#132: That Simon Sinek quote, 100 ways to support women, designing for gender-inclusion, marketing during IWD, and the princess problem
Happy Saturday and Happy International Women's Day tomorrow!
In this edition #132 of The World's Best Newsletter
1. Design principles for gender-identity inclusion
2. The Princess Problem
3. Happy International Pander to Women in Marketing Day!!!!
4. 100 Ways to Actually Support Women on IWD2020
5. Much Ado About Cause-Based Marketing
6. Global brands latching on to social injustices to sell products
7. Quote of the week: That Simon Sinek quote
1. Design principles for gender-identity inclusion
A great example of brand introspection, accountability, and thought leadership>
"...until now the dscout platform gave research participants two options: male or female. It wasn’t working for our users, our customers, our employees, or our company. So we took a hard look at how our platform asked users about gender—then talked to ~70 people across the gender spectrum about how we could build a more inclusive experience for our non-cisgender users."
The result are a set of design principles for gender-identity inclusion— KEY insights for any company looking to move beyond the binary, a trend we're seeing in many industries like the beauty brand space.
Note: I will be LIVE with the amazing individuals behind this asset this Friday, March 13th at 3pm ET (connect on LinkedIn). If you're in Chicago, join us at dscout's beautiful offices on Thursday, March 26th for "Conscious Consuming, Marketing & Experience-Building."
2. The Princess Problem
I also have to share this dscout project: Linguists Karen Eisenhauer + Carmen Fought conducted a language-based study of the twelve films in the Disney Princess canon (the highest-selling entertainment franchise in the world, worth $4b+).
Read "The Princess Problem" for the full findings. My favorite takeaways:
One woman, a world of men.
Generally the films have one exceptional woman at the forefront. The whole world that's filled in around this central woman character tends to be male, unless there’s a really specific reason for the character to be female, like she’s a prostitute or a mom. It’s a sort of default male world with one exceptional woman standing in the middle. Brave (which was actually produced by Pixar and released in 2012) is the only film to have a female speech majority since 1959.Speech patterns reflect indirect directives.
Similar to previous literature, women tend to pick more indirect and “polite” approaches to giving directives, to “soften the blow.” These are called mitigated approaches. Things like, “Can you just do this?” or “Would you please do this.” Men have a tendency to mitigate less and to use more straightforward commands.
Superficial progress.
While there's been a push towards girl power in this franchise, there actually isn't quite as much progress as the movies that came out before 1989 (which are "just garbage in terms of gender representation.")
"...it’s not just what they’re saying, it’s how they’re saying it... Even in the newer films, when women give bald directives, it tends to be much more noticed by the other characters around them. It’s a plot device that’s supposed to be noticed by the viewer.
Whereas with the male characters, it seems more taken for granted that they will say things and that people are going to listen to them. So on the surface, the newer films look like progress. But what we found is that underneath, we’re still internalizing that women being proactive is unusual."
Unusual indeed.
3. Happy International Pander to Women in Marketing Day!!!!
International Women's Day is tomorrow, and that means we're awash with femvertising campaigns that are, unfortunately, eyeroll-inducing... like this move from Shell to change its name to "She'll" for Women's Day at 1 station.
Watch the video that was produced and tell me this is not absurd.
(Note: There was some confusion that The Yes Man released this as a hoax. But, that was a gag, as confirmed by David Griner who is truly doing the legwork to navigate fact from strange faux-feminist fiction.)
I hate this holiday sometimes. That's why I'm working on a documentary about it.
Send me your campaigns! What are you seeing? What do you think?
For example, my good friend Antigoni shared a BOGO promotion that she felt "really fell flat" from an eyewear company:
Followed with:
"Thank you for making me view these through a totally different lens! Pun 100% intended."
WE LOVE A PUN.
Or, an anonymous source (to protect the innocent) who shared this trade publication's "Women in Real Estate" issue featuring a besuited man on the cover.
I want it all. Send send send. katie@katie-martell.com.
4. 100 Ways to Actually Support Women on IWD2020
I truly feel that the world does not need explicitly feminist advertising.
So, I took the time to research and compile 100 important ways that companies can actually support women on this global holiday.
Read my article here, and please share.
:)
5. Much Ado About Cause-Based Marketing
Anne Janzer (author of a great book, Subscription Marketing, which ok yes I contributed heavily to in one section in but I promise it's really great) interviewed me about cause-based marketing. Read our conversation here, or, because you're scrolling, an excerpt:
I see brands trying to align with three movements that are part of the zeitgeist: women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and racial injustice. When brands jump on the bandwagon, they can do as much harm as good.
Each of those movements has been built on the backs of real people who have dedicated their time, resources, and sometimes their lives, to progress. When brands jump in without having participated in those campaigns, it’s not only inconsiderate, it shows a brazen disregard for the history of these movements. Any consumer who aligns with these social initiatives is right to be skeptical.
On the surface, it could seem like a good thing if brands elevate the discussion to a national level. Marketing is pervasive and carries enormous power to affect perception, start conversation, and change attitudes. The flip side is that these brand campaigns may create an “illusion of progress” or a sense of false normalcy. I could be watching a world on television that doesn’t reflect the reality I know to be true. The disconnect gets larger as more brands jump on the bandwagon, but the issues themselves aren’t addressed.
6. Global brands latching on to social injustices to sell products
A great summary of this trend in The Economist.
...the campaigns are part of a phenomenon dubbed “woke capitalism”, in which companies try to associate themselves with liberal social values. It may well be that executives genuinely do agree with such sentiments. But it is also about positioning brands with millennial consumers (those who reached adulthood after 2000) who often have more freewheeling views than their elders.
7. Quote of the week: That Simon Sinek quote
Everyone knows this famous advice from Simon Sinek's 2009 TED talk:
"People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it."
We can all quote it. We've all read (or pretended to) his book. Start With Why.
But the second part of this quote is more important than the first...
“People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe."
What you do PROVES what you believe.
Actions are louder than words. Especially on International Women's Day.
Hey, before you go---
NEXT WEEK is my Boston roadshow event featuring THE AMAZING JEAN KILBOURNE!
You'll hear my new talk on brands pandering to social movements, and Jean herself will be speaking to her decades of activism in the world of advertising. I bought a few copies of her book Can't Buy My Love for those who want one signed.
Wednesday, March 11th 6:30pm-9:00pm
WeWork St James, 31 St James Ave Boston, MA (6th floor)
FREE and open to all. Register here.
See you there?
Thanks as always for reading,
Katie
Calendar:
Note: What a crazy and unprecedented week it's been fielding cancellations of so many shows from Adobe Summit to SXSW. Regional events are still happening, but most everything else is going virtual, as you'll notice in my own calendar below!
TUES 3/10 - AMA Livestream with Speakeasy
2:00pm ET, free, register here.
WEDS 3/11 - Live Boston roadshow "Do Woke Brands Exploit Movements?"
6:30pm ET, free, register here.
FRI 3/13 - LinkedIn LIVE, Exceptional Truths feat. Gurdeep Dhillon of Marketo (an Adobe company)
3:00pm ET, free, via LinkedIn
FRI 3/20 - LinkedIn LIVE, Exceptional Truths feat. Jess Mons and Lindsey Brinkworth
1:00pm ET, free, via LinkedIn
THU 3/26 - Live Chicago roadshow, "Age of Accountability: Conscious Consuming, Marketing & Experience-Building"
6:00pm ET, free, register here
TUE 3/31 - LinkedIn LIVE, "Marketing and Women's History Month"
2:00pm ET, free, RSVP here
TUE 4/7 - LinkedIn LIVE, Exceptional Truths feat. Mathew Sweezey of Salesforce
2:30pm ET, free, via LinkedIn
WED 4/8 - MITX FutureX Spiing Summit
Publicis Sapient, Boston, tickets here
Book me to speak.