Advertising has a pervasive presence in our day-to-day lives –
from conventional ads we see everyday in TV to the new emerging online ad
formats; they all play an important role in educating us about a product or a brand.
According to a survey, in USA an individual is exposed to more than thousands ads each day
.Surely, advertisements play an important role as a medium to drive change and hence the rise
of “femvertising”.
Femvertising is commonly defined as advertisements which endorses pro-women causes and promotes female
empowerment. It is trending at the moment with companies coming out and championing various important causes
that affect women in their everyday life .This way companies can to show support to one of the major segment of
their customers-women. Few examples of “femvertising” ads are the Dove’s real beauty campaign as well as the Under
Armour’s “I Will What I Want” ad. In these ads,they are trying to showcase real women with real life problems During the earlier years, the only female target market
for consumer goods companies were suburban housewives.
Most of the ads during this age were sexist in nature
with a Kellogg Pep cereal print ad declaring “So the
harder a wife works, the cuter she looks!” Fast forward
into the mid-’90s, more companies came up with ads
which were much more focused on women as the target
segment. One of the pioneers of such advertisements
was Nike with their “If You Let Me Play,” ad campaign
in which they came up with products specifically suited
for women.
But the major breakthrough in femvertising has to be associated
with the Dove’s real beauty campaign. Eleven
years ago, in 2004, Unilever’s Dove brand broke new
ground with this campaign
.It tried to explore
how its female customers
perceived beauty
and used real women
-of all shapes, sizes and
backgrounds—as the
various faces of its marketing
campaign. It expanded
the traditional
definition of “beauty”,
and encouraged women
to be comfortable in
their own skin. This led
to the advertising world
embracing the concept
of women empowerment
and producing more ads with real life scenario, especially
those concerning women.
Now such ads which target female consumers have been
in presence for a long while now . But in 2014-the year of
“femvertising”-there was an explosion of ads related to
female empowerment which were well appreciated by
all. Brands created ads which were impactful as well as
meaningful to their audience. The reason why femvertising
gained so much attention in 2014 is due to the power
of ‘Social Media’. The digital revolution has created a
seismic shift in the company’s approach to marketing.
Marketers have realized that a positive ad with a meaningful
message can generate a lot of positive social reactions
and create new brand loyalists. Companies now
believe that it is important for their brand to stand for
something more than the product itself. Social media allows
brands to be held accountable.
In the past, when an
ad which offended a women's or men’s sensibilities were
shown, the viewer had no choice but to either stew silently
or vent out their frustration at the TV. But in this
present age of social media, it gives tremendous power
to the consumers who can tarnish the image of a brand.
Advertising which target women makes good business
sense. Since women have traditionally always handled the
household spending, and make most of the home-related
purchase decisions .According to a survey, women control
85% of the purchase. Even after that, most of the companies
still continue to offer them poorly conceived products
and services and produce ads that endorse female stereotypes.
Even though the advertising industry has come a
long way from such ads which were mainly sexist in nature
and filled with stereotypes, there is still a lot of scope left
for change.
According to a study conducted in 2012 by i-on Women,
91% of women who were surveyed still do not feel
that the companies are marketing effectively to them .According
to the SheKnows Femvertising survey in September
2014, 81%of the women polled said that pro-female ads are
important for younger
generation to see.
Around 52 % of women
on whom the survey
was carried out, had
purchased a product because
they liked the way
the ads portrayed women
.Also, 71% believed
that brands should be
held responsible for using
their ads to promote
positive messages to
women and girls . It is
no longer a matter of
standing up for a cause
to portray a company as
socially responsible. But it is a matter of positively supporting
the consumer whose loyalty they seek. There is strong
indication that women are looking to support those brands
which represent them more realistically.
Femvertising is actually effective as it not only sends out
a positive message but also helps increase the company’s
revenues. Various pro-woman ad campaigns has resulted in
improving the company’s bottom-line. Dove‘s Real Beauty
campaign, which was started way back in 2004 has been
credited in part for the increase in the company’s revenue
to $4.5 billion from $2 billion. Nike also saw an increase of
15% in its quarterly revenue after they started catering to
their women customers3. With women controlling majority
of purchase decision and also the positive sales responses
we see to these ad campaigns, it is logical that companies
would opt for femvertising. But that is not the case, with
pro-female ads forming just a small share of the millions of
advertisements that are produced every year. One of the
reasons for this maybe the fact that the advertisement industry
is largely led by men and only 3% of creative directors
are women .So, there is a need for more women workforce
in advertisement industry.
An emphasis on women as a target market—understanding
and fulfilling women’s needs might help the company
differentiate itself from the rest and this might be the key
to their breakout growth, improve their loyal customer
base and also help increase their market share. Once the
companies realize the potential of the female economy,
they will explore a whole new range of commercial business
prospects that would serve the women’s needs.
According
to a study, women purchase products and services
from companies that try and do well for the world-especially
for other women. Brands which promote emotional
as well as the physical well-being- whether directly or indirectly
protect the environment, take initiative to provide
education and care for the needy will benefit and form
a strong, deep connection with their women customers.
With the increase in their purchase power, women are
no longer ready to compromise and settle for products
which fails to fully meet their requirements .Women have
gradually started resisting being stereotyped; they want
the companies to know that they all are different and they
can’t be lumped together into “all women” category.
One good thing about the femvertising ads is that on one
hand they inspire and empower women but at the same
time they aren’t alienating the male population; the movement
impacts the men positively. Men are interested in
making sure that their women and girls are empowered,
have a healthy body image. Many pro-women ads such as
Dove’s or Pantene’s have been highly appreciated by men,
with them praising the brands for their efforts.
Feminism is surely having a moment right now. Even celebrities
are openly admitting to their feminist beliefs. It
is very easy for the companies to be fascinated by the appeal
of “capitalizing” on a new trend. Marketing to women
by championing the feminist ideals has never been more
timely than right now. But the marketeers need to be careful
regarding this particular proposition and treat it very
carefully. While bringing feminist issues to the forefront is
definitely a positive approach, it does have a significant risk
if the brand isn’t genuine about it.They need to understand
the nuances behind these issues. Their attempts to portray
themselves as pro-feminism might backfire.
Women do
have plenty of purchasing power, a fact that was till recently
ignored by the companies .But in appealing so openly
to the power of that group, so that they can sell more
product, companies are taking the risk of turning women
off completely towards the company’s efforts. Also the ads
should have a relation with what value proposition the
company offers to its customers. If they don’t, then that the
campaign won’t be that much of a success. One such company,
which produces shampoos, championed the cause of
women empowerment but its consumers couldn’t relate to
the ad campaign. It is a tough balance to strike —the message
that a brand is spreading through its campaign should
be perfectly aligned with what it’s selling.
Companies spreading these empowering messages through
their ads need to walk the walk and talk the talk, by initiating
programs that can help women and girls; make them
more empowered. Dove, who’s Campaign was one of the
first mainstream femvertising ad campaigns, has partnered
with organizations such as the Girl Scouts and Girls Inc.,
which offers program that helps build a girl's self-esteem.
Women will support companies that are genuine in their
efforts to support other women. Brand which use feminism
just to promote their products without any genuine interest
in the subject might face backlash. Inauthentic support
cheapens the idea of women’s equality, and that is dangerous
to the feminist movement itself.
Regardless of how one feels about brands using pro-feminist
messages in their advertisements, ”femvertising” is
trending right now and it doesn’t seem to be going away
anytime soon . Femvertising is here to stay
1 comment:
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