On Thursday 11th March, TAKUMI Managing Partner Sophie Green took to the virtual stage at MAD//Anywhere, to discuss ‘taking any challenge as a creative opportunity’. The challenge at hand? Tackling Female representation in advertising and empowering Female creativity.
Sophie spoke not only as a representative for TAKUMI, but also on behalf of the women and those who identify as female, who are fed up of seeing unrealistic and unrelatable portrayals of their lived experiences.
Female representation in advertising is a burning issue, something that brands have the best intentions of getting right, but too often get wrong. Sophie contrasted Burger King’s recent blunder– a clear example of “using gender stereotypes as clickbait”- with Durex’s commitment to busting the taboos of female sexuality, and BodyForm battling against the shame and silence sometimes surrounding women’s bodies.
Female-targeted marketing often blurs the lines between realism and gender-stereotyped idealism, telling us more about the people behind the adverts than the products being advertised or the women they are intended for. Lacking in creativity and authenticity, they struggle to empower and fail to reflect the diversity of the Female audience. The result is an audience that feels misunderstood, unheard and overlooked.
However, right now there is huge potential for brands to show that they are listening. Influencer marketing offers brands the opportunity to reach their audiences in an authentic and informed manner, by tapping into the expertise of creators with influence.
These individuals have a depth of creativity, integrity, and relatability, and utilise their platforms to ignite open and honest conversations. Sophie’s MAD//Anywhere session called for brands to appreciate the unique perspective that enables creators to “lift the lid on what motivates your audience, what inspires them and most importantly, what ticks them off”.
We want to call upon brands to make a change, but as marketeers it is our responsibility to help facilitate it; to bridge the gap between brands and the depth of knowledge and talent which creators have to offer.
Although brands might not be having the conversations around diversity and inclusion that they’d like to… creators are.
Sophie Green, UK Managing Partner
The TAKUMI Female Collective was created to provide a platform for these conversations to flourish, empowering our creators to tackle the issues that matter to them. For brands, it presents an opportunity to gain unique insight into the nuances of female identity and the female experience. Sophie’s session highlighted the fact that “humanity is shaping the future of influencer marketing and advertising in general”, so it’s vital that brands continually acquaint themselves with what people want, need, value, dislike, and deserve to see. Audience-centric advertising relies upon authenticity, which is only possible if an audience is given a platform to speak their truths… and that their voices are heard.
Our aim is to empower women and brands to engage in these open and honest exchanges. The TAKUMI Female Collective is a diverse hub of the finest creative, artistic, entrepreneurial female talent, with knowledge that extends far beyond just ‘what it’s like to be a woman’. Sophie shared her passion for the Female Collective at MAD//Anywhere, explaining that “as an extension of your team, they can offer real guidance about where you can and should be spending your efforts as a brand”.
We enable brands and creators to work collaboratively, to produce advertising and content which is specially curated for the target audience, by the target audience.
But that’s just the beginning. The TAKUMI Female Collective symbolises the possibility for positive change, by bringing together diverse groups across multiple platforms- giving them the freedom to express their thoughts, creativity and identities- and drive the changes they want to see.
Watch Sophie’s MAD//Anywhere session here: