If you want to cry, cry; and if you want to invoice, invoice: the gender gap and brand strategies

Accompanying the evolution of gender narratives is one of the most important challenges facing companies and brands today. Many brands have learned from past mistakes, many have hit the mark, others have sought their own voice to appeal to increasingly discerning consumers when it comes to giving the thumbs up. In front of the 8m the problem is gaining visibility.

Sharing values, postulating goals, generating meeting points and opening up conversation are some of the triggers that set the agenda. However, you have to be attentive and have quick reflexes, because the gender issue is constantly evolving. The plot is made up of different threads that reach the company from multiple platforms, go viral and challenge users across all devices. As layers of opinion overlap at the speed of light, brands have a tremendous opportunity to foster lasting and engaged relationships.

In contexts where the revolution of senses and meanings opens up to a range of diverse perceptions, different approaches emerge to immerse oneself in the 8M, a date that has its origins in the manifestations of women who at the beginning of the 20th century, especially in Europe, They demanded the right to vote, better working conditions and gender equality.

The date that the UN began to commemorate in 1975 is no longer celebrated with chocolates, flowers or exclusive business gifts for women. There are practices that are definitely outdated. So welcome new formats to rethink where, to whom and how actions are designed to address different segments. Flexibility and adaptability to the social climate are some of the attributes that come into play. Risk management drives board and CEO meetings.

We saw in mid-January which firms took over the gauntlet he launched Shakirain the BZRP Music Sessions, vol. 53. A real cascade of responses that Rolex, Casio or Twingo quickly understood as an opportunity to resignify themselves, to make the stock market indices rebound and to become trendy on social networks. The question that remained, however, is whether all women can portray themselves as the singer, or whether it is wrong to cry.. Duels, whatever they are, are personal and take their time. Or what about emotions: we saw how the Argentine players who won the World Cup cried and hugged each other. None hid the tears that were reproduced on millions of screens across the planet. We also saw something unusual: a much-celebrated gesture from Messi handing the cup to his wife to hold and show to the world. He gave women an absolutely equal place, symbolically showing the equality of the sexes.

Thus, the song, which already totals 357 million views on YouTube, made a lot of noise, even if the message, which caused controversy, revolved around traditional mandates. Shakira finally compares herself to objects. Today the sadness, the decisions, and even less the emotions of women are not judged. Brands in general know, or try to know, the importance of the freedom people need to be able to choose. In these changing times, the speeches that appeal to diversitywho recognize the complexity and multiplicity of choices, are most likely to gain mass acceptance.

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According to a market study we carried out with the consulting firm Tendency in 5 countries (Argentina, Chile, Peru, Brazil and Mexico), 1 person in 7 thinks that advertising and cultural products such as series, films, etc., make a model of society visible. The survey that relieves the responses of a thousand people. The objective was to investigate the perception that women and men have of gender. What stereotypes continue to be effective, aspirational and enabling in brand communication and how far can we go to reject them?

Brands and products are not ignoring these continuous changes and are reformulating their campaigns to reinvent themselves around the needs of these new logics that change from day to day. While 62% of parents of teenagers take advantage of advertising to show their children what they think is right or wrong, the majority believe that stereotypes continue to be reproduced.

Although the pandemic has served as a bridge for more and more men to get involved in child-rearing and household chores, women have assumed responsibility for household chores, school help, etc. SO, there management of time represents another opportunity to speak to increasingly fair-minded consumers. Or at least to those who know how to discern between helping and assuming responsibilities, valuing the tasks of distribution and care.

However, there is still a long way to go. The report compiled by Trendsity showed that 6 in 10 people still dislike aspects of advertising that break traditional gender stereotypes when they don’t feel represented, or when they notice a lack of authenticity in the speech of the brand in question. They also feel annoyed when they find that advertisements are only meant to grab attention and do not reflect reality. Authenticity and consistency between discourses and practices are valued.

You may be interested: The 8M feels in the pocket: in Argentina women earn 27.7% less than men

Farewell to binary speeches

One of the conclusions drawn is that brands need direction and a clear and consistent position on how to position themselves taking into account the recipients and recipients. The only feminine or masculine break in terms of ways of living, feeling, dealing with roles and relationships, ways of choosing -and investing-, they are no longer enough today to establish an honest dialogue between brands and the users.

We live in a constant acceleration of processes that erase established borders, proposing new imaginaries. Like parenthood, motherhood and family which increasingly supports multiple formats. The debate puts the new family configurations in white on black.

From Trendsity, we revealed in another survey that the 67% say having children is no longer a mandate. The results show that people aged 26 to 39, with a higher socio-economic level, are more interested in freedom in relationships than in the demands of obedience and conformity to traditions. That is, they are clear about permission to think about whether they want to have children and how many.

Accompanying this cultural transition from discourses that help to cross the evolution requires actors who assume the challenge of change and the finality of the equalization of opportunities and rights.

No gender distinction. Without impositions, with commitment and perspectives that reduce the traditional binary. And with points of view that invite the construction of new imaginations. Honest, consistent, attentive listeners, brands today seek to position themselves by starting from diversity to mix things up and bring something new.

* CEO Founder of Trendsity and President of SAIMO

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