“Pledge to Embed” Encourages Marketing and Media Industry to Take Action Against Gender Inequality and Change the Narrative for Women While Driving Business Growth

NEW YORK, March 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — SeeHer, the global gender equality initiative within the ANA that champions the positive representation of women, announced today a campaign that rallies the marketing and media industry to change the current trajectory of gender equality by pledging to include one or more of the Gender Equality Measure (GEM®) Suite of Tools into their practice.

Timed to launch at the start of Women’s History Month, SeeHer’s “Pledge to Embed” campaign is designed to recognize the impact that marketing and media have on the accurate portrayal of women in media and advertising, and the urgent need for these industries to make actionable change. Recent studies by SeeHer have documented that gender equality across the entire marketing ecosystem is a consumer expectation, with 90% of adults agreeing that media is critical in shaping gender roles. Yet only 16% of women feel that they are usually portrayed accurately.

“Using Women’s History Month to launch the pledge is intentional, however this is a 24/7, 365- day-a-year business imperative,” said Christine Guilfoyle, President of SeeHer. “This will enable the industry to not only remove gender bias, but also drive business growth and tap into the $31.5 trillion in consumer spending controlled by women. We encourage the industry to use SeeHer’s GEM Suite of Tools by targeting consumers that in the past have not felt seen, heard, and valued. The time is now to take action.”

SeeHer offers the industry GEM®, the first data-driven methodology that quantifies gender bias in ads and programming. Considered the global measurement standard on gender equality, ads with positive GEM® scores have been found to drive purchase intent by 42% among consumers. Multi-dimensional portrayals of women have been shown to increase brand ROI by 500% versus stereotypical portrayals.

For more information or to sign the pledge, please visit this page.

####

About SeeHer

SeeHer is the global initiative to champion the positive representation of women and the leading global movement to eliminate gender bias in marketing, media, and entertainment. Launched in 2016 by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) SeeHer’s coalition of leaders is committed to setting the gender equality agenda for the industry and driving growth for their businesses. To help its members benchmark success and become catalysts for change, SeeHer spearheaded the development of the Gender Equality Measure® (GEM®), the first research methodology that quantifies gender bias in ads and programming. Winning the prestigious ESOMAR Research Effectiveness Award, GEM® is the global measurement standard, proving that content accurately portraying women and girls dramatically increases purchase intent and brand reputation. SeeHer’s suite of training and resources, including GEM®, enables marketers to prioritize best practices as part of an always-on approach to driving growth. The movement includes the following vertical expertise: SeeHer in Sports, SeeHer Entertainment, SeeHer Health, and the SeeHer Media Task Force. Visit SeeHer.com to join the movement and follow SeeHer on LinkedIn and Instagram.

About ANA

The ANA’s mission is to drive growth for marketing professionals, for brands and businesses, and for the industry. Growth is foundational for all participants in the ecosystem. The ANA seeks to align those interests by leveraging the 12-point ANA Growth Agenda, which has been endorsed and embraced by the ANA Board of Directors and the Global CMO Growth Council. The ANA’s membership consists of over 1,400 domestic and international companies, including more than 900 client-side marketers and nonprofit fundraisers and 500 marketing solutions providers (data science and technology companies, ad agencies, publishers, media companies, suppliers, and vendors). Collectively, ANA member companies represent 20,000 brands, engage 50,000 industry professionals, and invest more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually.