Consumers increasingly expect brands to push the boundaries and challenge gender stereotypes in traditional media channels and advertising.
According to research from Universal McCann, 65% of women and 59% of men like it when brands use traditional media to challenge stereotypes.
Speaking at a Women In Ads event in London last week, Michael Brown, insight director at UM, urged brands to throw out the template when it comes to women in advertising. He explained: ‘Humans are complex. So, for communications to be truly relatable, we need to move away from tired pen portraits that can be written before we embark on a project.”
Ditch the stereotypes
In line with this, the research suggests that brands need to ditch gender stereotyping. As Brown explains: “People look to brands to behave as moral guardians – you are under far more scrutiny than other platforms. Your role is to help them break free from the shackles of identity norms.”
Speaking at a panel discussion at the event, Marina Haydn, executive vice president, marketing of The Economist, argued that diversity and inclusion need to become central to business. She said: “There are a lot of subtle nuances that are lost because women aren’t playing a bigger role in the creative process.”
According to Haydn, for many brands conservatism is the easier route to take and it, therefore, takes “a lot of bravery to step outside these gender stereotypes”.
Correlation between sexist content and impact on brand reputation
Which of the following would you associate with sexist content?
Would seeing a brand advertise on this media make you think less of them?