As the Women’s Decade 2010-2020 of the African Union draws to a close, women the world over are standing firm in their push for gender equality, and they want men to walk and work with them, to change perceptions of how women are viewed and implement changes right where they are.

Men should feel powerfully emboldened to be counted as feminists – this is at the very core of the United Nations HeForShe campaign – a place where men can feel powerfully emboldened to be part of the movement and the solution.

The strides governments are making are laudable, said Anne Githuku-Shongwe, Representative at the United Nations Women South Africa Multi-Country Office. However, the real work of gender equality has to continually happen in our communities, in our thinking, in our advertising and our perceptions of women. ‘That’s what the United Nations HeForShe campaign is all about: taking personal responsibility and change that will cascade into thought and community change.’

‘With the advertising industry, we’ve created the Unstereotype Alliance, and we’re really challenging private companies who spend billions on advertising to make sure that every single advert that goes out does not stereotype or reinforce images of women as weak or as sexual objects, but actually promotes the image of the future that we really want, which is one where gender equality thrives,’ explained Githuku-Shongwe.

The Unstereotype Alliance is a thought and action platform which uses advertising as a force for good to drive positive change. It seeks to eradicate harmful gender-based stereotypes in all media and advertising content. Convened by UN Women, the Unstereotype Alliance contributes to empowering women in all their diversity (including race, class, age, ability, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, language and education) and addressing harmful masculinities to help create a gender equal world.

The Loeries, the globally recognised awards for the advertising and communications industry across Africa and the Middle East, are ally members of the Unstereotype Alliance. One aim is to engage with communications students through a dedicated Unstereotype Alliance and HeForShe Facebook Challenge.

‘We really want students to engage themselves on the issue of stereotyping. If we can begin to impact on students who themselves are moving into this creative industry that shapes how we believe men and women should be in society, if we can start changing that, and every billboard that comes up and every ad that is on the table, imagine what that would do? A strong woman with a strong man, and positive families. These are the images we want portrayed. And just one powerful ad can make such a difference.’

‘This is the kind of conversation that we want to have at Loeries Creative Week in August this year, with men who are not ashamed to promote feminism, and who can stand and be counted as a feminist. We’ve got to impact everywhere there are influencers. Creatives are influencers, so if we can influence the influencers to influence the world, then we’re really influencing.’

Githuku-Shongwe explained, ‘In much of Africa and the Middle East, gender-based violence is normalised. It actually should be considered a state of emergency, the way you would deal with a cyclone or other disaster, because really there is a serious issue here. Rape in particular, and sexual violence, is prevalent in many countries, and it’s an area that really has to be dealt with because women will make progress in their education and in their economic advancements, but then they get into a situation of rape or some form of violence from a loved one, and all of that reverses,’ she
lamented.

Gender equality has to go far beyond just the number of women who sit in high positions; it has to translate to having actual impact on women’s lives. Economically, governments spend billions on procurements every year. ‘Barely one percent of that goes to towards women-owned businesses, and that’s a global average,’ she said.

‘Just imagine if 50 per cent of government procurement went to women-owned businesses? That would transform the world, because we know that women-owned businesses employ more people and impact on more people just because automatically they are households. So the economic upliftment of women is not something to do just because it’s cute, it actually makes transformational economic sense. It’s good business actually. And it starts with changing the way women are viewed and treated,’ concluded Githuku-Shongwe.

Githuku-Shongwe will be speaking at the Unstereotype Alliance Masterclass as part of Loeries Creative Week, from 22-25 August.

LOERIES 
www.loeries.com

Two studies by Donald Gunn, who founded the Gunn index of creativity, have shown that 84 percent of campaigns that are highly-creative and award-winning ‘met or exceeded their clients’ objectives’ in terms of business growth. This research also shows that award-winning, highly creative advertising is more effective than average advertising. Peter Field, researching the same topic in the UK, found that ‘creatively awarded campaigns were 11 times more efficient at generating a market share increase.’

In his book, The Case for Creativity, the New Zealand-based Planning Director James Hurman looked at whether creative excellence translates into better return on advertising spend. He started with a direct comparison between agencies that ranked highly on the Gunn Report (recently renamed the WARC Report, a global benchmark for creativity), with high performing agencies on the Effies, which ranks agencies that produce the most effective brand communication work. His finding? The most creative agencies were more than 2.5 times more effective than less creative agencies.

Researchers from the University of Cologne (Reinartz & Saffert, 2013) confirmed this finding. They found that a ‘Euro invested in a highly creative ad campaign had, on average, nearly double the sales impact of a Euro spent on a non-creative campaign.’

It’s a sentiment echoed by South Africa’s most creative brand in 2018 – financial services company Sanlam. ‘If the idea is strong, you don’t have to spend as much to be noticed. Which, in the end, is more efficient and makes business sense. The Rands spent on a strong creative idea are more effective than the Rands spent on a weak one. It’s as simple as that,’ said Mariska Oosthuizen, Head of Brand at Sanlam, the number one brand in the Loeries Official Rankings 2018, a remarkable achievement for a company that provides technical financial products.

As Oosthuizen pointed out, in a crowded field, brands need a creative edge to stand out, ‘Creative work has a better chance of breaking through the clutter. With consumers being bombarded by hundreds of thousands of messages constantly, this is becoming more and more important.’

For Sanlam, it’s about connecting with people on an authentic level, ‘Storytelling has always been a critical part of human communication. It is one of the most powerful tools to engage people with brands and ideas. The best speakers, leaders, writers and brands are good storytellers.’

The prestigious Loeries Awards, whose theme this year is to Tell Better Stories, is the definitive yardstick for all businesses when choosing creative agencies that will best showcase their brands and bring in new business. It is also the only award across Africa and the Middle East that informs the Gunn Report’s successor, the global WARC Report; one of the main reasons why, said Loeries CEO Andrew Human, international creative industry leaders and luminaries act as Jury Presidents each year.

‘We work with creative leaders who bring profound experience and professional expertise to the judging process. As the most authoritative creative award covering Africa and the Middle East, brands depend on the Loeries to identify the most creative brand communication work, according to the highest international standards. It’s a responsibility we take incredibly seriously,’ said Human.

LOERIES 
www.loeries.com