Can B2B marketing tackle gender bias in leadership?

“There aren’t that many women with the right credentials and depth of experience to sit on the board – the issues covered are extremely complex.”

This isn’t a quote from the 1920s. It’s from 2018. It’s a quote from a recent government-commissioned report, the Hampton-Alexander review into increasing the number of women in senior positions in FTSE 350 companies.

It’s clear that despite the progress of recent years, many major companies are still merely paying lip service to gender equality at the highest levels.

Some of the most powerful changes towards equality have been the result of evocative campaigns. So we asked four B2B agencies how they would translate the argument for women on boards into a campaign that dislodges these out-of-date views.

Campaign:

Sitting/Uncomfortably

Agency:

Twogether

Behind the campaign

Twogether wanted to move beyond the conversation of how women can benefit a business because, “there are countless compelling stats which prove the impact women have in the most successful companies, so why would they listen now?” says Jane Brown, account director at the agency. Twogether would be eager to grab the attention of executives by focusing on the future of their firms, and how they could lose out to young, naturally diverse companies if they didn’t open their minds and change, quickly. “You’re continually diversifying your approach, your products and your offering. But are you diversifying your board to your advantage?” asks Jane, outlining the focus. Risk was placed at the centre of this campaign, reminding discriminatory executives that perhaps they shouldn’t be sitting so comfortably.

Aims and objectives

The campaign aims to take targeted executives on a journey of awareness and show them that diversity of talent outweighs any boundaries of gender. Twogether wants to drill in the realities of the risk associated with ignoring the diversity of talent that could be available to them if they if they just looked. “To survive the massive success of millennially-minded companies, there is no doubt the need to recruit talent should never stop, no matter who they are and where they come from,” adds Jane. To meet these objectives Twogether would carry out deep research, and partner with a leading B2B brand to validate the positive findings.

The creative

The campaign’s aesthetics needed to convey the threat of diversity looming over those not willing to shift their mindsets (the agency wanted to not only focus on women but all demographics disadvantaged by narrow views). This threat and opportunity is neatly symbolised with a predator presented right in front of your eyes but also camouflaged from view – much like those executives who seem to be hearing the issue but not listening to its dangerous potential. Publishing a series of online papers – Diversity is the source of progress in the boardroom and production of interviews and discussions with board members and diversity leaders would also be used to persuade sexist leaders to “unthink their current perceptions”.

Campaign execution

To provoke interest, Twogether would use guerrilla marketing tactics focused around the dangers of ignoring diversity issues and highlight that board members shouldn’t be sitting so comfortably. Cushions labelled “Sitting/Uncomfortably” and stuffed with uncomfortable materials would be left in places near the perpetrators’ offices, alongside programmatic ads with research-related messaging.

The second stage would focus on directing attention to the research by sending mini-books of the reports and interviews to the executives who have justified the lack of diversity on the board. The agency also suggested a media partnership with a newspaper such as the Financial Times to hit the target audience at peak time.

Campaign:

The Pregnant CEO

Agency:

True

Behind the campaign

True was keen to get to the root of the problem and place it at the crux of its campaign. “Women obviously belong in the boardroom as much as men, but we dissected the issue further to find some of the underlying causes of career inequality,” says MD Richard Parsons. The agency drilled into research highlighting the disparity in career development and progression as being women’s unfortunate price to pay for having children. And this is what True wanted to tackle in the most audacious way possible.

Aims and objectives

The agency knew changing someone’s point of view on such a topic isn’t easy. So the campaign aimed to evoke a sense of empathy by provoking people (including male executives) into considering it from a female point of view. “Some issues are ingrained in our patriarchal structure, advertising could find it hard to create change,” Richard explains. “Our concept has focused on our culture and perceptions of ourselves. Rather than changing the structure of society.” The agency wanted to question the male executives who didn’t believe women belonged in the boardroom and get people talking.

The creative

With its nostalgic black and white colour palette, the creative for this campaign pays homage to the iconic ‘Pregnant man’ ad created by Saatchi & Saatchi, which tackled male responsibility for contraception in 1970. The image was memorable and the question was simple and it efficacy changed men’s perceptions. True wanted to progress the talking point to meet the modern day. “Today’s pregnant man is now a pregnant CEO, but he’s still in the dark regarding women’s equality in the workplace.” The agency directly questions male executives’ journey to the top spot, and at the very least causes conversation, hoping to encourage a more positive opinion of women on the board.

Campaign execution

True’s campaign will run across social media – not just hypothetically, but in real life. The agency will launch the campaign to raise awareness of boardroom inequality not just in B2B but across all areas of business. “Our hope is that it will become more than just a piece of advertising and will be shared across social networks. We believe it has the potential to go beyond B2B marketing and command attention from a far broader group of people.” The campaign also comes with a ‘pledge-page’ to raise money to continue heightening the awareness of the issue.

Campaign:

Fearless leaders

Agency:

Omobono

Behind the campaign

In light of the slurs reported by the Hampton-Alexander review, Omobono wanted to run a positive campaign. It didn’t want to demonise white men, as with any group, people’s views can be diverse. It’s antiquated thinking that prevents women, ethnic minorities and those with disabilities from reaching their potential. From this, it chose to have a wider focus on balanced boardrooms and equality for all. “Uniting gender, ethnicity, and disability in our campaign was the right message and also the right strategy. It allowed us to increase the breadth of our audience and depth of our connection with them,” explains Helen Rankin, lead strategist MENA at Omobono.

Aims and objectives

Omobono wanted its campaign to have both an immediate and long-lasting effect. The campaign was broken into three objectives to achieve this. First, it wanted to remove subjectivity by uncovering sexist comments as symptoms of limited business thinking. Before adding customer pressure by revealing how customer loyalty is taken for granted by all-white male boards. “A balanced boardroom makes every voice heard,” says Helen. Finally, the agency was keen to reverse the mistakes of FTSE executives by appropriating an icon of outdated business thinking and creating an annual charity fundraiser to champion diversity on the board.

The creative

The campaign targets four audiences: executives, shareholders, employees, and everyone else, and each group has different creative to suit. Photos of Rosa Parks, Kathy Switzer and disabled activists remind executives that some of the most memorable leaders are those who challenged the status quo. Stakeholders are challenged to literally look at their excuses in the face. Employees are encouraged to make their voices heard. The general audience was told to seize the moment by ‘ending this sh*t’. Creative would take form in public places such as street billboards, bus stop posters, and mugs.

Campaign execution

Communication would be a combination of targeted and mass pressure for change would be felt from both the top and bottom. The messages created to target each of the chosen groups would be amplified by paid media and PR. The agency also wanted to help businesses diversify by creating a microsite with a ‘diversity dashboard’, advice for leaders, and toolkits for customers and employees to make their voices heard. A fundraiser would happen every year to keep the awareness ongoing. “Funds raised would go to selected charities who lost money from the demise of the President’s Club Charity Dinner, as well as lobbying, PR pressure, and grass-roots programmes,” says Helen.

Campaign:

The Diversity 100

Agency:

Kingpin

Behind the campaign

Kingpin saw potential in the Hampton-Alexander review but wanted to dissect the reasons as to why people weren’t taking note, and change their ways in light of the information it reported. It believed one of the reasons was because gender diversity reports are often seen as dry and lack the opportunity for interaction. The agency wanted to ignite the information and the issue; make it noticeable, make people listen and more importantly, take action. “In short, dry content isn’t interactive. The facts are there, they’re just not brought to life,” explains James Foulkes, co-founder of Kingpin.

Aims and objectives

Kingpin wanted to understand the barriers as to why the gender diversity issue exists from all parties, so took a data-based rather than visual approach. It wanted to outline the boundaries employers and prospective employees saw for women. “Without answering these simple questions, whatever strategy we deploy has an equally high chance of failure as it does to succeed,” says James. It also wanted to engage stakeholders, and the best way they felt to do this was by working out the value propositions, both metric-focused and emotionally-driven. “There are several data points for those that embrace a diverse culture,” says James.

The creative

To bring the facts to life and lay bare organisations’ culture and commitment, Kingpin would launch a ‘Diversity 100’ ranking. Initially the campaign would target the perpetrators in the FTSE 350, but as momentum builds the ranking would be extended to the broader business world. “Change has to come from the boardroom,” says James. “If we can truly make it commercial sense (even though the facts are already there) to look at your leadership team mix, then business will follow.” Kingpin want to go beyond just the number of women in the company, it would create a scoring system that rewards initiatives and programmes to “reward actions not just a snapshot of today.

Campaign execution

Once the initial research for the ranking is completed Kingpin’s efforts would become an account-based marketing campaign. They would target all 350 FTSE organisations via all possible channels. Communications would let them know the company’s score on the ‘Diversity 100’ and the agency would also send them the full report in printed form. “For PLCs you can often do this to c-levels at their home addresses – if you dare!” James says. The campaign ultimately gives executives who are hardwired to conservative business ways, a goal, which of course they’ll want to achieve, and in turn hopefully rewire their thinking.