Kayla Evans, from Douglasville, GA, is a social and cultural psychology master’s student at The London School of Economics. She first studied psychology at Harvard College and has since been interested in understanding why people trust and distrust. In her free time, Kayla enjoys (online) live music, scoping out new coffee shops in whichever city she finds herself in, and going on not-too-long-distance runs.

For the 2017 Super Bowl, Audi launched an advert that sought to address the gender inequalities women face in their lives. But rather than inspiring viewers, the spot fell flat, in part because it drew attention to the automaker’s own poor record on the matter; women accounted for only 16% supervisory board members at the time, and there were no female executives. 

“Women are holding advertisers accountable,” says Abigail T. Brooks, director of the women’s studies program at Providence College and author of 

The Ways Women Age: Using and Refusing Cosmetic Intervention

 This is unsurprising given that women’s purchasing power and influence drive 70-80% of total consumer spending in the US, with 75% saying that they are the primary shopper in their household. 

 Yet while 48% of women in the UK say they prefer to buy from companies that challenge gender stereotypes, branded feminism in the form of pink-washed products and #girlpower hashtags is often regarded as unimpressive, insensitive and inauthentic. 

 Instead, the brands that have proven most successful in reaching women have embraced taboos, celebrated diversity in all of its forms, and created products that empower them in practical ways.

With female-focused issues commonly discussed on social media channels – 45% of American women aged 18-34 have used such platforms to express their views on women’s rights, as have 34% of those aged 35-49 – both good and bad attempts at ‘femvertising’ can quickly draw widespread support or contempt. 

 to understand how brands can empower women in an authentic way.

“The industry has long been advertising to women from the point of view of men towards women,” says digital marketer and creative director Carrie Ingoglia. “Until recently, there hasn’t been a lot of advertising particularly for women.” She suggests this change has been triggered by “the increase in female executives, the increase in female management, the increase in women in the industry working on creative projects.” 

Ingoglia believes that the birth of modern femvertising – the of use pro-female rhetoric and imagery to empower women and challenge gender stereotypes – was marked by body care brands in the early 2000s. In response to a study that found only 2% of women worldwide self-identified as being beautiful, Dove and Ogilvy & Mather launched the ‘Real Beauty’ campaign in 2004. It quickly proved successful for the brand, with US sales rising by 6% and over one million women visiting the campaign’s website within its first year. 

 According to Ingoglia, Real Beauty proved “you don’t have to show a man’s perspective of what a woman might want to see.” 

Since then, various other companies and organisations have attempted to engage with women by empowering them and encouraging dialogue. 

, for instance, saw feminine hygiene brand Always combat the gendered stereotypes women face from a young age, with the 

 gaining over 64 million views on YouTube. Sport England’s 

, meanwhile, encouraged women to exercise more with a message of inclusivity and body positivity. And in 2017, State Street Global Advisor’s 

 statue was unveiled as a symbol of female leadership, ambition and strength in the face of the hyper-masculine 'Charging Bull' that stands on Wall Street. Yet while these examples highlight how effective female-centered campaigns can be, 77% of women in the UK find that the way women are portrayed in advertising in general is stereotypical – and 65% of men agree. 

Femvertising seeks to empower women and challenge stereotypes

Years after Dove realised the power of embracing real bodies, other brands took notice and made ‘keeping it real’ a priority. Tip-toeing around taboo topics like sex, periods, and menopause comes off as not only unrealistic, but will be called out as disempowering. Women value open dialogue from brands about these topics, especially when the conversation is happening between women. For example, when retailer JC Penney received backlash on Twitter about selling a skirt design that looked like a period stain, navigating around the topic wasn’t an option. The company instead tweeted back with a witty response: “We think it’s a fab skirt for any time of the month. Period.” 

In her research on pharmaceutical advertising, Brooks has found that what resonates is “women coming together, sharing their experiences and stories, learning about their bodies from each other and not from men. In pharmaceutical campaigns for the treatment of menopause, you see a lot of imagery of female friends and daughters sitting together and sharing stories, saying: ‘As a woman, let me tell you how it really is. I’m going to tell you the truth.’” 

What is seen in [successful] campaigns is language that communicates independence, empowerment, freedom of expression, and self-determination

But how can brands show this female-to-female knowledge-sharing in ads in an ‘authentic’ way? One way is by using accessible, honest, and conversational language, which can help consumers build trust as it suggests a brand isn’t trying to hide its real motives behind flowery rhetoric. According to Brooks, brands should use the voice of women themselves when possible. “What is seen in [successful] campaigns is language that communicates independence, empowerment, freedom of expression, and self-determination,” she says. “This is very powerful and reflects exactly what we would call American liberal feminism.” 

One example of a successful campaign is ‘Generation Know’ from 

, which pushed women to “come together to help dispel vaginal health and wellness myths, while creating a generation of girls comfortable asking questions,” said senior brand manager Melissa Dennis. 

 It featured the brand addressing vaginal health myths expressed by young girls, such as the idea that tampons make a girl lose her virginity or that products can get lost in women’s bodies. The ad subsequently saw hundreds of thousands of women share their knowledge, resulting in an 18% increase in sales and 200% increase in brand sentiment. 

Women want brands to encourage open dialogue

“An ad saying ‘women can do anything’ is great, but it’s not going to make me want to buy your product any more,” says Ingoglia. “If a brand is going to [stand for women], they must do something unique, different, and make it real.” 

 In some cases, ‘making it real’ means acknowledging women’s insecurities by either recognising and normalising them, or creating a product that alleviates them.

The website of period-proof underwear brand Thinx doesn’t explicitly show off its feminist values. Instead, the product speaks for itself. Rather than saying ‘women, you can do anything a man can do’, the underwear sends a different message: ‘Women, we’ll make sure your period doesn’t hold you back from being the best person you can be’. Ingoglia is a fan of Thinx’s advertising, saying that what it has done with its product “is more empowering – changing what you’re doing and not just how you’re marketing it.” 

An ad saying ‘women can do anything’ is great, but it’s not going to make me want to buy your product any more

Making a real impact doesn’t always require a new product though. Dick’s Sporting Goods was a winner at SheKnows Media’s 2017 Femvertising Awards with the 

 campaign, which was aimed at raising awareness of the importance of high school sports. In conjunction with fitness and lifestyle brand Calia, the retailer brought awareness to girls’ sports programs, with sales from the campaign helping to rescue 1,800 such initiatives through donations worth $25 million. 

What do Thinx and Dick’s Sporting Goods have in common? Both brands created a product or campaign that directly aligned with a broader mission. Thinx is not touting feminist rhetoric, but offers underwear that makes women’s lives easier. Dick’s Sporting Goods has stuck to its message of sports, but made it accessible to girls who didn’t have access to programs. “It has to feel authentic,” says Ingoglia. “A brand must find a way for it be to true to their product, otherwise it will fall flat.” 

Products and campaigns that directly align with a broader mission have real impact

According to research from media agency UM, 72% of British women feel that advertising and brands play a major role in defining social identity, so diverse representations in marketing materials can be key to winning over consumers. 

 “A positive development in the US in the past 25-30 years is the rising tide of intersectional feminism. More women of colour are calling out the intersections of racism and sexism everywhere, and not just in advertising,” says Brooks. 

 Women of colour exist, disabled women exist, queer women exist – and they all expect for their experiences to be seen, recognised, and validated, Brooks adds. But what does this mean for brands? “Women are holding advertisers accountable – especially in cases of under-representation – for not reflecting women of different races and cultures in their advertising,” explains Ingoglia. 

Even Dove has seen some of its ads gain a negative reaction for this reason. In October 2017, the brand released a public apology for a body wash advertisement in which a black woman removed her shirt and then appeared to transform into a white woman. After one make-up artist pointed out the blunder on Twitter, nearly 1,000 people responded – some calling the ad racist and others defending it, claiming that critics were overthinking it. 

 Although the ad was subjectively diverse by including women of multiple racial backgrounds, audiences didn’t appreciate Dove’s oversight. As Ingoglia notes: “Any campaign that is slightly off will get eaten alive on social media.” 

Representation is also an issue among older women. Research from YouGov has found that 68% of Britons over 50 don’t think that advertising portrays them accurately, while 79% say the same of the wider media. 

 A separate study from 2016 examining the attitudes of women aged 40-89 revealed that 97% wanted to see older models routinely used in all types of advertising, and 65% disliked the kinds of models used in beauty ads especially, claiming they were too young or digitally enhanced, which fuelled distrust and made them less likely to buy the products. 

Advertising plays a significant role in defining social identities

While women’s standards for femvertising are rising, authenticity is a common thread between the most successful ads and products. Therefore, brands would be wise to pay careful attention to the way their campaigns portray women, or else they’ll be called out. “There’s been a lot of work of calling out advertising agencies that are targeting women,” says Brooks. “[People want them] to be more inclusive, and to be more diverse – not just with ethnicity and race, but also with size and shape.” 

Though all brands can learn from each other, Ingoglia believes that those in the beauty sector will need to be even more creative in promoting empowerment while staying authentic. “Beauty brands find it difficult to take the empowerment route,” she says. “I think a lot of different companies try but I haven’t seen any land it.” The brands that do ‘land it’ are those that aren’t explicitly feminist, but give women the tools they need to run the world, with Ingoglia citing 

 as a leader in this regard. “They consider themselves not a beauty brand, but a beauty movement,” she says. “Glossier does something different – they emphasise that they’re natural, casual. It’s not explicitly empowering to women, but they are clearly speaking to a specific audience. In a way, it is feminist – it’s definitely make-up for 

If you’re saying you believe in women or you believe in diversity, what does your board look like? What does your creative team look like? If you’re going to go for it, you’ve got to walk the walk

A key insight is that women want brands to enable choice around identity, rather than prescribe it. Beauty brand Sleek MakeUP, for instance, launched the ‘My face. My rules.’ campaign, promoting the idea that women have full control over how much (or little) make-up they want to wear. 

 Marc Jacobs has similarly tapped into this ‘it’s up to you’ approach to self-care, featuring models with pre-grown-out manicures for its 

. Considering that 83% of American women skip washing their hair at least once a week in favour of dry shampoo, and that 51% of 18- to 25-year-olds spend less than ten minutes on make-up, it makes sense that women are responding well to brands that normalise and validate how much (or little) time they want spend on their beauty routines. 

 It all comes back to women wanting to see other women they share the same reality with – someone with the same busy schedule, strapped budget, and beauty hang-ups.

A big theme is that brands can no longer simply focus on the faces in their ads, but must also focus on the faces of their leadership. In 2016, women made up almost 50% of workers in the advertising industry, but only 11% of creative directors. 

 Ingoglia says that brands must ask themselves whether the people selling their products look like the people who are buying them. “It can’t be all a front. If you’re saying you believe in women or you believe in diversity, what does your board look like? What does your creative team look like? How is that coming through? If you’re going to go for it, you’ve got to walk the walk.” 

 is a writer for Canvas8 and student at Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She studies Linguistics and Neurobiology, and is particularly interested in organisational behaviour and decision-making. In her free time, she enjoys going to concerts in Boston, running, and singing with her choir, Kuumba.

Eastern Europe

United Kingdom

North America

United States

Advertising

Beauty

Shopping

Make-up

Sexual health

Beauty and wellbeing

'Why Audi's Super Bowl ad failed', Forbes

Interview with Abigail Brooks conducted by author

'Are women being played by 'feminist' ads?', USA Today

'Gender stereotyping in ads could kill brands', OnBrand

'What Americans think about feminism today', The Washington Post

Interview with Carrie Ingoglia conducted by author

'Behind Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’', Adweek

'Three quarters of UK women say they are stereotyped in adverts', UM London

'J.C. Penney just gave a perfect response to the skirt 'controversy'', Fortune

'10 game-changing beauty ads every feminist needs to see', Total Beauty

'U by Kotex and Generation Know: Creating a movement of women to spread the word about vaginal health', My PRSA

‘The 2017 #Femvertising Awards’, SheKnows Media

'Dove expresses 'regret' for racially insensitive ad', NPR

'Those aged 50 and over feel they are inaccurately portrayed in media and advertising', YouGov

'How advertisers are failing to connect with older women', Look Fabulous Forever

'Sleek Cosmetics champions people that contour', Canvas8

'Dry shampoo: Should you be concerned about hair loss?', Mashable

'Nudestix: The indie beauty brand that’s a case study in consumer behavior', CosmeticsDesign.com

'Brands to ad agencies: diversify or else', The New York Times

While nearly half of women say they prefer to buy from companies that challenge gender stereotypes, branded feminism in the form of pink-washed products and #girlpower hashtags is often seen as insensitive and unimpressive. So, how can marketers empower women in an authentic way?

Why ageing is a battle for many American women

M&S – Mrs Claus: a festive twist on feminism

Bodyform – Blood: the bloody truth about periods

Man Boobs for Boobs: freeing the nipple for cancer

Thinx: swapping tampons and pads for period pants

Icon: undoing the stigma of urinary incontinence

Clue: managing fertility at the touch of a button

Tupperware: a brand built on female empowerment