Cannes to tackle adland gender imbalance
Cannes Lions has launched an initiative to recognise the underrepresentation of women in advertising and discourage them from leaving the industry.
Over three days, a group of 12 women from Asia, Europe, North America and South American agencies will lead the programme called See It Be It, which will include guided access to the jury rooms, meetings with VIP speakers, sessions by industry figures and the Berlin School of Creative Leadership, and a mentorship event supported by women’s advocacy group SheSays.
After the festival, they’ll be given a toolkit that allows them to pass on what they’ve learned to other women in the industry.
Lions Festival’s director of brand strategy Senta Slingerland said: “For years we’ve been observing the lack of women at the top of the industry and it’s time to take action to redress the balance. We worked closely with our network and with Emma Sexton from SheSays to develop the programme and to identify the next set of female creative heavyweights – they exist, but need an extra push into the spotlight.
“We want every agency in the world to think about the women they have in their organisations and what they need to do to grow them.”
No Australian women are involved in leading the program.
Organisers pointed out in a press release only three per cent of creative directors globally are women, yet over 80 per cent of buying decisions are made by women. Clients want more female creative talent to work on their brands, according to the festival.
The project will also involve the production of a documentary, produced by PR agency Weber Shandwick, about how a more equally balanced industry produces better work.
SheSays is also hosting a forum session on the topic on June 15 entitled Why 80 per cent of Your Advertising Budget Is Currently Being Wasted while Getty Images is hosting a session called New Visual Language: How Brands Can Use Images to Close the Gender Gap with Lean In’s editor Jessica Bennett.
The Festival is making other conscious steps to help redress the imbalance by aiming to increase the number of women in the jury rooms, this year women represent 30 per cent of the juries, up 10 per cent on last year. Four female jury presidents have also been elected.
The women taking part in See It Be It include:
- Nivedita Agashe, Copywriter at Taproot Mumbai
- Juliana Ardila, Art Director at Leo Burnett Dubai
- Biba Cabuquit, Associate Creative Director at DM9JaymeSyfu Manila
- Celeste Dalairac, Creative Director at Del Campo Saatchi Buenos Aires
- Stefanie DiGianvincenzo, Associate Creative Director at Wunderman London
- Jenna Livingston, Copy Director at R/GA NYC
- Erica Pressly Senior Copywriter at Barbarian Group New York
- Cheyney Robinson, Creative Director at SapientNitro London
- Jem Robinson, Design Director at AllofUs London
- Ulrike Schumann, Creative Director at Serviceplan Zürich
- Angie Sun, Creative Executive at CAA Marketing Los Angeles
- Melo Xu, Creative Director at JWT Shanghai
Robin Hicks
Linkedin