At the beginning of March we celebrated International Women's Day. For some it is a reason to celebrate women as such, for others it is an opportunity for a successful campaign, and for others it doesn't matter at all. For us at Pen&Production it was a lovely theme for the next edition of our newsletter.
Make yourself a good coffee and enjoy the March FemiBystro.
"Women are to be loved, not understood."
Oscar Wilde
Women in numbers
We often get breathtaking, tear-jerking stories of women who have worked their way up and run their businesses better than any man. But you know what tells us more than these stories? The numbers. They're provided by Deloitte in their regular Women in boardrooms survey. Currently, 19.7% of boardrooms are female and although the number is rising, at this rate, gender parity in boardrooms will happen in about 2045. The highest representation of women, 43.2% in total, on corporate boards is found in France. In the Czech Republic, we reached 17.2%, which means we are in line with the global average of 2018. In Europe, women are most active in the consumer sector, followed by financial services. It is hard to think of two industries in which the fairer sex could be more successful. It is equally interesting that women have embraced the values of the male world. Unfortunately, we have not found any research that shows how many women or men in top management also have happy children. Business is business.
Back to the past
Imagine the 1950s, an advertising agency and Shirley Polykoff sitting in it, whose client happens to be Clairol. A company that produces hair dyes at a time when the process of beautification is completely exotic and only 7% of women dare to do it. Shirley coined the slogan "Does she . . . or doesn't she?'', to which the slogan "Hair colour so natural, only a hairdresser can tell for sure" was added. The whole campaign generated a huge amount of interest and within 10 years 50% of American women started dyeing their hair. Sales of the dye went from $25 million to $200 million a year, and about half of that went to Clairol. Shirley was awarded Woman of the Year in Advertising in 1967 and was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame in 1980.
The Lynx effect
After watching this commercial, you'll think, "A guy must have done this." and you'd basically be right. But if we look much further back in history, to the roots of this campaign, we find that a woman was at the heart of it. Her name is Tiger Savage, and she worked at BBH in the 1990s, where she created 'The Lynx Effect', known here as the 'Axe Effect'. She won many awards for her hard work, gained a lot of experience in agencies, and eventually set up her own Savage & King Ltd: "I think we women have to work twice as hard because there's a lot of testosterone in creative departments. And also the hours. It's hard when you have kids. I don't have kids, which would suggest a lot without saying anything. It makes me sad sometimes."
Who's the best with women?
Create an ad that pleases all women and offends none? A superhuman task that Nike has done to perfection. In 2019, they released the "Dream Crazier" spot, narrated by Serena Williams herself. Sure, it's an ad that's full of emotion and plays on feelings. The spot features footage of events that women have faced backlash for. For example, female athlete Caster Semenya, who had to undergo gender testing because of her performance. Nike cleverly prioritised the story over promoting its logo. One of the actresses even wore a T-shirt with the Adidas logo.
Gender stereotype
In the UK, new rules on gender stereotyping in advertising came into force in 2018. They prohibit depictions of gender that are "likely to cause harm or serious or widespread offence". One of the first to be banned was the attached ad from Volkswagen. Check it out and let us know how much serious offense the spot really caused you. If you're stumped and can't find your outrage, we can help. All the adventurous activities involve men - a male astronaut, a male athlete and more. Women are shown making snacks, doing laundry and babysitting. Stereotype? Yes. Offensive? In our opinion, no. It's clear the filmmakers just wanted to highlight the inability of men to make a good snack.
Footnote: This Bystro was written by a woman and edited by a man.
