Engage & Celebrate Women: A Conversation About Gender Equity
Brands today are heavily dependent on research and insights to authentically engage and celebrate women and support gender equity. At Collage Group, among our other endeavors, we strive to equip members with insights to untap culturally fluent thinking, which in the long run is beneficial to both brands and consumers.
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To that end, Collage Group recently had the pleasure of hosting a panel of women leaders to commemorate Women’s History Month. A wide range of vital topics were discussed with the intent of better supporting and amplifying the voices of American women and embarking on a path toward gender equity.
Before the panel discussion, Collage Group’s Katya Skogen, Director of Cultural Insights, shared some recent data. According to Collage research, only about half of all American women say they’re happy with the way brands represent them in their advertising. Also, women are the primary shopping decision makers and thusly have immense purchasing power. This gives women the ability to shape the direction of their household spending. So, brands need to closely pay attention to shifts in women’s shopping behaviors.
Recent data also shows that despite surpassing American men and educational attainment, women on average only make about 82 cents for every dollar that men earn. These wage gaps are even more significant for Hispanic and Black women. Obviously, some see the substantial gender income gap as something that is based on merit, but, it is ingrained in systemic inequity. Brands must take heed to these challenges women face and should do an overall better job in representing women.
Katya noted that Dove is one of the brands that has been a challenger to the “toxic beauty standards both in the industry and our society as a whole.” In fact, pushing back on these standards has become a core of Dove’s brand mission.
Collage Group’s Ashley Samay, Consumer Insights & Strategy Research Manager, moderated the discussion. She was joined by Reshma Dhati, Senior Director of Absolut Vodka and Co-Chair of the Womxn ERG, Pernod-Ricard; Liz Casals, VP Consumer and Marketing Analytics of Lincoln Financial Group; and Maria Twena, Chief Marketing Officer of Adsmovil.
Maria explained that woman are at the core of Adsmovil’s target and for years, have been helping brands better engage women. Having been in business for over ten years, she said Adsmovil has insights on Hispanic women, the Hispanic female, and the Hispanic head of household. Because of the longevity, her team has been able to help women better manage their finances, serve healthier meals, and help them become healthier overall.
Reshma pointed out that for Pernod-Ricard, women buy the most and are the leading consumption pool. She said the brand has gone deep in understanding the nuances of women and the diversity of their needs, as well as their desires both emotionally and functionally. Woman, she said, are all looking for something different, and therefore Pernod-Ricard has made strides to understand women down to level of their occasions, recognizing what women want, and what they are seeking.
Liz said Lincoln Financial Group is working to change the scene in what has historically been a male-dominate field. That consists of having five women on their corporate board, which is about 10% better than other investment firms. Moreover, the current CEO, Ellen Cooper, is the first woman to ever hold that position in Lincoln’s history. Add to that, presently women make up 64% of Lincoln’s Workforce and over half of all management positions. This is the true embodiment of authentic representation.
A common theme among the panelists was to stress that women are not a monolithic group. Maria reminded viewers that women come from different countries of origin, have different birth nativities, different political statuses, and so on. There are so many ways to divide the consumer cohort, and therefore it is vital that brands and researchers keep this top of mind.
During the course of the conversation, the panelists, at varying times, spoke on the genuine support that as employees, they have received from the mentioned brands, Pernod-Ricard, Lincoln Financial, and Adsmovil – whether it be empowering woman staffers, creating work groups for working parents, or championing alternative workplaces or hybrid working.
The panelists addressed several other relevant topics, including pay equity, a lack of women representation within financial advisors, and a need for brands to do better in terms of meeting individual consumer needs.
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