We started our day with female empowerment this morning, as Bauer Media launched their Female Futures trends forecast. The event included a panel of powerful industry women discussing gender equality in the industry – plus breakfast.
Overall, the event explained the importance of women as a market, an audience and a political force.
Panellists at the event included newly appointed Director, PwC CMO Advisory Sunita Gloster, CEO of Code Like A Girl, Ally Watson and Ruth Marshall-Johnson from British forecasting consultancy The Future Laboratory, which partnered with Bauer Media to conduct the study.
The study highlights changing global cultural trends which will affect society in years to come – and how we can work towards a female future.
Paul Dykzeul, CEO Bauer Australia and New Zealand said that Bauer Media was working towards a Female Future now more than ever.
“Bauer Media’s understanding of what women think, feel and want is unmatched across the publishing industry. It’s an exciting place to be as we head towards a Female Future.”
“We’re delighted to have partnered with The Future Laboratory to present this report. The world is changing fast, and Bauer Media is already anticipating the changes in attitudes and outlook that will be required for brands to thrive in the years ahead.”
Marshall-Johnson presented some overwhelming statistics to the audience – like that while women make up 46 per cent of the advertising industry, only 11 per cent of them are creative directors. Or that it could take another 216 years for the gender pay gap to completely close.
“We have to see equal choice, and equal freedom and equal autonomy, as much as we can give it to every single person,” she said.
After Marshall-Johnson’s presentation, the panel discussed issues like inbuilt gender bias and how the job threat from automation will disproportionately affect women compared to men.
They also exchanged ideas on the hopes and expectations of Generation Z, and how these trends will have an impact on how they work. Ally Watson highlighted the importance of “finding your tribe in the workplace” and how “when you’re a minority within your industry that can be a challenge.”
Sunita Gloster spoke of accountability, and said that “As marketers that shape and reflect society, its up to all of us to question our own unconscious bias around social norms and stereotypes.”
How brands communicate with women are now playing a much more prominent role in how organisations are thinking.
“There has never been a more exciting time to be a woman. There has never been a better time to be publishing to women,” Nicole Byers, Editor in Chief of The Australian Women’s Weekly said at the event.
“There has never been a more inspiring time to work for a global company that is owned and run by a young woman. It’s a privilege to discuss how women’s place in society is changing with some of our partners and advertisers and the role that we are playing in this journey,” she added.
Dykzeul also outlined a number of initiatives Bauer is launching, or has launched already, to support a Female Future, including:
• 10 Million Words initiative: A corporate promise to write “10 Million Words” across its portfolio of premium cross-platform brands to support the drive for a Female Future.
• Story54: The introduction of Bauer’s new division – Story54, insight-led entertainment and storytelling for women, by women. Story54 will be led by General Manager Jane Waterhouse, and brings together an expanded team of the most talented content and creative teams within Bauer Media to deliver insight-led storytelling for clients. Story54 has started strong, with an award-winning campaign for Fiat named Content Marketing Campaign of the Year in 2017 at the Adnews AMA’s. In addition, Story54 has created a cross-channel content series for premium brands like Tiffany, Google Pixel 2, and Lion Dairy.
• Print magazine innovation with a series of pop-up magazines speaking to new female audiences over the coming year.
• Womentolove: A new digital destination elevating women in the arts and celebrating the importance of creativity to bring about the Female Future.
• New data partnerships: With Quantium and Commscore to deliver richer targeting for advertisers across our diverse female audiences.
