Gender Equality in Media + Business at Cannes Lions
As the annual Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity - or as someone aptly called it on Twitter, “Corporate Coachella” - wraps in France, the advertising world will have to wait another year to indulge in the constant flow of rosé, fireside chats, business dealing, celebrity sightings, and of course, awards. I have been once for work, it was enough for me, but there can be good conversations and ideas that push through the buzz and egos. How has the industry changed? Exactly how merged have media, entertainment, and marketing/advertising become? What were the buzzwords and takeaways? Let’s discuss…
It’s no surprise that there was a lot of discussion around Generative AI, and how marketers and creators can use the technology to improve content creation efficiencies and creative effectiveness to how the technology has ignited a new era of creativity (also, marketers barely said “metaverse,” thank goodness). Also a lot of talk around how the business lines have blurred in business and personal branding too in the emerging creator economy, that is expected to . The many Gen Z attendees also made everything feel much younger (a welcome change), and lead talks around the future of hybrid/remote work, as well as educating markets on the insights around the generation consumer behavior. Which leads me to the ongoing topic of gender inequality in media and in the workplace…
I still don’t think this is talked about enough, and there are so many opportunities to be had around everything from content to services, product, and more, especially given women are half of the population, yet make the majority of all purchasing decisions across categories. There is also the major problem (still) of not enough women in C-suite positions, and if there are, many are not supported and are in fact leaving leadership positions in alarming numbers. Ring the alarm! This area continues to lack in discussion or solutions, aside from a few talks, and the fantastic #equalitylounge conversations lead by The Female Quotient at Cannes. If you want to delve deeper into this I would recommend the following, and seeing discussing clips from the even on Linkedin and beyond.
My previous posts on “The Purchasing Power of Women” and “Women who Travel”
From the Female Quotient: Women hold just 10% of CEO jobs at Fortune 500 companies. While the share of women holding top executive positions has grown in recent years, women still make up less than 25% of executive-level positions, and only 4% are women of color. And when they do make it to a corporate higher office, there is not a warm welcome waiting for them. Instead, they're met with stereotypes, red tape, negative press and a mountain of other obstacles.
Read reports + research from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media plus Geena’s recent article in the NYTimes “How sexist is hollywood”
McKinsey Report: Mothers in the Workplace and its feature “Breaking up with the workplace to break through”
Lean In: Women in the Workplace findings
Bloomberg: Gen X Female Executives Are Leaving Their Jobs in Droves
Forbes: Why Women Leaders Are Leaving Their Jobs At Record Rates
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