Blog #11: Are Women Taking Over Advertising?

While scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed recently, I came across this article that one of my friends had shared. Now, usually I mindlessly scroll through my newsfeed until I find some activity that involves one of my close friends because, to be honest, I don’t care that a distant friend of a friend was tagged in a photo album. A distant friend posted the article that caught my eye but, after reading it, I’m glad I didn’t just keep scrolling.

The article was featured in the Boston Globe and entitled Top of Boston’s ad world a male bastion no longer. This article discusses a shift that the advertising realm in Boston has seen in recent years. As recent as the 1990’s, it was frowned upon for women to have pictures of their families and children on their desks because they feared that it would make them seem less devoted to the job and more devoted to their family. Recently it has come to be that women run the four biggest advertising firms in Boston, so clearly times are changing.

These women have worked tirelessly to get where they are today. They don’t, however, take their responsibilities for granted or think that they were given the position just because it has become popular to put women in the corner office. These women work to prove that they have the talent and ability to handle the responsibilities that they have been given.

Barbara Goose, who is the 44-year-old local head of DigitasLBi, was quoted in the article as saying “I tell women to try not to think about being a woman, just think about doing the best job they can… Other than following men into the men’s room, I try to be part of every conversation possible”. For women like Goose who work to even the playing field in the business world between men and women, taking a position that is usually held by men would be a victory.

Another woman featured in the article, Kristen Cavallo, is quoted as having said, “It didn’t occur to me that the rules can be rewritten… Now I will always try to rewrite the rules”. Cavallo is an example of another woman who isn’t willing to accept defeat. She worked hard to reach a compromise over the terms of her position at Mullen. Now that she knows it is possible for her to “rewrite the rules”, she will continue to work towards changing the standards in the advertising business.

To me, this article was really interesting. We hear a lot about the strides being taken by women to gain equality in the business world, so it was nice to match four faces of women up to the stories.

While steps are being taken towards equality between men and women in the business world, the article closes by saying there is still work to be done. While more and more women are taking leadership roles in advertising, they are still underrepresented in the creative aspect of the industry, with only three percent of creative directors being female. The industry might be in an era of women, but full equality won’t be reached until beer ads respect women.

Read the article here.