How to prove commitment to female empowerment

International Women’s Day is a global day of recognition that celebrates the political, cultural and socioeconomic achievements of women.

Today’s #GoogleDoodle celebrates International Women’s Day - A celebration of female pioneers who have challenged the status quo and paved the way for women all over the world.

Learn even more about women’s impact on history and culture → https://t.co/wovuzysnBN #IWD2021 pic.twitter.com/x7j2y4Bgt7

— Google UK (@GoogleUK) March 8, 2021

Google celebrated International Women’s Day 2021 by posting a themed Google doodle

To celebrate International Women’s Day, many brands take part in social media or marketing campaigns to show their support, however, in some cases these efforts have been criticized as surface level and insincere. This can damage customer loyalty levels and even lead to permanent customer churn.

Elisa Bender, co-founder of Revenue Geeks, explains: “When consumers perceive a company’s social efforts as just another marketing tactic, they’re repelled by those actions. They tend to favor their competitor’s products even if they’re inferior in quality. This results in a decrease in profitability. In extreme cases, this can even lead to a boycott,” she explains.

Research by Accenture revealed that six in ten consumers aged 30 and under closely consider a company’s ethical values and authenticity before buying their products. This means that social responsibility is fast becoming a top priority for the younger generation, and companies must meet this demand or risk losing their custom.

Be authentic or risk losing customers

‘Purplewashing’ is a term given to insincere PR and marketing stunts that attempt appeal to women and/or feminists in superficial ways to sell more products or to distract from company practices.

Annie Vovan, founder of Avenue Mama, shares that consumers will preferentially buy from companies that they deem to be ethical: “When consumers are faced with two companies to buy the exact same product from, the company that outwardly shares their values and is aligned with the customer on social issues will gain the business. As a consumer myself, I can spot performative actions and it impacts my desire to support that business. I have easily walked away from companies that lack speaking on social issues.”

Broadcast company Sky offers a Women in Leadership program that gives the next generation of female leaders sponsorship and training. The company’s aim is for 50 per cent of its leadership team to be women, and currently 39 per cent are. The media firm supports this by ensuring that all vacancy shortlists have a 50/50 gender balance. Additionally, the business has Women in Technology scholar’s grant where Sky donates US$34,000 to three women each year who present inspired ideas of how technology can be used for media and entertainment.

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How your brand can positively contribute to women’s rights

When looking to prove their commitment to socially responsible causes, companies can prove to consumers that their ethics are not for sale by making a demonstrated effort to take action. Jessica Chase, loan and finance expert at Premier Title Loans, shares that when it comes to proving your company is sincerely working on a social issue, companies should make sure their workforce is diverse and representative of both the customers they serve and the causes the brand is passionate about.

She explains: “The best way is to add someone from the real world to become part of your organization. Hire individuals that inspire customers and employees as well. For instance, if you are an avid supporter of acid [attack] victims, then you should hire representatives in your firm.”

Founder and CEO of the Sexual Violence Prevention Association, Omny Miranda Martone, says there are three steps for companies to genuinely support gender equity and other social issues:

• Listen to the community. Seek out representatives of the community you are looking to support and listen to how they feel about your corporate social responsibility.
• Look internally.  Evaluate whether your company has the correct processes in place (e.g. diversity across power, leadership and decision-making and anonymous systems for feedback) to ensure its internal systems are not contributing to workplace inequality.
• Support social causes financially. By providing financial support to organizations aimed at supporting the community your company is looking to serve, your company can ensure it is making a real, tangible difference.

What is your company doing for International Womens’ Day? Let us know in the comments!