FEMVERTISING

Don't just incorporate feminism into your advertising because you want to sell something.

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24 Sep

A Brief Explanation

Written by Kreatiklan Tagged as Business and Brands
Feminism is trending and became mainstream issue. In definition, feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. It includes women’s liberation, feminist movements, and emancipation. Some artist and activist start their own campaign regarding these issues. That’s the common definition, but what feminism in branding/marketing scope?
 
That is why the femvertising is popping up. #Femvertising – defined as advertising that employs pro-female talent, messages, and imagery to empower women and girls. Brand should balance the market and its interest that are being conflicted before — social movement to raise public appraisal. In 2015, SheKnows Media, a digital lifestyle media company focused on women, introduced the first ever #Femvertising Awards to highlight brands who, through creative advertising campaigns, work to dismantle gender stereotypes and empower women and girls. Brand that aligned with this campaign is mostly fashion brands and cosmetics (which of course to get the women audiences). Fashion is believed to be able changing and influence the audience meanwhile cosmetics brands use to dominate most women audiences. Femvertising aims to empower women and girls in part by portraying them in natural, healthy, and complex ways. Throughout the 20th century, advertisers crafted a set of beauty standards that was, at best, narrow and, at worst, dangerous and unrealistic, and marketing managers who utilize femvertising work to complicate these standards with honest representations of women that capture their multifaceted female experience. Femvertising also aim to filling the gap to consumerism, to gain profit and to catch attention, to protect the progress that had been made by feminist movement, as a side movement to fix work environment especially for women and not being fake by supporting women.
 
Fashion brand in the term of femvertising is associated with rebel, wild and unruly terms to fight the stigma that women are condemn to be the neat one, the unspoken, the silent one. All of these assumption is filling the advertising world and fractured women all year long. Just like the beauty products that shape women in particular standard which gain assumptions that more women should follow the standard whatever it takes (has surgeries or take a lot of beauty products). The phrase beauty is pain is also making those assumption worsen day by day.  However, after reviewing dozens of Femvertising campaigns it has been found that nearly all of them embrace the following five pillars:
 
  1. Utilization of diverse female talent

Women and girls are much more likely to see themselves reflected in the advertisements by models of their same race, shape, body size and age. Femvertising campaigns rarely showcase a group of “considered ideal” supermodels. They tend to use more variety women as a representative.

2. Contain pro-female message.

Femvertising campaigns should empower women by being inspirational and inclusive. Should provide consumer with feelings of affirmation, self-confidence and motivation, to embrace the flaws with positive attitude.

  1. Pushing gender-norm stereotypes

Campaigns rarely feature women doing housework or other duties which associated with marriage or motherhood. Women are often portrayed in an athletic or competitive environment, performing a leisure activity, in a profession or in a neutral scenario.

  1. Downplaying of sexuality

Femvertising is very rarely over-the-top with cleavage, makeup or unrealistic sexual poses to cater to the male gaze. Exposed skin or female bodily attributes are showcased in a way that feels relevant and genuine and not to be objectified.

  1. Portraying women in an authentic manner.

The campaign message has to feel real, and has to make sense with the product. Authenticity is an important aspect. Femvertising should changing the way that women receive messages and taking a stand against the harmful traditional portrayals of them. Brands wishing to enter into the world of Femvertising must have a solid, female-friendly foundation, or be prepared to instate significant corporate changes over time to position itself as a female ally before taking up Femvertising.

The are sacred rules when you want to apply Femvertising. Here’s what you can do,

a. Not creating disillusioned consumer (faux feminism) — is a gimmicky marketing campaign meant to cash in on the women’s rights movement by earning free press.

b. Protecting the progress that has been made to date in the feminist movement

c. No expensive product

d. Had no history exhibits workers especially women workers.

e. The design is original and not a results of plagiarism

f. The fashion should fit into everyone → much like inclusive branding.

g. The empowerment of women and the fostering of self-confidence had never before

Shaping consumer’s perspective isn’t easy. Yet, it is challenging. We should praised how people start to aware about their social and make a better world. Brands must earn the right to play in the Femvertising space, which can only happen if the company truly understands, respects and supports women. If brands claim via advertising to empower women and girls, it is critical that the company models this behavior in its policies and actions. If you need partner to talk about your strategic plan towards branding and want to support women causes within your brand, Kreatiklan is a friend you need! Call, text, email and DM us to get the talk!