Women Empowerment Archives

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.

Singapore – Skincare brand Olay has partnered with Publicis Groupe One Singapore for the launch of its newest campaign that targets the gender disparity in India’s STEM field.

The campaign is part of the latest instalment of its #STEMTheGap initiative and aims to shed light on the glaring absence of female mentors and role models in India’s STEM workforce.

As part of the campaign, Olay India collaborated with filmmaker Anand Gandhi to launch a digital film that delves into India’s rich history of remarkable women in STEM. The digital film will pay homage to and showcase the inspiring stories of luminaries like Dr. Anandibai Joshi, Kamala Sohonie, Dr. Janaki Ammal, and Kalpana Chawla, among others.

The film will highlight the urgent need for more female role models in STEM today and will also shed light on the societal biases deterring young girls from pursuing STEM careers by emphasising the crucial role of female mentors in the field.

Aside from the digital film, Olay also launched the beta version of a web-based virtual chat mentor that will offer guidance and information to aspiring young girls seeking to enter the world of STEM.

The virtual chat mentor, a supplement to Olay’s mentorship programme,will provide the user with knowledge, resources, and encouragement on their journeys. It was created with the help of successful women in different STEM fields in India, such as Shannon Olsson, founder and global director at Echo Network; Swarna Manjari, communication designer; Dr. Vandana Prasad, community paediatrician and public health professional; and Tarunima Prabhakar, tech and policy research at Tattle Civic Tech and Carnegie India, to name a few.

Olay’s campaign is crafted based on the results of their commissioned survey, which found a huge gap between female STEM graduates and those who actually made it into the workforce in India. A staggering number of its respondents also mentioned the need for female role models in STEM as a way to influence them to pursue their careers.

To encourage future women in STEM, Olay also continues to partner with LEAD, a school EdTech provider in India, to sponsor STEM scholarships for 250+ underprivileged girls. These scholarships aim to empower girls across India by providing them with financial support for STEM education and career development.

Priyali Kamath, senior vice president of skin and personal care at Procter & Gamble (P&G) Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa, explained, “For decades, Procter & Gamble’s legacy skincare brand Olay has maintained a deep understanding of women’s changing needs through science. At Olay, we understand the critical importance of female role models in the STEM field, and our commitment to bridging the gender gap is unparalleled. This year’s theme, centred on the significance of role models and the introduction of mentorship initiatives, highlights our commitment to ensuring every young girl knows that she can be the next leader in her field.”

She added, “Through initiatives like #STEMTheGap and our commitment to gender equality, we are working hard to double the number of women in STEM by 2030 and create a more inclusive and equitable future. We’re proud to recognise and support the next generation of women in STEM who will one day be making history in their respective fields and become role models for young girls in the future.”

Ajay Vikram, chief creative officer for Southeast Asia at Publicis Groupe, also commented, “There are many accomplished women leaders in STEM in India today. Yet, a ‘lack of mentors’ is often cited as a big reason why so few women make a career in STEM. This got us thinking. How do we not just celebrate the achievements of women in STEM but actually be useful—to be there at the very moment when needed, a friend and guide to any girl or woman looking for answers as they stand at the crossroads of choosing their path forward. Technology came in handy as a way to help, but we can’t wait to see how much more Ai-shu can do to help women find their way to a future of their choosing.”

Singapore – Global communications agency Redhill has teamed up with the Geylang International Football Club (GIFC) to drive women’s football in Singapore by boosting its visibility in the country and highlighting the players and their achievements, as well as promoting a positive image of the sport.

Through this partnership, Redhill will provide sponsorship in addition to strategic communications support to help promote the Women’s Premier League team, its talented players within GIFC, and to connect with a wider audience.

Said partnership is expected to bring greater visibility and recognition to women’s football. The Women’s Premier League is an opportunity to showcase the talent, dedication, and hard work of the players within GIFC and other clubs in Singapore.

For Redhill CEO Jacob Puthenparambil, they are proud of supporting the organisation, stating that said partnership will serve as an inspiration for young women to join the team and fuel their commitment to strengthening community outreach efforts.

“We are confident that our partnership will help promote women’s football in Singapore and showcase the exceptional players within the Women’s Premier League.Our shared commitment to excellence and diversity will undoubtedly create a positive impact on women’s football in Singapore and beyond. We are excited to embark on this journey with GIFC and look forward to the upcoming season of the Women’s Premier League,” he said.

Meanwhile, Thomas Gay, chairman of Geylang International, commented, “As a global communications agency, their support towards promoting women’s football in Singapore and showcase our talented athletes within our club will be invaluable. We believe this partnership will help us to raise the profile of women’s football in Singapore and encourage more women to take up the sport.”

Redhill has recently ventured into supporting programmes and strengthening their offerings. In December 2022, the agency launched Redhill Lancers, a programme aimed at supporting early-stage startups. It has also acquired VS Story in September 2022 to bolster the agency’s sustainability offerings.

Singapore – Wunderman Thompson has announced the expansion of Magpie, its own peer-to-peer mentoring app for women, across Asia-Pacific. This follows after the launch of said app in the United Kingdom during International Women’s Day.

Said app aims to empower and connect women across the business using a matchmaking style app based on each individual mentor’s expertise and knowledge.

Complimenting longer-term mentoring schemes available in the industry, Magpie connects women for peer mentorship on specific/individual needs, featuring 15 themes ranging from maternity and motherhood, leadership, building your personal brand, and managing stress.

Originally launched in the UK on International Women’s Day in 2022, the app was created by RISE, Wunderman Thompson UK’s women’s network, and was born from a desire to create a self-serve platform to form connections and support Wunderman Thompson’s women who account for half of the agency’s workforce.

After a successful pilot scheme across the agency’s APAC offices, Magpie will launch the app across the region’s talent on 8th March, supporting their women’s network Ladybirds, which aims to strengthen representation and gender parity across the region through networking, mentoring, events. and knowledge sharing.

Lindsay Shirley, chief people officer for Wunderman Thompson APAC, said, “As senior leaders, we have an obligation to mentor and support women to build their careers and thrive at Wunderman Thompson. Many women have wanted a mentor but not known where to find one, Magpie has helped us bridge that gap and we’re thankful to RISE UK for it.”

Meanwhile, Supria Dutta, head of talent for Wunderman Thompson APAC and Ladybirds member, commented, “We are excited to bring Magpie to our region on International Women’s Day. This unique peer mentorship app has the potential to build bridges between women on all levels and potentially open doors for active sponsorship.”

Singapore – Unilever’s global beauty brand LUX has been consistent in exercising its platform to rally against sexism, and this time, it augments its support by launching a new global training resource. The Allies e-learning programme is a learning tool targeted at the workplace setting, aiming to impart how to call out and stop bad behaviour in the workplace.

Led by Wunderman Thompson, the communications are rooted in real-life insights relevant to the audience in developing and emerging markets that LUX serves. The new course called ‘LUX Allies Against Workplace Sexism’ is said to have been designed together with a DE&I behaviour change expert to help counter sexism in the workplace. Furthermore, it was created specifically for emerging markets where patriarchal values and the traditional mindset about gender roles are entrenched in society.

Severine Vauleon, global brand lead at LUX, said, “Beauty can be a powerful source of strength and self-confidence for women. At the workplace in particular, confidence and self-belief can make a huge difference in a woman’s job satisfaction and career trajectory.”

“As a brand that touches the lives of millions of women worldwide, we want to be an enabler that supports women’s confidence and authenticity to thrive, rather than see them self-edit and wither. As such, we will continue to help women everywhere fight casual sexism especially related to their experience, at home, in the workplace and in wider society.”

The ‘LUX Allies Against Workplace Sexism’ programme is structured as three module pillars – AWARE, ACT, and ALLY. It confronts participants with everyday scenarios in the workplace where women may face casual sexist remarks from colleagues – whether male or female – and gives simple yet effective actions to call out these belittling comments.

To further drive home the agenda, LUX worked with organisational and behavioural scientist and indigenous rights advocate, Matthew J Yazzie, who specialises in workplace discrimination. Yazzie played a pivotal role in creating the content schedule for the modules. Part of them is him shedding light on casual sexism.

The modules use short-form videos to highlight seemingly casual remarks that disempower individuals based on gender stereotypes and share how simple yet effective actions to call out belittling comments can make a difference.

Nicolas Tran Dinh, global digital & masterbrand lead at LUX, shares, “Women, just like men, want to live in a world where they have equal opportunities to be their best selves. The first step in reducing the pressures of everyday sexism that women face starts with us. We must be more aware of our actions and be allies rather than bystanders to support women to rise above daily judgements. This is how we can build a world where men and women are celebrated equally and why we are providing this training as a free resource for all companies.”

Echoing his comments, Hinoti Joshi, global business director from Wunderman Thompson, Singapore, who leads LUX communications, adds, “This is the next step in our Purpose journey towards our end goal of putting an end to everyday sexism. WT APAC and Unilever staff will be actively using it as part of our training to help empower and inspire a community of women and allies to speak up and hold their truth for their beliefs.”

Anyone can access the Allies programme at no charge via LUX’s website and complete the modules to be a certified ‘ally’ against sexism.

Previously, LUX launched campaigns under its social inclusivity advocacy, the “In Her Shoes” and ‘UNSTOPPABLE” campaigns. In the past, the brand also released the ‘Finding Strength in Beauty’ 2021 whitepaper which shared data showing how discrimination against women continues to be prevalent in different forms.

Hong Kong – TCL Electronics, major player in the global television and consumer electronics, is kickstarting a new phase of its global campaign, #TCLForHer, which is a self-sustaining ecosystem where women inspire women to redefine ‘greatness’.

In order to elevate the #TCLForHer campaign and dedicated ‘TCLForHer’ website to a wider audience, the electronics brand will be amplifying its collaboration with rising basketball star and current brand ambassador Shyla Heal.

“TCL believes that unleashing every girl and woman’s true potential will play a vital role in solving many of the global issues we face today and that technology can empower women and drive change,” said the brand.

Stories on the TCLForHer platform will reveal the wisdom of women navigating their own path and how they challenge rules. TCL will also be imparting stories of women’s courage and resilience in the face of adversity and how they stay true to their goals and values.

TCL has had a longstanding commitment to promoting the empowerment and personal development of girls and women worldwide. In 2020, the brand had been a Global Promotional Partner of FIBA’s “Her World, Her Rules” programme to promote women’s and girls’ basketball.

In line with the same advocacy, TCL has also supported Huameng Foundation which funds a number of female-focused programs and educational initiatives.

The campaign’s TCLForHer website is now live.

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.

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.”

Australia — Women for Election, a for-purpose and non-partisan organisation with a mission to inspire and equip more women to enter politics, has launched a new campaign entitled ‘Power Like You’ve Never Seen’ to combat gender disparity in opportunities and representation in the country.

The campaign, created in collaboration with BMF and supported by UN Women Australia, encourages Australians to rethink the face of power and support a new era of female political leadership by calling on Australians to question their ideas of what power looks like and to urge more women to become political representatives.

The campaign includes a hero 60-second TVC which features traditional and stereotypical ideas of what power has historically looked like including a name on a building, a title, a suit, a large desk, a spinning chair, and a statue with a plaque on it. The ad asks women to be part of the redefinition of power and change what power looks like by becoming part of it.

In addition, a series of digital out-of-home ads will air across billboards in Australia with the slogans ‘Power Like You’ve Never Seen’ and ‘If You Care, You’re Qualified’ as well as a print advertisement championing a new era in leadership. The TV, OOH and print are further supported by PR, Social & Influencer as well as a microsite. The campaign launches on 7 February on television, social and digital out-of-home around the nation.

Licia Heath, women for election CEO, commented, “Australians are ready for more women in office; in order to make that vision a reality in future elections, we need to change our idea of what power looks like in Australia. We’ve seen women reclaim it by marching in Canberra, and now we want them to exercise it by taking a seat in each of Australia’s political chambers, be that Council, State or Federal.”

Pia Chaudhuri, executive creative director at BMF, said that gender equality is 134 away in Australia, which means no one will ever see a gender-equal society. She continued that the fastest way to reduce this number is to get more women into public office – to give them a seat at the table where legislation is created, and major societal decisions are made. Chaudhuri said that with more women in power, the country can bring this number down to 10 years but the challenge is inspiring women to take up these positions in the first place.

“We realised the reason most women don’t enter politics is simply that, for centuries now, power has been branded as male. So, we decided the only way we’ll ever truly achieve our goal, is to rebrand power itself. To make familiar symbols of power outdated, making way for a more inclusive brand of power. This is obviously a huge ambition. That’s why this is the start of a 10-year campaign – one that will only finish when we’ve reached gender equality. Ultimately, we want both the platform and concept of ‘Power Like You’ve Never Seen’ to become redundant in the not-so-distant future,” Chaudhuri said.

Mandy Galmes, managing director and partner at Sefiani Communications Group, also shared her thoughts, saying, “Forget business-as-usual. Australians are turning their eyes to the future and want nothing as usual. As a nation, we are ready for a new era of gender equity in political leadership. To achieve this we need to reconsider what traditional power looks like and support women around the nation who have the leadership skills and experience to play an active part in our political future.”

“At Sefiani we pride ourselves on being agents of change, and that means doing work that matters for positive change-makers. We are excited to be working alongside Women for Election, BMF and Havas to advocate change for a better future,” Galmes said.

Mumbai, India – To help brands and agencies create campaigns with inclusive gender narratives, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) in collaboration with management consulting company Futurebrands has launched the ‘GenderNext’ study, which aims to give actionable insights in representing women in advertising.

The ‘GenderNext’ study includes patterns of female portrayals across multiple categories, such as personal care, fashion, beauty, home and hearth, gadgets and wheels, money, and education. The study presents insights on how advertising portrays women versus how they see themselves and want to be seen.

The study interviewed various women across different life stages and town classes, and according to them, they feel that advertising can be their ally in this journey. The study found that for young unmarried women, common stereotypes used in advertising such as women joyfully undertaking the drudgery of work have not been aspirational for them at all.

“Typical women’s day ads that show women emerge victorious after significant struggle were not considered particularly empowering. Women are tired of ads showing young women being bestowed with freedoms only after putting up a fight,” the study stated.

In line with such misportrayals, the study proposes a category agnostic framework known as the ‘SEA (Self-esteemed, Empowered, Allied) Framework’ that aims to guide stakeholders in imagining as well as evaluating portrayals of women in their advertising by building empathy and aiding evaluation.

The study also proposes a 3s screener for scripts and storyboards, casting, styling to identify stereotype red flags. The screener looks at aspects of subordination, service, and standardization, and solves these negative stereotypes through the lens of self-esteem, empowerment, and alliance.

For Lipika Kumaran, lead author at GenderNext, the study has exposed that mainstream advertising still heavily borrows from an inventory of overused, and sometimes harmful stereotypical tropes.

“A detailed study of over six hundred advertisements revealed several problematic tropes- such as sensualizing the act of eating by women, showing women as spenders in financial advertising, women running around the house while others lounge around, male gaze acceptance in beauty ads, showing women as lower down in tech-hierarchy in gadget ads, male celebrities challenging and instructing women, among others,” Kumaran explained.

Meanwhile, Subhash Kamath, chairman at ASCI, noted that said study acts as a guide for stakeholders – brand owners, marketers, advertising professionals – to aid the creation of more progressive depictions of women in advertising.

“The deep insights on women, and what they feel about advertising is a fantastic input into advertising creation, and we hope that brands and advertisers will be motivated by the findings to depict women in more progressive ways. We also intend to set up a task force to evaluate advertising guidelines on harmful stereotypes,” Kamath stated.

Furthermore, Santosh Desai, managing director at Futurebrands commented that the study has identified some common patterns of discrimination and has also created a framework that enables marketers to identify and eliminate such undesirable representations.

“As an influential form of popular culture, advertising has historically been a significant source for the propagation of gender stereotypes. While things are changing, what this study, initiated by ASCI and carried out by Futurebrands uncovers, is that gender continues to be represented in a skewed and discriminatory manner. Some obvious ways of stereotyping are less visible, but there are many other ways, both subtle and not-so-subtle, in which gender portrayals continue to be skewed,” Desai concluded.

For this study, the primary research involved ad clinics with 160 respondents and 20 focus group discussions across 10 centers, in addition to tapping into Futurebrand’s proprietary study Bharat Darshan. More than 300 people were spoken to via social media.