Tag: International Women's Day

India – To mark International Women’s Day, Luminous Power Technologies and AutumnGrey, a Grey company, have launched the latest edition of their #WomenInEnergy campaign, aiming to break subconscious gender biases in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

Now in its third year, the latest #WomenInEnergy campaign challenges the unspoken assumption among Indians that fathers or male family members are the go-to experts for STEM-related homework and projects, subtly undermining women’s potential and capabilities in these fields.

The campaign film depicts a school science exhibition where a young girl presents her solar energy model. Instead of recognising her achievement, judges and teachers question if her father helped her—reflecting a deep-seated bias that links STEM expertise to men. The film challenges this stereotype by revealing that her mother, a chief engineer at Luminous Solar, is her true inspiration.

Speaking about the campaign, Anusha Shetty, chairperson and group CEO of Grey India, said, “People often talk about empowering women, but true empowerment means facing hidden biases that hold them back. This film explores this reality, highlighting how even well-meaning individuals can support stereotypes subconsciously. Our humble effort, through this film, is to create a world where every girl overcomes these biases and shines brightly.”

Neelima Burra, chief strategy transformation and marketing officer at Luminous Power Technologies, shared, “The #WomenInEnergy campaign has been a journey of showcasing the remarkable contributions of women in energy, a sector that has long been perceived as male dominated. Through this film, we want to celebrate the women who continue defying expectations, leading innovations, and inspiring future generations to pursue careers in energy and STEM. This campaign is just one part of our broader commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.” 

Burra also highlighted Luminous’ month-long Inclusion Month celebration, aimed at driving real, measurable change across the organisation by empowering women, fostering allyship, and embedding inclusion as a way of life.

“During Inclusion Month, we go beyond discussions and workshops to drive actionable change, setting the stage for sustained progress throughout the year. This initiative features candid dialogues, leadership discussions, employee workshops, and events across multiple locations, each designed to drive impact and solidify inclusion as a way of life. This commitment is what helps us move beyond targets and statistics, making inclusion an integral part of who we are,” she added.

Shenzhen, China – Global technology company TCL has launched a new campaign in commemoration of International Women’s Day, encouraging women to go after their dreams, transform them into a reality, and inspire others along the way.

The campaign, titled #EchoesOfGreatness, pays homage to renowned silent film actress Dorothy Cumming, who travelled from Australia to the United States in mid-1916 to follow her ambition of establishing a career in Hollywood.

Moreover, the campaign is also based on real-life interviews with Cumming’s family, news clippings and film studies, the legendary actress’ inspiring story was brought to life in #EchoesOfGreatness to honor her legacy and encourage women to keep the momentum going as the director of their own dreams. 

As part of the campaign, they are invited to share their stories and journey of turning dreams into reality – whether it was starting a business, pursuing a passion, or overcoming obstacles – on social media. Selected stories will be made into a movie by TCL to inspire others.

Yuki Wei, vice president of TCL Technology and chairman of the TCL Charity Foundation, said, “When those before us dream big, it inspires us to do the same and make our dreams come true. Over the years, TCL has been spotlighting women that are making a difference every day through #TCLforHer. We look forward to continuing this celebration of the strength and limitless potential of every girl and woman to dream big and live even bigger.”

To underscore the role of technology in facilitating women’s empowerment, TCL is also set to kick off #TechForHer, an accompanying social media campaign that highlights the functions and potential of the company’s innovative technology in impacting lives, including girls’ and women’s. The campaign will also see online users interacting with TCL through various interactive polls.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Subscription and rental based online shopping platform SUBPLACE has launched a donation drive to pledge support to seven local women’s NGOs that will be featured in a charity campaign held in conjunction with International Women’s Day.

The seven women’s NGOs featured on SUBPLACE include the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM), PT Foundation, Women of Will (WOW), Purple Lily Sarawak, Stand Up, and Pertubuhan Kebajikan Al-Firdausi.

SUBPLACE hopes that the campaign will help raise awareness about NGOs that have been working tirelessly towards protecting women’s rights and welfare.

Mak Wai Hoong, CEO of SUBPLACE, added that they hope this campaign will draw attention to the plight of women throughout the country who need our support, and to the NGOs that are tirelessly helping them.

“Through campaigns such as our International Women’s Month campaign, we hope to highlight to our subscribers that we don’t just offer home goods, food and electronics or shopping, but our platform also supports charities and NGOs, and we encourage our subscribers to pledge their support with monthly donations of a nominal fee,” he stated.

The platform also hopes that subscriptions will eventually be a mainstay in the consumer lifestyle, as the subscription mechanism makes it an ideal channel for donations to charities and NGOs while also being conveniently accessible by consumers looking to give back.

“SUBPLACE hopes that charity subscriptions can help connect the public to a variety of NGOs working for the public good that may not normally be on their radar, forming a sustainable funding channel between NGOs and the public, so that the former may continue with their good work,” the company said in a press statement.

They added, “By making giving back as easy as one clicks to subscribe, and with the option to cancel anytime as simple as signing up, SUBPLACE hopes that they can help revolutionise charity donations by making it easy and accessible for everyone.”

SUBPLACE’s International Women’s Month will run between 8 to 25 March 2022.

Philippines — Just in time for International Women’s Day, Grab Philippines is opening a fresh offering in its super app – where users can now make bookings for salon and wellness home services. This is specifically in partnership with PH-based beauty and wellness service platform Parlon.

Staying true to the theme of IWD, the said partnership in fact aims to encourage women to celebrate and get pampered safely and conveniently at the comfort of their homes. This campaign marks the first salon home service partnership in the region and features popular salon favourites Marqed Salon, The Secret Lounge, Benibana Beauty Hub, Vine Aesthetics, Lay Bare, and Passionails. Home service appointments on haircuts, beauty treatments, and grooming services from these salons are now available via the Grab app with more Parlon partner salons expected to be onboarded after launch.

Claire Ongcangco, CEO of Parlon, said that this is a very important milestone for Parlon because it has always been their mission to digitalize the salon and wellness industry.

“We’re not just here to create a marketplace or software. We aim to build an ecosystem and we strongly believe that home service will play a part in the industry’s future as we continue to navigate a post-pandemic life. We’re very happy to be sharing this breakthrough with Grab and we’re hoping that this partnership is just the beginning of many revolutionary firsts for both of us,” Ongcango said.

Anton Bautista, head of deliveries for Grab Philippines, commented, “We are delighted to have Parlon and their partner salons available in the Grab app through GrabMart. As a leading everyday super app in Southeast Asia, Grab is constantly looking for ways to make lives better for each and every Filipino. This International Women’s Month, our partnership with Parlon will bring the most-trusted salon brands closer to every Filipina and even bring excellent beauty services right to their homes through a tap of a button. This partnership strengthens our mission of creating an ecosystem of different everyday essentials easily available to our consumers.”

The promotion values at a minimum of PHP 3,000 excluding the transportation fee, customers may book home service via the GrabMart option, selecting their chosen salon and service, picking a time slot, and checking out their appointments—just like how food is ordered. Multiple services from one salon also can be booked for a total pampering experience.

“We’ve entered this partnership with both the consumers and the salon industry in mind. At Parlon, we want to give consumers easily accessible options to book their home service appointments while keeping the comfort of salon owners and staff as well. We’re confident that with Grab’s strong reputation of delivering safe and convenient rides, our beauty providers won’t have to worry about the hassle of travelling with all their tools and equipment,” Ongcangco said.

Through this collaboration, stylists and beauty technicians will enjoy hassle-free car transport services to and from their client’s houses for every appointment.

Singapore – In honour of International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on 8 March, the camera and social media company Snap has launched three workshops across SEA called ‘Lensathon’, aimed at upskilling and encouraging participation of young women in augmented reality (AR).

The workshops will let participants use Lens Studio, Snap’s free desktop app, to create and design their own AR experiences with the theme of International Women’s Day. The workshops were conducted by women creators from Snapchat Lens Network namely Danielle Grace for Indonesia and Singapore, and Yong Nurain Sofia Binti Khairulhiddard for Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. 

Moreover, Lensathon participants who will be submitting valid Lenses will stand a chance to join its Lens Studio Community and pursue their passion for AR.

Grace commented that she is honoured to be able to teach Lens Studio workshops to bud female creators in SEA to help them express their creativity with augmented reality.

“Having used Lens Studio to create thousands of AR Lenses myself, I know the potential for creativity is limitless and I can’t wait to see the creations from our growing creator community,” she said. 

Meanwhile, Anubhav Nayyar, Snap’s director of market development for SEA, shared that their approach to AR is rooted in storytelling and creativity as the entry points to introduce this new technology to broad audiences. 

“We have greatly evolved AR not only for entertainment but also utility use-cases like education, commerce etc. Our International Women’s Day Lensathon hopes to inspire and upskill women across the region to bring their creativity and passion to life,” said Nayyar.

Snap said it has been conducting multiple Lens Studio workshops across SEA to help students and youths create shared experiences and express their ideas in compelling ways. It also announced that it will be leveraging the power of AR by launching a series of special, #BreakTheBias AR Lenses, and hyperlocal geofilters for Women’s Day, in alignment with the celebration.

Australia – In celebration of International Women’s Day, full-service earned media agency One Green Bean have launched an initiative with Simone Gupta, CEO at One Green Bean Australia and Kat Thomas, founder and ECD at One Green Bean; which will offer a full day of 30-minute ‘coaching over a cuppa’ sessions, to help women in the comms industry have career-related conversations that really matter.

For Gupta, if they can offer women a fresh perspective on their current situation, help them have a tough conversation with confidence or just help them weigh up whether the grass might be greener, the kettle is ‘officially on’.

“Championing women is something I am extremely passionate about. In my experience, the formula for retaining women isn’t difficult; women want more job satisfaction, more meaningful work, better recognition and to be rewarded with the right pay and benefits. This is very achievable, but it’s sometimes harder for women to make it a reality, which should not be the case in 2022,” Gupta said.

Meanwhile, Thomas said that they want to use their several decades’ worth of experience – as both employers and employees – to give women insights into how to tackle the critical conversations that can push them closer to achieving their ambitions.

“The age of the ‘stick or quit conundrum’ is upon us. I put this down to a complex combination of having ambition and wanting more, but hesitating. I hold the confidence gap responsible for this. In my experience, hesitancy and self-doubt go hand in hand, feelings that disproportionately affect women. Whilst talent is on an equal footing, men are far more likely to push for higher pay, career progression and more flexibility than women do,” she said.

The new initiative is a response to new research commissioned by One Green Bean, which reveals that many female marcomms staff are grappling with the stick or quit conundrum. The majority (54%) of female employees are unsure whether their current employer is the best place for their career while almost a third (32%) do not believe their employer is invested in their career development. This uncertainty has led to half (50%) of women saying they are unsure whether they should stick with their current employer or quit.

Interested participants can reach out to Gupta and Thomas via email.

India — Evergreen Club, the online community for older adults has launched their Women’s Day campaign entitled #LadyActYourAge underscoring age-related plights like stereotyping faced by elderly women in everyday life. Evergreen cites the recent report stating that the ageing population in India has grown 34 per cent between the timespan of 2011 and 2021 and alongside it grew the loneliness and typecasting amongst this age bracket.

Through a video, this social media campaign by Evergreen Club explores the conflicting messages women have been given about how they should look, live, and behave as they get older.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpTaUJB3X-E&feature=youtu.be

#LadyActYourAge serves as a powerful reminder for viewers to change their actions, way of speaking, and the expectations society puts on older women. It also reminds us to beat gender and age-related stereotypes, and give elderly women the freedom to make their own choices.

Tapan Mishra, founder of Evergreen Club, said that society often expects older women need to behave a certain way and act according to their age. Mishra continued by saying that during his conversations with Evergreen Club members, he constantly observed how they have been breaking the stereotypes they have been subjected to.

“This International Women’s Day, we aim to highlight these issues so that people take cognizance of the same and take it upon themselves to spread the message to create a sensitive world for the elders, and more so, for the elderly women,” Mishra said.

Singapore – As part of the celebration for International Women’s Day, short video platform TikTok in Singapore has announced a series of live events under the “#WhenWomenWin” which will spotlight inspirational women who have made a home on the platform to share their heartfelt stories, channel good vibes, and champion the causes that matter most to them.

For the platform, TikTok has certainly blossomed into a space where women from all walks of life can speak their truth, break barriers, and empower others – all while celebrating the extraordinary changes that come to life. These include young female entrepreneurs, coders, rising stars in the local music scene, to changemakers shedding light on the often-unspoken realities of burns and chronic illnesses.

The live series will be scheduled from 1 to 8 of March. The lineup will feature content creators jewellery brand XVXII owner Vidhi, actress Julie Tan, polytechnic student Tammie Ong who spreads awareness on rare diseases, Anytime Fitness’ sales rep and salsation instructor Syakirah Syazwana, mando-pop R&B songstress Soph T, educational and motivational content creator Adeline Tay, full-time retail associate Nur Amirah Arman who spreads awareness about the blood condition called Thalassaemia, as well as radio DJ and host Germaine Leonora.

Other participants include full-time software developer Ainul Mohamed Razib, publishers Nicole Lim and Kimberly Ho who are known for their sites “Our Grandfather Story” and “Something Private”, callisthenics coach Charlene Chew, and Safe Place founder Jennifer Heng.

In a statement to MARKETECH APAC, Doreen Tan, user and content operations manager at TikTok Singapore, said, “TikTok has become a home for championing positivity and authentic expression, as we provide an inclusive space that uplifts and celebrates the successes of our amazing community.”

She added, “We continue to be inspired by our very own female creators from Singapore, who have made a huge impact on our community in their own unique way, whether it’s guiding young entrepreneurs, shedding light on important social issues, or creating a safe environment for others to share their truth. We are certainly looking forward to the line-up of speakers featured in this year’s International Women’s Day LIVE programming, and welcome everyone to tune in for their incredible stories.”

Manila, Philippines – To celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day, Procter & Gamble (P&G) has partnered with Southeast Asia’s (SEA) e-commerce platform Shopee to launch its latest campaign, #ChallengeTheChores.

The campaign aims to challenge gender stereotypes by promoting a sense of joint responsibility within the household and encouraging family members to team up and share the responsibility of doing household chores as the brunt of the work has fallen on women during the pandemic, with several extra responsibilities and commitments added to their already busy lives.

To further explain the significance of addressing this call for shared responsibility, a feature on how household chores can be equally divided and tackled together will also be released.

The campaign will be launched progressively across five SEA markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam, featuring a series of challenges that aim to motivate families to take on household chores together, such as doing the laundry and attending to a child’s needs.

During the campaign period, shoppers in each market can also look forward to live streams featuring key opinion leaders. The campaign also includes exclusive in-app activities to acquire special deals and win prizes, as well as the classic Shopee Catch game to collect many P&G products giveaway or vouchers.

According to Shopee, women are the most active shoppers on the platform in product categories such as household and other fast-moving consumer goods. As e-commerce becomes more prevalent, Shopee looks to leverage its platform to encourage conversations through interactive campaigns for its consumers.

Alexandra Vogler, senior director of P&G e-commerce for Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa, commented, “P&G is deeply committed to equality and inclusion. Through this campaign, we want to raise awareness of the imbalanced distribution of chores. Through an entertaining short film and an interactive, gamified experience, we hope to inspire people to #ChallengeTheChores and drive greater equality within households.”

Meanwhile, Martin Yu, director of Shopee Philippines, said that they are proud to partner with P&G on this meaningful initiative, saying that besides encouraging families to take on equal responsibilities of household chores, they also seek to provide our users with a wide assortment of products to make everyday household chores convenient and manageable. 

“We look forward to launching more of such engaging campaigns with P&G that would enrich the shopping experience for our users,” said Yu.

Singapore – E-commerce platform Lazada hosted today its inaugural ‘Lazada Forward Women Awards’ 2021 in Singapore, to honor six outstanding women across the Southeast Asia region, who were thought to have formed new paths through the e-commerce space and have showcased resilience and innovation in their journeys as entrepreneurs. 

The event was live-streamed to viewers in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam on the Lazada LazLive channel. It featured guest performers like Malaysia’s rap darling, Zamaera, and Singapore’s very own funny woman, Sharul Channa in celebration of International Women’s Month.

The inaugural Lazada Forward Women Awards 2021 comprise three award categories, namely the Creative Seller Award, Enterprising Seller Award, and Inspiring Seller Award. 

Among the first-six award recipients are Singapore’s Anne Ong of Anne’s Secret Recipes and Vietnam’s Pham Thi Xuan Hong of PinkShopGiayDep, where both took the ;’Creative Seller Award’.

Meanwhile, Philippines’ Georgianna Carlos of Fetch and Thailand’s Lalilla Thamnita of AggieHome earned the ‘Enterprising Seller Award’.

And lastly, for the ‘Inspiring Seller Award’, Indonesia’s Hanna Suhardi of Shopping Shoes and Malaysia’s Annie Chia of NLWK Florist won.

During the awards ceremony, Chun Li, the chief executive officer of Lazada Group, commented that he is honored to be around inspirational women today. 

“You found interesting and unique ways to leverage the Lazada platform to not only establish your online business but also to engage customers and build a niche following while uplifting the lives around you. Lazada is proud to be your partner and have the opportunity to be part of your successful journey,” said Chun Li.

As part of the Awards presentation ceremony, he also joined in a lively discussion moderated by Virginia Tan, the founding partner of Teja Ventures and co-founder of She Loves Tech, with panelist Ayesha Khanna, the CEO of Addo.ai, on the topic of ‘Growing Women Entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia: Current Challenges and Opportunities’.