UNSTEREOTYPE ALLIANCE
Inculcating Sanity In The Marketing Sector
By Elizabeth Obanda
This is an abridged version of the key note speech as captured by the Marketing Africa crew delivered by Ms . Elizabeth Obanda , Team lead , Women Economic Empowerment , UN Women Kenya at the 1st 2022 Nairobi Marketers Night on Friday 1st April at The Nairobi Hospital Convention Centre .
We had been asked to discuss how to inculcate sanity in the marketing sector , however , I will not discuss what ails the sector , you are the experts and that would be better ventilated within your circles .
Instead , I wish to remind you that God created them man and woman and they come as diverse as the colors of the rainbow , all sorts of shades and shapes , beautiful and not so beautiful , young and old while others are differently enabled and come from diverse socio-cultural and economic backgrounds . But they are all part of an ecosystem that must synergize , and feed off one another to stabilize . The question is do we bear this in mind as we are marketing , and do we reflect them progressively in our work or do we box them in a harmful space called stereotypes ? How do we as marketers use the spaces and power we have to right wrongs , to shift perceptions for good , to imbue responsibility in different genders and institutions , to shift careers to inform the future of work for our children ? With our broad strokes , can we increase the number of girls in STEM so it ceases to be ‘ oh , a woman pilot , can she do it , are we safe ?’
At the United Nations entity for gender equality and women empowerment ( UN Women ), we know that gender equality and women ’ s empowerment are prerequisites for strong institutions and communities and stable economies . That for a society to be progressive , it has to be well sensitized and socialized in raising an engendered civilization that ‘ leaves no one behind ’ and ‘ does no harm ’ but rather embraces all its human wealth , as solution multipliers .
And yet and in the case of marketing , 72 % of men and women say most advertising does not reflect the world around them . However , 70 % of brand purchasing decisions are made by women ! So in fact , you are shooting yourself in the foot if you do not take a gender lens to marketing . Further still , Brands that deliver progressive ads have a higher purchase intent of more
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How do we as marketers use the spaces and power we have to right wrongs , to shift perceptions for good , to imbue responsibility in different genders and institutions , to shift careers to inform the future of work for our children ? than 25 % for all consumers and 45 % for women . Aha , it is also good for business !
In July 2021 , the Cherie Blaire Foundation for Women in their study of women entrepreneurs and stereotypes , found that gender stereotypes significantly shape women ’ s journeys to and through entrepreneurship by affecting their aspirations , sources of support , opportunities , access to resources , perceptions , and the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem in multiple ways . They affect different women in different and multiple ways , intersecting with other kind of stereotypes , including age , social class , ethnicity and race .
49 % of the women entrepreneurs interviewed reported that gender stereotypes were most commonly conveyed in the media , 61 % said they believe that gender stereotypes impact their business growth and affect how seriously they are taken as business owners while , 58 % said seeing women in leadership positions in their own community or country would have further encouraged them to start their own businesses . Sadly though , 96 % of these women said that they had directly experienced stereotypes in their lives .
What are Stereotypes
Stereotypes are simply a set idea that people have about what someone or something is like , especially an idea that is wrong . Stereotypes are over-generalization of certain characteristics about a certain group of people . And they can be positive don ’ t get me wrong . Like the view that Luo people only value academic certificates and
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