The field of advertising is still dominated by men. Anyone who has watched Mad Men knows the beginnings of the culture well. Has much changed? The books we read for class have been authored by men, and the video interviews we’ve been assigned to watch have all featured men, except one. Is there any place for women to have leadership roles in advertising? What have women contributed to the field?
Kat Gordon, who owns an agency that specializes in marketing to women, noticed a problem too and created the 3%Conference to address it. Though women consumers lead the majority of consumer spending and social sharing, Gordon says “women accounts” are still considered only products like cleaning supplies and beauty products and that women creative directors are left out of most major pitches (The 3% Conference, 2017). Since the vast majority of products are things that both women and men use, shouldn’t women contribute to the creative direction of the brands? The 3% Conference is a place to discuss how the industry can address the problem and make positive change.
Now, for inspiration, because I bet you didn’t know of them: here is a select list of top female advertising executives that caught my eye when doing research for this post. You’ll notice that some are taking the lead in moving a feminist agenda and others are managing top brands regardless of gender:
—Peggy Conlon, former president-CEO at the Ad Council. Inductee to the 2016 Advertising Hall of Fame, she oversaw the creation of psa campaigns for bullying prevention, texting while driving, awareness about the Affordable Care Act, and the advertising industry’s response to the Sept. 11th attacks.
–Amy Ferguson, creative director at MullenLowe NY. Created JetBlue’s Flying Babies ad, which won a 2017 effie award and much other attention.
–Kay Hsu, global Instagram lead at the Facebook Creative Shop. Worked with Bud Light and Buick to run the brands’ first ads in Instagram Stories during the Super Bowl and also introduced Pepisco, Ben & Jerry’s, The Honest Company, and Maybelline to Instagram.
–Alicia McVey, chief creative officer at Swift. Created Google’s “Change is Made with Code” campaign, which gave the spotlight to female innovators.
–Rachel Mercer, SVP, head of digital strategy and invention at Deutsch New York. Leads all digital and social duties on Sherwin-Williams, Green Giant, and PNC Bank and was involved with Busch’s first Super Bowl ad.
–Lauren Sooudi, brand strategy director at Pereira & O’Dell. Created “Sorry Like You Mean It” to explore the phenomenon of women apologizing more than men.
–Danielle Whalen, EVP/managing director CP+B Boulder. Responsible for bringing back Captain Obvious for hotels.com.
–Carol H. Williams, president, CEO and Chief Creative Officer for Carol H. Williams Advertising. Inductee to the 2017 Advertising Hall of Fame, she created the memorable Secret Anti-Perspirant campaign “Strong Enough for a Man, But Made for a Woman.”
It’s nice to know that there are way too many inspirational women to list in the space I have for this blog post. You can browse my reference list for more names and examples of their creative work. If you know of a legendary female ad executive, please share with us in the comments section below. The fifth-annual 3% Conference will be November 2-3, 2017 in New York City. Who’s down to go?
References
American Advertising Federation. (2017). Advertising Hall of Fame. Retrieved from: http://www.aaf.org/AHOF
Morrison, M. (2014, April 29). Peggy Conlon Departs Ad Council After 15 Years. AdvertisingAge. Retrieved from: http://adage.com/article/news/peggy-conlon-departs-ad-council/292942/
Rath, J. (2017, April 30). RANKED: The 30 most creative women in advertising. Business Insider. Retrieved from: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-creative-women-in-advertising-2017-4/#30-margaret-johnson-chief-creative-officer-and-partner-at-goodby-silverstein-and-partners-1
The 3% Conference. (2017). History and Highlights. Retrieved from: http://www.3percentconf.com/about
2 Responses to Where are the women in advertising?