Talent Bites - Attracting & Retaining Women: Yelena Gaufman
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Yelena Gaufman, Head of Planning at Havas WorldWide, presented 'Necessity of feminism' at the Talent Bites session 'Attracting and retaining Women', October 2015, London.
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Talent Bites - Attracting & Retaining Women: Yelena Gaufman
- 2. #talentbites@yelena811 Necessity of feminism Yelena Gaufman Head of Planning, Havas Worldwide London
- 3. #talentbites Feminism is like sex, it sells @yelena811
- 9. #talentbites Clearly, empowerment is in @yelena811
- 10. #talentbites Advertising can be a powerful educational force @yelena811
- 13. #talentbites Social media is uncovering signs of misogyny that used to explode in pockets but ultimately got buried. Now there’s exposure, on a grand scale. We are juries and judges. Women, and men, have the power to raise issues, challenge convention, lead a debate. @yelena811
- 16. #talentbites Most people would not care if 74% of brands disappeared @yelena811
- 17. #talentbites Hall & Partners ‘Frame’ @yelena811
- 19. #talentbites Let’s challenge outdated rules. Let’s question assumptions. Let’s raise eyebrows. Let’s make a meaningful difference. @yelena811
Editor's Notes
- Let’s not kid ourselves, “femvertising” isn’t an act of charity. Brand have been using feminism to sell products for over 100 years.
- Edward Bernays (1891-1995) is largely considered the founder of public relations (or “engineering consent,” as he called it). A nephew of Sigmund Freud, Bernays was the first to theorize that people could be made to want things they don’t need by appealing to unconscious desires (to be free, to be successful etc.). Bernays was hired by the American Tobacco Company to encourage women to start smoking. While men smoked cigarettes, it was not publicly acceptable for women to smoke. Bernays staged a dramatic public display of women smoking during the Easter Day Parade in New York City. He then told the press to expect that women suffragists would light up “torches of freedom” during the parade to show they were equal to men The campaign was considered successful as sales to women increased afterward. Cigarette companies followed Bernays’s lead and created ad campaigns that targeted women. By all appearances the manipulation is greater, constant and way more insidious as it has gained in sophistication and subtlety and mediums with which to manipulate.
- The 2006 video, "Evolution," went viral before "viral" was even a thing. (After all, YouTube had only launched the year before.)
- Oprah read it and cried. That was the 90s version of a youtube viral.
- And yet advertising can be a force of good. Ads sells more than products. They sells values and concepts of success, love, wellbeing. They show us what is it to be normal. So, yes, the current female empowerment ads are a little repetitive but at least it’s positive repetition.
- And we have a long way to go to reverse the damage done in the past
- And the present
- It’s not often I get annoyed, genuinely annoyed by ads. But there’s one at the moment that drives me crazy. It’s for Diet Coke. They’ve tried to coin a new term: The Impulsista. “Definition: The Impulsista is a modern, successful woman who embodies impulsivity. She knows what she wants and acts on her impulses to create positive experiences, adventures and opportunities for success. “She is building herself, through her friends, her love life, her career and her style. She has a playful and purposeful approach to life and is confident to try out different parts of herself and see what sticks. She’s a glorious work-in-progress.” In one of these moments- one girl is encountered with the dilemma of a run in her stockings. Her posse respond by impulsively tearing theirs as well. Not sure if it’s a fashion statement of a show of solidarity. I’m also really unsure what that has to do with a low calorie soda. The problem with this campaign is that even though it has good intentions – to help women take more risks in the workplace and so on – it’s doing exactly what women don’t need. It’s labelling them, categorising them and limiting their options. It’s telling women what to do.
- And yet 69% expect brands to do more- to make a difference and improve our lives
- This behaviour change framework is used to understand consumer behaviour but we can apply it to brands and advertisers. We see the prevalence of the issue, we have even felt it personally, we understand the value of engaging in the conversation (as we know, feminism sells) but we have yet to find a way to make a real change, to do something for it. See- is social and cultural context. What we do is influenced by what we see other people do. By making things seem prevalent they’re seen as more desirable- the herd mentality Feel- is how it reflects on us personally. How can we make people feel good about themselves Think- is about seeing what’s in it for us Do- the hardest part-
- Of course there are exceptions. Nike has evolved from the photo of marilyn to a real world, multi-platform brand designed entirely to inspire positive change for girls in Ethiopia. Through storylines that confront real-life issues and challenges that girls face every day, the drama, music, and talk show are challenging the way people think about girls - and the way girls think of themselves.
- Let’s learn from brand that are genuinely changing things. I think Air BnB is one of the most interesting game changing brands at the moment. They’ve not just challenged travel but our fundamental instincts about trust and strangers (who’ve had some bad press for a long time). If they can get the world to trust strangers, what can brands do to get the world to see and treat women equally.