Women in Media: A Look Back At The Best Ads Championing Equality

The B&T Women in Media Awards, presented by Bauer Media, has always been about recognising the power of individuals. But the awards also shine a light on the best use of creativity and advertising to champion the promotion of women.

It’s a relatively new category, ‘Best Ad Campaign – Championing the Equality Cause’, but its perhaps one of the most important in the Women in Media line-up, with some of the industry’s heaviest hitters taking out the award since emerging in 2017.

With the 2020 iteration of B&T‘s Women in Media around the corner, let’s take a look at the past winners:

2019: ‘Walk Like a Woman’—Cummins&Partners

In a 2018 study of 38 countries, including those with much higher homicide rates, Australia had the largest gap between how men and women feel about their safety when walking alone at night, with many women reporting they felt under threat.

To tackle the issue, Cummins&Partners and Risk Sound created ‘Walk Like a Woman’, an immersive 3D soundscape recorded with a series of omni-directional microphones that lets men experience what it’s like to walk alone as a young woman.

2018: ‘I’d Like to See That’, AFLW launch—BecBrideson.com

Transforming the iconic 90s AFL anthem, ‘I’d like to see that’, the ad features a string of powerful Aussie female figures, including SBS news anchor Lee Lin Chin, Olympic gold medallist Cathy Freeman, Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne, burns survivor Turia Pitt, young surf sensation Sabre Norris, and Collingwood forward Moana Hope.

The commercial is almost identical to an ad created for the AFL in 1994 by Campaign Palace, led by executive creative director Warren Brown, and retains the original track ‘Unbelievable’ by EMF.

2017: Push for an Equal Future, ANZ—TBWA/Melbourne

This national campaign by ANZ promotes gender diversity, and formed part of an entire range of initiatives to encourage women to grow financially and to build an equal future for them.

The theme is simple. It highlights how girls end up way behind boys on the financial front, even though they outperform the latter in many other facets. The film that was shown online depicts bright, young girls being faced with brutal inequality.

The follow-up videos of this advertisement showed how women can make extra income through ANZ’s initiatives. The advertisement struck a chord with men and women alike.

Best Ad Campaign – Championing the Equality Cause, which is sponsored by Bauer Media, aims to recognise campaigns that seek to break through barriers, and contribute to the promotion of women.

If you’re behind a piece of work that aims to champion equality, to close-the-gap, we want to see it.

Enter today at www.bandt.com.au/wim.

Don’t be shy, be proud of your achievements and enter B&T’s Women In Media! Submit your entry here.

You can also get tickets to the event here, which will be held virtually on Wednesday 28 October 2020.

And, if you’d like more information, head to this website.

Other key information

On-time deadline: Friday 21 August 2020 (5pm AEST)

Late entries deadline: Friday 28 August 2020 (5pm AEST)

Shortlist announced: Wednesday 23 September 2020.

Thank you to all of our incredible sponsors for making the event possible!