Evidence suggests progressive representation
in ads increases talkability and branded impact for
consumers
In a rallying cry to the global advertising industry, Unilever
publically announced #unstereotype - a global ambition for all of
its brands and the industry at large to advance advertising away
from stereotypical portrayals of gender; delivering fresh campaigns
that are more relevant to today’s consumer.
The global company, Unilever is urging marketers globally to be
aware of the outdated stereotypes of gender that advertising still
propagates and the fact that progressive portrayals are proven to
not only be better for society, but better for brands.
Aline Santos, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing for
Unilever, says: “Stereotyping in advertising is a prevalent issue
for all genders. However, our research shows that the negative
effects are most keenly felt when it comes to representations of
females. In fact, 40% of women say they do not identify at all with
the women they see in adverts1. Advertising can be a powerful force
in leading positive cultural change. We believe it is our
responsibility, alongside the industry, to be at the forefront of
this change by positively portraying people as they truly are today
– progressive ads will lead us to a progressive future for
all.”
As one of the biggest global advertisers, Unilever carried out
multiple in-depth studies around the world over the last two years
to better understand how female identity has evolved and how brands
can be more relevant and better connected.
Aline Santos continues: “We have validated through testing with
Millward Brown that more progressive advertising generates stronger
engagement, talkability and delivers better branded impact2. This
shows that not only is there an important societal imperative for
this change but a business imperative as well; it’s an important
journey that we must go on if we want to ensure we are truly
maximizing the potential of our creative outputs for today’s
audiences.”
Unilever plans to advance portrayals of gender in its ads with a
special focus on women by addressing three key areas; Role,
Personality and Appearance. Roles should more broadly represent
aspirations and wider achievements beyond product-related
responsibilities. Personalities depicted should shift to become
more authentic and three dimensional. Appearance should be
presented as enjoyable and non-critical, creating a positive and
creative interest in being whoever you want to be.
Keith Weed, Global CMO, Unilever, says: “The time is right for
us as an industry to challenge and change how we portray gender in
our advertising. Our industry spends billions of dollars annually
shaping perceptions and we have a responsibility to use this power
in a positive manner. As Unilever we are at the start of a journey,
and we are passionate about challenging the stereotypes that are
pervasive.”
Unilever’s brands are already making waves with pioneering and
breakthrough campaigns historically from Dove and more recently
from Axe. Axe’s Find Your Magic has been widely applauded by both
consumers and the communications industry for its new positioning
which is liberating for people, where genuine connection beats
conquest. Axe will continue to be about attraction, but we are
portraying the modern, relevant, genuine world of attraction - the
true magic that happens between two equals.
Communications from other core brands like Knorr and Lifebuoy
have also been breaking their category molds by shaking-up and
rethinking the creative process from development right through to
execution.
Aline continues: “With our Knorr brand, we recognized that
traditional gender roles around food had started to blur and
cooking had become much more inclusive and indeed on trend, like
the Masterchef series. For Knorr to remain relevant, be
inspirational and progressive, we knew we needed to change -
niching our foodie conversation to specific gender roles seemed
outdated, that’s why when we portray our consumers today you see
divorced dads, groups of students and millennials, not just the
traditional stereotyped perfect family with mum doing the
cooking.”
Knorr’s latest #loveatfirsttaste global campaign is a great
example of how flavor, cooking and food can help drive more
meaningful connections across gender, race and age and how
understanding your flavor profile can even bring you love.
Aline continues: “Lifebuoy has taken the conscious step to
portray women as the voice of authority, the one who influences the
family and leads change. We used progressive personalities like a
real doctor or a Real Life Bollywood Mother who are known to stand
for Women’s Rights and the cause of Help a Child Reach 5. We took
casting seriously to counter advertising stereotypes.”
A recent Lifebuoy campaign features not only a female doctor, a
role rarely depicted in Indian pop culture, but a pregnant, female
doctor as the voice of authority. This change reflects shifts
happening in markets like India with working mothers in high level
roles; helping continue to drive an evolution by providing an
aspirational opportunity for women.
Keith Weed announced #unstereotype during his Keynote address at
Cannes on Wednesday, June 22. The initiative was further unveiled
via a panel discussion, moderated by BBC presenter Lucy
Hockings on Thursday, June 23, with Aline Santos. The
panel also featured Actress Alysia Reiner, Bollywood
Director, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer at Lowe India, R.
Balki, Chief Brand Officer at Mattel, Juliana Chugg and
Deputy Executive Creative Director at BBH, Rosie Arnold.
R. Balki, Chairman at Lowe India says: “As we broaden depictions
of people in our advertising, we will broaden creative
opportunities; leading to progressive ads that are more enjoyable
and generate stronger emotional response. This an exciting
proposition that I’d love to see the global marketing community
embrace.”
Madeline Di Nonno, President of Glass Lions Jury and CEO of
the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media says: “Geena and
I are heartened by this significant and progressive move from
Unilever. Media is the only business industry when we can literally
paint a picture of the world the way we want it to be. One 30
second spot can make a lifetime impression. Advertising as a
storytelling medium is as important as the programming it is
attached to. We believe advertising can take a lead position and
ignite the advertising and content industries to jump on board and
embrace this movement.”
Several of Unilever’s partner agencies have already confirmed
that they will be adopting the new approach – including BBH,
72andSunny, JWT, DDB, MullenLowe and Ogilvy, with many more likely
to follow suit.
Aline concludes: “We hope that #unstereotype inspires others in
the industry to join us and commit to building brands in a way that
puts advertising on the forefront of leading culture with
progressive portrayals of everyone.”
About Unilever:
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home
and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries and
reaching 2 billion consumers a day. It has 169,000 employees and
generated sales of €53.3 billion in 2015. Over half (58%) of the
company’s footprint is in developing and emerging markets. Unilever
has more than 400 brands found in homes around the world, including
Persil, Dove, Knorr, Domestos, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Wall’s, PG Tips,
Ben & Jerry’s, Marmite, Magnum and Lynx. Unilever’s Sustainable
Living Plan commits to:
- Helping more than a billion people
take action to improve their health and well-being by
2020.
- Halving the environmental impact of
our products by 2030.
- Enhancing the livelihoods of
millions of people by 2020.
Unilever was ranked number one in its sector in the 2015 Dow
Jones Sustainability Index. In the FTSE4Good Index, it achieved the
highest environmental score of 5. It led the list of Global
Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the 2016
GlobeScan/SustainAbility annual survey for the sixth year running.
Unilever was ranked the most sustainable food and beverage company
in Oxfam’s Behind the Brands Scorecard in 2016 for the second
year.
For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit
www.unilever.com. For more information on the USLP:
www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/
1 CMI 2016
2 CMI 2016
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