Women in advertising: ‘We’ve gotta break the f*****g rules’
Being a woman in the media is not an easy task, and according to Dentsu Creative’s CEO Kirsty Muddle, “we’ve gotta break the f*****g rules” to improve the industry’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) culture.
Muddle was joined on an all-star panel by Seven West Media’s chief marketing and audience officer, Melissa Hopkins, Special Australia’s senior strategy director Abbie Dubin-Rhodin, and Phoebe Sloane, senior copywriter at Clemenger BBDO, at last week’s Women in Media National Conference.
(L-R): Hopkins, Dubin-Rhodin, Muddle, Sloane and moderator Sunita Gloster
“The panelists looked at key issues women face in the media and marketing industry”. I cannot speak on behalf of the media or advertising industry, but in ‘Marketing’ the majority of leaders are women. A quick Linkedin search shows that 63% of the ASX Top 50 companies have a woman as their senior marketing/customer lead.
So, battles to win, but maybe a different battle for marketing.
I’m sick of ‘DE&I’ just being a pseudonym for feminism. Much like the panel.
We have so many women in media and women leaders groups, programmes and awards. If they are really having no impact on change, is it time to start looking in? Do they breed selfishness, are they poor at communicating specifics externally?
For example, If you shouldn’t need to choose between parenthood and career, then please articulate why. Especially if you’re ditching a job straight after maternity/paternity time off. Time you’re out of the industry not building experience and passing on financial and work burden to others whilst you’re away. Without explanation of why you hold your beliefs, you won’t have a hope of convincing others.
Let’s be more specific about what the gaps are, and what exactly ‘media’ is. Are we talking broadcast media, journalism, PR, media planning and buying, etc. Are we talking about entry level roles, mid level, or just the top jobs?
There are so many female appointments to senior level jobs reported through industry press, which gives a very different reflection on the status of change. Are some of us blind to male appointments, are they going unreported, or are specific leadership roles just not changing maintaining a status quo in very specific areas?