Diversity in communications is proving to be increasingly important, both in the job market and in advertising. An ongoing challenge is the inclusion of plural women in advertisements broadcast outside of seasonal periods, such as International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on March 8. This is known as Femvertising.
Dialogue within the workplace on diversity and inclusion is essential. Offering access to quality information provides a real transformation in the ways that we think, act and advertise responsibly.
Throughout the years, women have been represented through advertisements in different ways, such as the housewife, the multitasking woman, the perfect body, the object woman and the self-owner. Some of these stereotypes are still used today, but now brands are under pressure to change.
The representation of plural women occurs in the advertising market through social demand. Since 2015, some brands have begun to value and highlight female diversity on television, the internet and billboards. Femvertising is the movement behind this reinvention.
Female representation is related to the roles which women play in society. As they continue their struggle to conquer the space they deserve in the job market, women are also fighting for their images to be valued in advertising.
The Femvertising movement emerged in 2014, and its name comes from a combination of the words “feminism” and “advertising”. The feminine theme has gathered strength and brands have begun to feel the pressure from consumers, particularly on social media.
The market decided to meet this new demand and initiated the strategy of inserting several women in their advertisements, portrayed in an authentic and plural way. This change is crucial in allowing advertisers to address new societal issues, and also to reach their female audience, which is empowered and no longer willing to be stereotyped.
Women face many challenges in society as it is. They don’t need to watch commercials that value the perfect body or portray a Wonder Woman, able to take care of the home, husband and children, while working away from home and remaining both willing and perfect.
What female viewers want to see – and buy – are brands that empathize with the different types of women that exist. And who are these women? They are white, black, brown, yellow, indigenous, heterosexual, homosexual, trans, skinny, plus-size, with disabilities and spanning all ages. There are so many women biotypes that it would be difficult to list them all!
Working with the authentic female image, which is far from perfection, brands can advertise with social responsibility, support a very important movement and still improve results, since women are responsible for most purchasing decisions.
As we said at the start, it’s essential that talks and lectures about this topic are held in the workplace, so that both men and women are kept up to date on society’s new demands. With this in mind, Sherlock Communications’ Diversity and Inclusion team held a conversation on ‘Women and Diversity’.
Communications expert Dr. Letícia Alves Lins, from Letícia Lins Consultoria, held a conversation with our Public Relations and Digital Marketing consultants about women’s representation in advertising, their roles in society and responsible advertising.
During the talk, Letícia explained that women are a minority group, whose performance grows significantly due to the popularization of digital media and the increase in network activism. Thus, it is necessary to understand the importance of Femvertising as well as the main demands of female audiences, so that the market can appropriately answer to plural women.
