3% Conference Spotlights Hurdles for Women at Ad Agencies
- 7 years ago
3% Conference Spotlights Hurdles for Women at Ad Agencies
“We’re getting at those subtle things — how much your firm is celebrating women, how much you’re giving
them the stage to own the floor, to being in front of key clients, to participate in pitches.”
Cindy Gallop, a former advertising executive and the founder of the website MakeLoveNotPorn, went so far as to say
that “sexual harassment is the single biggest business issue our industry faces.” She said it had caused the ad world to “hemorrhage vast amounts of talent, creativity and skills,” and create work that fails to resonate with consumers.
The conference was created to promote the role of women in creative leadership at ad agencies, deriving its name from a 2008 statistic
that said only 3 percent of creative directors at top ad agencies were women.
“Or, ‘Why would you touch her like that?’ That takes courage.”
In the past year, Ms. Gordon and her colleagues surveyed 31 agencies, which employ almost 18,000 people in the United States, and found
that 29 percent of their creative directors are women.
God-is Rivera, director of inclusion and cultural resonance at the marketing agency VML, invoked the issues
that have emerged in the entertainment industry, pointing to “how many people never said anything.”
“A lot of people with power knew what was happening and who was being hurt and just turned a blind eye,” Ms. Rivera said.
“One of the things our event and platform does is give women a large sense of community,”
said Kat Gordon, its founder, who had been a longtime copywriter and creative director.
“We’re getting at those subtle things — how much your firm is celebrating women, how much you’re giving
them the stage to own the floor, to being in front of key clients, to participate in pitches.”
Cindy Gallop, a former advertising executive and the founder of the website MakeLoveNotPorn, went so far as to say
that “sexual harassment is the single biggest business issue our industry faces.” She said it had caused the ad world to “hemorrhage vast amounts of talent, creativity and skills,” and create work that fails to resonate with consumers.
The conference was created to promote the role of women in creative leadership at ad agencies, deriving its name from a 2008 statistic
that said only 3 percent of creative directors at top ad agencies were women.
“Or, ‘Why would you touch her like that?’ That takes courage.”
In the past year, Ms. Gordon and her colleagues surveyed 31 agencies, which employ almost 18,000 people in the United States, and found
that 29 percent of their creative directors are women.
God-is Rivera, director of inclusion and cultural resonance at the marketing agency VML, invoked the issues
that have emerged in the entertainment industry, pointing to “how many people never said anything.”
“A lot of people with power knew what was happening and who was being hurt and just turned a blind eye,” Ms. Rivera said.
“One of the things our event and platform does is give women a large sense of community,”
said Kat Gordon, its founder, who had been a longtime copywriter and creative director.