More and more ads are embracing girl power. “Femvertising” ads — advertisements that aim to celebrate and empower women and girls — have made a splash over the past few years. And there’s no sign of them slowing down.
In October 2014, women’s lifestyle website SheKnows asked 628 women about their views on advertising. Ninety-one percent of respondents said that the way ads present women impacts girls’ self-esteem, and 94 percent thought that showing women as sex symbols in ads is harmful. Given that women make 85 percent of consumer purchases, the fact that brands are taking
women’s opinions into account when creating their campaigns is good business sense — and a positive step in the right direction.
Brands are building awareness-generating, stereotype-busting messaging and images into ads that target women and girls because they realize that ads that empower women don’t just generate impressions, they leave them. They are more likely to be seen, shared, and remembered. Women ages 18-34 are twice as likely to think highly of a brand that made an empowering ad.
A big example of femvertising is #LikeAGirl ad from Always, makers of maxi-pads and the like. Recruited women, men, boys and pre-pubescent girls and asked them to show what it physically meant to run like a girl or throw like a girl. The result: viewers were forced to consider that doing things “like a girl” should be seen as strong, not pathetic.
Procter & Gamble went a step further and launched a sequel – #Unstoppable – which has clocked up 85m views worldwide with armies of young girls endlessly sharing it online.
So Nigerian brands should learn the act of toasting the girls. Also, I learnt a new word today! Can you guess!!!
