Self-Improvement to Self-Empowerment
The Evolution of Marketing to Women
It’s undeniable that there has been a distinct evolution of the portrayal of women in advertising. This is clear even to those who live outside of the ad agency world. In the 1890s, when women’s suffrage was changing the way women outwardly expressed themselves, advertisements kept them in the kitchen. Fast-forward to the 1980s with more women entering the work-force, advertisements showed a “new” kind of woman who could handle motherhood and a professional life — enter women in power suits. There have been many depictions of women, changing with the nuances of each decade.
But how women have been marketed to and the message they have been marketed with has also been undergoing a transformation for many years.
History clearly shows that women were often marketed to with underlying tones of who the “ideal woman” was and what she wanted or needed based on a gender label. This likely imbued a desire to improve oneself and the belief that this was achievable by purchasing the featured marketed product (or service). Now more than ever, we know that a message that promotes self-empowerment is much more powerful than a superficial message of self-improvement. It presents a richer, more relatable understanding of the audience, creating a stronger brand to consumer connection. Self-acceptance, reflection, and the embracement of individuality has emerged from the shadows and found their place in the everyday of women (and men for that matter). Good marketing understands and embraces this healthy shift. This approach also paves inclusivity, regardless of gender, for the future.
To promote breast cancer screenings for 21st Century Oncology, LUDWIG+ created the “NotMy8” social media campaign. Knowing 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, it encouraged women to get a breast exam and get 8 of their friends to get one as well. When determining the strategic positioning of the message, LUDWIG+ took an item long marketed to women as a way to enhance their sexuality and flipped it on its head. The campaign used images of bras to convey a message of care and strength. It embodied the idea behind empowerment, extending it beyond one’s self to their circle of friends and family. The campaign reached nearly 26K people organically, while sparking engagement from celebrity influencers and 133 publications — all helping share a story of positivity and hope.
How we connect with our female audience is evolving. As advertisers, we have the privilege and responsibility of ideating, creating and defining the message that is delivered. We help shape the narrative. This is why we need to continue to lean into the shift to positive self-perception and to fully immerse ourselves into the intricate layers that make up the human being behind the screen, on the other side of a billboard, flipping through a magazine. We need to dig deeper in order to form a true brand alliance and to provide valuable content. We have to rework and rewrite what is expected of advertising in the 21st century.
Let’s continue to transform how we market to our audiences. Let’s explore and empower the who. Who makes the woman, the human.
Contact us for more on how LUDWIG+ can add value to your business.
