We began the #SeeHer movement in 2016, aiming to reduce gender bias in U.S. advertisements and media by 20 percent by 2020, the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave American women the right to vote. One year to go, and already, we’ve reached that milestone in ads. Meanwhile, our movement has gone global. Our research breakthrough, the Gender Equality Measure™ (GEM®™), is now in use in 14 countries. And a recent Wall Street Journal report on a Kantar global study that found marketers are beginning to move away from gender-based strategies, with 88% of male marketers and 76% of female marketers saying their brands avoid gender stereotyping in ads.
This is happening partly because of changes in consumer behavior, but also because of industry initiatives supporting gender equality. Initiatives like SeeHer.
Men, as well as women, brought us here, and both men and women will carry us forward. #SeeHer members like #SeeHer Co-Chair Marc Pritchard, Global Brand Officer for Procter & Gamble; and Diego Scotti, Chief Marketing Officer for Verizon, as well as Bob Liodice, ANA president and CEO. Together with our all-star team of women executives—a powerful group that includes #SeeHer Co-Founder Shelley Zalis, AT&T Brand Chief Fiona Carter and L’Oréal’s media leader Nadine Karp McHugh, among other forward-thinking marketers—have created a revolution that will lead to a better society for all of us.
#SeeHer is a collective of women and men, moms and dads, aunts and uncles, sisters and brothers committed to marketing that represents the reality of a diverse and inclusive America. This singular focus, combined with the power of #SeeHer members’ collective $50 billion in ad dollars and our ability to use GEM®™ to track our progress, sets us apart from other initiatives. It’s why in less than three years, we have become the industry standard in the movement to bring gender equality to communications.
As we begin the countdown to 2020, we should remind ourselves that our unity is our strength. We are all in this together. And if we continue to speak with one voice, future generations will thank us.
