Tag: Women's Month

Hong Kong – International health and beauty retailer AS Watson has announced that it is the first to sign the Women’s Empowerment Principles. These principles are part of a global campaign spearheaded by UN Women (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment), which aims to promote gender equity and female empowerment.

With this action, AS Watson reaffirms its dedication to fostering an inclusive workplace, marketplace, and community that offers opportunities for women in support of this cause. 

Through its collaboration with Operation Smile in the Women in Medicine initiative, AS Watson displays its dedication to women’s empowerment. Through educational opportunities and specialised training, this project enables women working in the medical and healthcare sectors, paving the way for them to become world leaders in the fields of surgery, medicine, and healthcare. 

In keeping with International Women’s Day’s “Inspire Inclusion” theme, AS Watson and its 12 retail brands, which operate in 28 markets, will launch a series of customer- and employee-focused initiatives aimed at empowering women. 

To further support women in embracing their true selves, Watsons will launch the “Our Time is Now” campaign on International Women’s Day. Watsons will actively participate in a number of community-based events this month. 

Watsons is extending their support for self-financed women’s empowerment services to young mothers, married women, and older women by sponsoring the YWCA’s “ChariTea” program in Hong Kong. 

Watsons Thailand will, in the meanwhile, be in charge of the “Green Ribbon” campaign, which will encourage women to reach their full potential and donate all earnings to the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women, which supports women and children who are suffering from mental and physical health problems. 

Superdrug intends to promote female-founded health and beauty products in its European stores and organise a number of initiatives, including podcasts and a picture contest, to empower its female staff members. In order to promote confidence and beauty in women’s life, Drogas will host the Ladies’ School event and provide skincare and makeup guidance. Aiming to motivate its female employees to realise their full potential, The Perfume Shop has assembled a collection of motivational movies. 

Speaking about the campaign, Malina Ngai, CEO of AS Watson Asia and Europe, said, “At AS Watson, we are dedicated to empowering women to be more beautiful and confident. With over 80% of our 160 million members and over 70% of our 130,000 colleagues being women, our top priority is to inspire and support every woman to become the best version of themselves.” 

She added, “We are also proud to create an inclusive work culture where women are valued and offered equal opportunities for career growth. AS Watson aspires to leverage our scale for good and inspire every woman to radiate beauty from the inside out. We believe in The New Beautiful – a new kind of beauty that exists within everyone.” 

Furthermore, Ngai emphasised, “We believe that empowering women is not only our responsibility, but also our passion for creating a world with equality and inclusion, where every one’s uniqueness is recognised and valued. We cannot achieve it alone, so we will continue to advocate women empowerment and encourage more customers, colleagues and business partners to join us in contributing to a better world.”

Singapore – Just right on time for International Women’s Day, global PR and social media agency W Communications has announced that it has sealed a partnership with Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO), the national coordinating body of women’s organisations in Singapore, to manage its corporate communications, community outreach, and engagement programmes.

The agency’s mandate will also include supporting SCWO in redefining its core narratives to further introduce itself as the national coordinating body of women’s organisations in the country.

Moreover, the said partnership goes under the agency’s efforts to boost its portfolio of clients in the social impact sector.

Jolin Ng, general manager at W in Singapore, said that the agency gives importance to equity, therefore, it works with organisations like SCWO to fulfill its commitment towards such causes and support the organisation’s plan of impacting the lives of women and society.

Koh Yan Ping, chief executive officer at SCWO, commented, “We wanted a PR partner who truly understood the intent behind the impact we are making towards the cause and enables us to better engage stakeholders from all walks of life. W stood out with their understanding of our objectives, excellent media relations and of course, strength in corporate storytelling.”

Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations boasts more than 60 member organisations representing over 600,000 women in the country. It provides opportunities, platforms, and services to empower and support Singaporean women. 

Earlier this year, W Communications has also been tapped by food company Deliveroo to manage its corporate and consumer communications.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – With its commitment to promoting gender equity, digital-first agency Lion & Lion has rebranded itself to be called ‘Lion & Lioness’ for the entire duration of international women’s month. This is to celebrate the said designated period of honouring women, with the brief name change also coming with an empowering tagline, ‘Roaring for Equity’; and a new logo to boot showing a lion and lioness.

With a team that is currently consisting of 60% female, Lion & Lion emphasised that the agency is taking meaningful steps to establish a network that values and recognises the contributions of its female staff whilst creating a more effective team that can better serve the clients.

Some of these efforts include introducing two initiatives for the support of female employees such as creating a ‘priority room’ in the Kuala Lumpur office to give a comfortable space for upcoming mothers who need a private area to breastfeed or rest and an alarm keychain that can be used in times of danger.

This Women’s Month, Lion & Lion also gives a spotlight to its female leaders or ‘lioness’ from the different departments of people & culture (HR), traffic, media planning, and in-house marketing & communication team who play significant roles in operating internal processes and client servicing. 

These female executives include regional head of people & culture Mawar Mustaffa; client services manager Julia Michelle Boudville; media lead Rafeah Siron; and senior marketing manager Menuka Vejasegaran.

The special rebranding comes with an on-ground celebration at the Kuala Lumpur office on 8 March where all employees, regardless of gender, can enjoy the team building and engaging activities.

As an agency that aims integrate data and creativity, Lion & Lion continues to drive efforts in providing impactful solutions for clients. Earlier this year, it expanded its offerings by launching a film production studio to connect its integrated creative, social, and digital experience solutions.

In a conversation with Ace Gapuz, the chief executive officer at Blogapalooza, she shares her career journey which began as a blogger and creator and then continued as a brand representative. These roles have helped her shape her career into becoming the chief executive officer she is today. 

Ace is a marketing veteran who boasts more than 20 years of experience in influencer marketing. Of what motivated her to pursue influencer marketing, she shares, “I think I was really able to get experience from handling various areas be it on the creator side, brand side, or agency side.”

“Your female energy is always an advantage. Women need to feel powerful because they are female,” Ace adds.

During the conversation with Ace, we asked about her journey as a brand ambassador and a creator, and she shared that “It’s one thing to tell your story as a brand, but that story becomes much richer when other people tell your story for you.”

Meanwhile, Ace also shared that creators and influencers have a strong role to play in terms of having an effect on how people think, what people believe in, and how people will act or decide.

Listen to the full conversation with Ace Gapuz over on Spotify, where Gapuz shares further on what made her decide to join the academe as well her insights about the role of females in the marketing and advertising industry. You can also view the highlights of the conversation on our Youtube channel. 

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