Why are there so few women in creative departments? Is it any different in media agencies, and what can we do about it ?
Lots of advertising campaigns have women as the predominant target audience. At least a quarter of our TV advertising campaigns target women exclusively, and you can add to that all gender neutral campaigns. While there is no reason women should be better at creating advertising that is targeting women, there is even less reason why men should be better at it.
Yet the latest census from the IPA says that 75% of copywriters and art directors in IPA member agencies are male. Digital creative roles are 86% male-occupied. The number of women bosses in those departments can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand. So what is going on here?
Campaign Magazine has had a go at explaining it. Caitlin Ryan, who runs Karmarama's creative department, suggests it is the pressure of combining work and family. Debbie Klein, who runs Engine, says there aren't enough role models. Kate Stanners, in charge of Saatchi and Saatchi's creative team, points to the macho atmosphere, and Rosie Arnold, ECD at BBH, adds the issue of mainly male clients.
I'm sure that those women all have a good point. But from the perspective of MediaCom, a media agency whose UK senior team includes Karen Blackett as chief executive, Jane Ratcliffe as chair and Claudine Collins as MD (and I'm CSO), I'd like to offer a slightly different perspective on gender balance in agencies overall.
First the statistics. Nearly 22,000 people work in advertising in the UK according to the IPA census; 7,000 work in media agencies, 48.6% are women overall – 47.5% in ad agencies and 50.9% in media. Overall, a quarter of those in executive management are women. In senior positions, men dominate overall: 78% of chair/ceo/MD. So my agency is an outlier, albeit a highly successful one, as MediaCom is the biggest UK agency and currently media agency of the year and of the decade, according to Campaign magazine.
I would suggest that this means that MediaCom's gender mix, which is a signifier of diversity as much as anything else, works positively for the performance of the company. Several studies, including this one in the FT suggest that having more women in senior roles is good for profits and performance.
I've been exploring this issue for my next book about women and work. When I began in advertising in the 1980s, there were only a few women bosses. But obviously that was going to change. We had a woman prime minister, after all. We all knew that that sexism was outlawed and that the glass ceiling had shattered. But take a look at the senior management of most UK businesses and you won't usually see more than one or two women around.
Creative departments stand out with the positively Mad Men-era gender balance. Dave Trott – legendary creative chief – thinks a "category error" is made by women. That it isn't a gender issue, it is instead a toughness one. The women who do do well are often those with younger brothers. They're used to annoying young men and simply rise above them. For me, however, the answer is not about toughness as much as it is about technique.
Firstly, adopt the language. Without sounding too frivolous, there is great power in a football analogy when selling ideas in a predominantly male environment. Rather than spending hours researching how to sell an idea on the basis of statistics and charts, simply saying who do we want to beat Barcelona or Fulham?, will get heads nodding in a meeting. If football sn't your thing, be topical with, who are we, Lizzie Yarnold or Vanessa Mae?
Secondly, don't take things personally. Everything is a manoeuvre for position in the workplace. Consider everything as a tactic for your success, however you define it.
You also need to enjoy what you do. The only person who can make your day better is you, and the only one who can ensure that you really don't enjoy yourself is you. This is tough advice but it is true irrespective of gender.
More women in agencies will be good for the industry. It will force more diversity, which is good for long-term success. Any department with a chronic lack of women, including women in senior positions, should consider how to change conditions to ensure that women don't just start out in even numbers, but succeed in equal numbers. This is about senior management taking the challenge seriously and eschewing homogeneity and conformity.
Sue Unerman is chief strategy officer for MediaCom
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