Guest Blog:
Jennifer Breithaupt
Global Consumer CMO
Citi
As the Global Consumer CMO of Citi, I am proud to be a part of a company that believes in taking action to drive growth and progress for women.
Our commitment to the #SeeHer movement is a demonstration of this belief. Since becoming a member, the groundswell of support and action by the organization has been nothing short of inspiring.
As we began to implement GEM® and enhance various aspects of our campaign development processes, we challenged ourselves:
What can Citi do to make an even greater impact to help build on the significant momentum behind the #SeeHer movement?
Enter #SeeHerHearHer.
#SeeHerHearHer is an extension of the movement to advance gender equality in music.
An in-depth study of the music industry by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative revealed some alarming stats behind hundreds of popular songs from 2012 through 2018:
- Less than 22% of artists were female
- Just 12% of songwriters were female
- Only 2% of producers were female
This study spotlights a sad reality on a business that delivers something we all universally love: music.
When women represent more than half of digital music consumers and purchase 8% more concert tickets than men, there’s a lot of work to be done in the music industry to accurately reflect its listeners. This can start with tackling unconscious bias and driving change in business practices.
Having one of the largest entertainment access platforms of any brand – offering exclusive access to over 8,000 concert pre-sales and other music events each year – #SeeHerHearHer presents an opportunity for Citi to leverage our scale and relationships in music to enable progress and influence positive change.
With this, we are making several commitments to take action.
Going forward, Citi is committed to continuing to highlight music by female artists as part of our brand campaigns, particularly in TV spots, as well as through our entertainment platform. We are also sponsoring a mentorship program to care for aspiring female singers and songwriters entering into the pipeline—whether they’re just beginning or haven’t yet figured out how to get started. The more direct support they have access to, the better the opportunity.
We launched this mentorship program on International Women’s Day with Grammy award winner Maren Morris and our partners at NBC. Our activation on the TODAY Show was all in support of officially kicking-off #SeeHerHearHer to drive awareness around the gender equality issues in music as well as to get others inspired to take action.
We are excited to be working with the ANA to garner additional brand participation with #SeeHerHearHer. There is strength in numbers and we are committed to this being a movement, not a moment.
I hope you will join us.
Jennifer
For more information for those seeking to be mentored, go to:
https://www.today.com/popculture/are-you-aspiring-singer-or-songwriter-today-wants-hear-your-t150601
