, bottle recycling plants, beverage packaging enterprises and more.
Let’s see more of this please.
Brands with empathy
Years ago, we’d have been hard pressed to name more than a handful of brands helping women reach their full potential. Happily, there is a real sense of momentum now. A few stand-outs for me:
- EDF has launched a campaign to encourage young girls to explore Stem-based careers (jobs in science, technology, engineering and maths), reminding everyone that “only one in every seven” of these roles in the UK are held by women.
- The Céline fashion brand now celebrates age and uniqueness via the 80-year-old immortal intellectual-and-otherwise dream girl Joan Didion: “the new face of French fashion.” It takes a stand that a women’s worth goes far beyond the superficial.
- Of course, the iconic, enduring Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, along with the Always #LikeAGirl activity, has struck a chord with women everywhere.
But a thought: we all know that while communications work that supports diversity does better, wouldn’t it be great if our social support and endorsement was matched further in sales? And that upswing could be further invested into helping people do well.
There’s one particular woman who inspires me. Isabella Bird. Disregarding patriarchal Victorian, this intrepid naturalist, photographer and writer explored the US, India, Kurdistan, the Persian Gulf, Iran, Malaysia, Japan and more – and was the first female elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. She showed me that you don’t need a Y chromosome to have courage.
I wish the women the world over a happy and productive International Women’s Day.
Sarah Todd is chief executive of Geometry Global UK
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