This year, New York's Advertising Week XI gave itself a facelift, but this one wasn't Photoshopped. In contrast to the past decade of AW programming-largely male dominated panels and scant attention to the pandemic we know as the industry's propensity for female stereotyping and denigrating hypersexualization-a stealthful revolution by "digital imagery" seems to be emerging. While social media has propelled the digital, er subversion, it is also compelling and empowering industry women to celebrate women, lead and innovate.
Women may have come a long way, but the advertising industry still has a long road ahead. As feminist leader Gloria Steinem surmised in her Faces of Fearless interview with 11-year-old football quarterback and YouTube sensation Sam Gordon, "I wonder where we'd be today if we had social media," referring to the first Feminist Revolution she steered.
While it may not be until the industry as a whole begins to feel the brunt of the objectifying women equation-it's a confidence slayer and brand buster-that a true culture shift will occur, there are encouraging signs. Progressive brands are already reaping the benefits of intelligent advertising to women and girls.
At AWXI, I think there may have been a new precedent set for the generous use of the f-word: Feminism. And maybe a new industry movement started: "Femvertising"-dignified advertising by and for women. The women behind #Femvertising have inspired like-minded social media advocates, as we see in the NetBase cloud below.
At a standing room only panel called Rethinking Marketing to Women at the Times Center, Facebook COO, women's activist and author of "Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead," Sheryl Sandberg set the tone by emphasizing the responsibility of the advertising industry to lead in breaking down stereotypes of women. Citing Lean In's initiative with Getty Images, Sandberg aims to shatter the ad industry's use of gender objectified images of women to propel a culture shift by changing the visual story.
Among the enlightened brand campaigns reinforcing positive images of women, Sandberg cited Verizon's "Inspire Her Mind" and Under Armour's "I Will What I Want." Sandberg noted "Stereotypes exist and despite differences in cultures, these stereotypes are similar everywhere in the world."
The Getty Images/Lean In project was featured in another women's panel hosted by SheKnows CMO Samantha Skey, which noted evidence showing attainable images of women in advertising is far more effective than showing aspirational images. "There's a pay gap, a leadership gap and a visual gender gap on creative imagery and digital feminism," said Jess Bennett, of the Getty Images/Lean In group. The rise of "digital feminism" is social media era evidence that a new language is being written.
These gaps-called "fem-washing" by SheKnows-are glaring: 4% (21) of Fortune 500 CEOs are women; 14% of executive officer positions are held by women; 15% of board seats are held by women; $0.77 is what women make to every dollar men make. "Digital literacy is an imperative", according to Skye, who announced SheKnows launch of Hatch, a new media literacy and digital storytelling program for kids.
Women represent a $14 trillion market. They make 85% of household purchasing decisions and heavily influence the rest. Forbes reports that women are on a trajectory to control more than two-thirds of the nation's wealth by 2030, lead by women entrepreneurs. It's no wonder that advertisers who are building awareness-generating, stereotype-busting messaging and images into ads that target women are succeeding.
Unilever's VP Marketing Kathy Obrien noted their research showed women are looking for personal connections with brands that are also cause related. Unilever's mission is to inspire beauty as a source of confidence, not anxiety. Dove is set to surpass its goal of reaching 14 million women globally this year, largely due to its proactive "Dove Day," where Unilever teams fan out in communities to inspire self-confidence and positive image
Speaking on her work with leading brands, Clio winner Lauren Greenberg, documentary filmmaker and director of Unilever's Always "Like a Girl," campaign has explored visual anthropological evidence that campaigns which glorify exhibitionism and self-image perfectionism lead to female disempowerment.
As the number of women in decision-making creative advertising roles slowly creeps upward, a paradigm shift in demand for greater authenticity in images of women has occurred. Realistically speaking, it was noted that the culture shift being planted is a first seed for generations to come. Don't expect a quantum leap from an industry underrepresented by female executives and still dominated by a "creative culture" steeped in hypersexualizing and objectifying women and girls.
But the shift is happening now, according to SheKnows research showing that 52% of women have bought a product because they liked how the ad for it portrayed women, as both Nike and Unilever's Dove campaigns have experienced.
Among the powerhouse women at AWXI, was Ipsos Thinking Exchange CEO Shelley Zalis, the enfante terrible behind the Girlz Lounge "confidence is beautiful" inspirational network, conceived to connect, promote, mentor and advance professional women in advertising and media. But first a quantum culture shift will have to occur-a recent study by the 3% Conference found that only 11 percent of creative directors are women.
Huffington Post CEO Arianna Huffington's AWXI interviews with female advertising industry CEO all-stars revealed the imperative successful female executives have to redefine "life-styling" for themselves (off-screen time; meditation); leadership by example (show empathy) and learn to love criticism. These characteristics were underscored by powerhouse legislator and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillabrand (N.Y), also interviewed by Huffington, who found that empathy was the key component in winning Federal compensation for 9/11 survivors.
As Pulitzer winner Maureen Dowd of the New York Times reminded AWXI delegates, quoting Eleanor Roosevelt in 1936, "women in politics or in public roles should learn to grow skin like a Rhinocerous." Interpreted in another way this week by former Ogilvy & Mather CEO Charlotte Beers: Be more "leaderly" than "womanly."