International Women's Day is Sunday, but brands and nonprofits are getting an early start with their ads to ensure they get seen before the weekend.
Apple was one of the first megabrands out of the gate, marking the annual event with an extension of the Behind the Mac campaign. This time around, Apple is focused on inspiring and iconic women across multiple generations, including Lady Gaga, Malala, Gloria Steinem and many more.
Taking a very different approach is UN Women, the global advocacy group that today released a cleverly crafted PSA that shows how much things change, while inequality remains the same.
The sprawling tonal difference between the two is a good omen for what we can expect to see from other brands and organizations in the days ahead. Some will celebrate what has been accomplished, while others try to energize viewers into action by highlighting how much work is still left to be done in the fight for gender balance.
One major reason that International Women's Day is such a marketing-heavy moment is Fearless Girl, the bronze statue created by McCann in 2017 for State Street Global Advisors.
Fearless Girl transcended advertising and became a fulcrum for cultural conversation around the world (winning a seemingly endless landslide of awards along the way). Perhaps most impressively, it subtly bridged these two seemingly distinct approaches—celebrating progress and calling out inequality. Thanks to its boldness and underlying message of the need for more women on corporate boards, Fearless Girl was both empowering and educational about what is left to be done.
What do you think makes for an effective marketing message on International Women's Day? Drop me a line at the email below or hit me at @Griner on Twitter.
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com
