Feature: The Maternity Test

There has always been a bit of a gender struggle in advertising agencies. What are the women supposed to do while the men spark up a Cuban over a pint of bitter and bash out the details of a lucrative pitch? Now that women are starting to think, behave and be treated more like men, will we be seeing more females at board level? Not necessarily. Celia Dunn reports.

It is a well known (though often overlooked) fact that, on returning from maternity leave, women find it difficult to reassert their positions within advertising agencies. It is not feasible for women with newborns at home to stay up until 3am poring over a pitch. But this shouldn’t mean they are less useful to the company.

There are many super-Mums out there who successfully juggle their career and their family. However, it would be fair to assume that these women can usually be home in time for tea. For a new mother in an agency environment, being home in time for tea will often mean the back of the pitch will be broken in their absence. So the credit rarely lands in their lap and the same goes for the promotions.

There is the option of coming back part-time, but if a female employee comes back on 3 or 4 days a week, other ambitious employees can step into the gap. It is also a possibility that a male manager might suspect that a female who has recently returned from maternity leave may well get pregnant again soon after. This too may affect his treatment of her.

It’s not impossible for the new mother to re-assert her position within the company, but she would certainly have to work hard to get noticed and taken seriously. Basically, unless she has a live-in nanny help or a stay-at-home husband, she simply can't be as flexible as before and that is a limiting factor in this career. And even if she does have limitless help at home, does she really want to be spending so much time away from her family?

Adding to the problem is the age-old gender divide. It’s a gap that, many would suggest, is especially perceptible in Adland, where most of the really famous adverts for cars and beers have been based on ideas concocted by young, male creative teams.

While a woman might presume that deodorant is about hygiene and smelling nice, a man might tell you it’s about being chased down a beach by 50,000 randy, bikini-clad beauties. Well in truth, the brains behind those Lynx adverts belong to a woman - Rosie Arnold. But sometimes the lack of female participation really does show. We’ve all seen ads aimed at women that totally miss the mark, and as often as not it’s because the brains behind the pitch were male. Now that the gap between the genders is closing, advertising agencies need to achieve a better balance in their creative departments.

Karen Hall, Client Service Director at Tequila Manchester believes that the presence of males on a campaign directed at women needn’t be a negative thing: “For example there used to be an unspoken law that male creatives 'can't do' female fashion. We have an excellent male writer who produces the majority of the work for Otto UK - Freemans, Grattan, Look Again and Kaleidoscope brand. He's really cracked the tone of voice for each of these brands and produces really good fashion copy. His insight into the target audience and the fashion sector per se is spot on.”

Of course, this depends on there being a sufficient supply of women in the industry. According to a census by the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) in 2002, 20% of copywriters and 16% of art directors were women. Perhaps even more surprising is that the proportion of women in creative departments decreased during the 90s despite the fact that more than half the students on courses that feed creative departments are female. Research has shown that, while 80% of purchasing decisions in Britain are made by women, 83% of all creatives are men.

There seems to be no good reason why women aren’t jumping in to an industry where they are so sorely needed. As a result, many schemes have been created to drive women towards the creative arm of advertising and dispel the ‘period ad’ rumours (where a young, female creative inevitably gets stuck with all the ‘feminine care’ adverts). Women on graphic design courses at university are being encouraged to pursue a career in the creative department by successful females in the industry.

It seems that the shortage of female staff at board level is not due to lack of demand or encouragement and has nothing to do with chauvinism in the workplace. So is the only thing really standing in the way of a woman reaching the very top level in an agency her desire to start a family?

If so, advertising agencies may need to become more flexible. Most agencies nowadays will bend over backwards to make sure enough leave is given and that the employee in question is not usurped in her absence. But the real focus needs to be on flexibility once she has rejoined the company.

Karen Hall commented: “From an employer’s point of view, it can be challenging when people are looking for a more flexible arrangement.”

Tequila accepts that flexibility is crucial for some staff and they try very hard to cooperate: “We have had some people ask for three or four-day weeks and, because of the nature of the business, this can be challenging. Part-time employment does become an issue when the employee in question is working less than three days per week. We will always seek to build the best team and this does depend on the availability of key individuals.

“Tequila is very embracing of the difficulties a parent can face in the workplace and we are open to employees having remote access to our server so that they don’t necessarily have to be in the office so much and they can still progress client instructions from home. But every situation is different and it does depend on the individual and the client in question.”

Fortunately Karen can sympathise with the difficulties that parents face: ‘I have an 8 year old daughter so there are two days a week when, come hell or high water, I have to leave the office at 5.30pm to pick her up from after-school club. However, I have the flexibility of being able to return to my ‘desk’ from home to catch up. Without this, my ability to perform the role would be seriously compromised.’

When asked whether she thinks the industry is improving, Karen commented: “The industry is turning around and starting to notice the value and diversity of its people which I think is making a big difference.” And she’s right – with the emergence of lists such as ‘People to Watch in Advertising’ and ‘Top 100 Marketers’, it is easy to see that the balance between men and women in the industry is starting to level out.

Karen added: “Here at Tequila in terms of recruitment, gender is never an issue. We look at an individual's skill set, their fit with our brand and how they could add value to what we do for our clients. Job done. In terms of the wider industry, I see evidence of things changing with a greater evenness in gender balance within agency teams at all levels. There are some notable examples of women running big agencies here in the north west, providing role models for others starting out and already established within the sector. Tangible examples of the 'old school’ being overturned.”

So it does sound like the industry is heading towards a more flexible future. And, as we see more female talent pouring into the creative mix, this stereotype that a ‘laddish’ atmosphere is rife in the ad industry will hopefully dissipate and even more young females will be drawn to the profession.

Who knows - perhaps the advertising industry is about to undergo a re-branding of its own.

International Women’s Day

Born in 1909, International Women's Day celebrates the story of ordinary women as makers of history. It is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women seeking to participate in society on an equal footing with men. Today around the world, International Women's Day is marked on 8th March annually and is a day of celebration of the economic, social, cultural and political achievements women have made.

The event was originally started for political reasons. The holiday blended with many countries’ cultures (mainly Russia and former Soviet countries) but the political connotations were lost in some countries and it became a day for men to show their love and appreciation for the women in their life (almost like our Valentine’s Day and Mothering Sunday mixed together)

However, in other countries, the political and human rights theme (as designated by the United Nations) still runs strong and many events are held to bring out and examine the political and social struggles that women face worldwide. The 8th March is an official public holiday in Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czechia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. In 2005, the Congress Congress of the British Trades Union Congress overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for IWD to be designated a public holiday in the United Kingdom. In addition, many companies and unions are campaigning for the cause by holding events and circulating petitions to create awareness.

There is a petition running on the Transport and General Workers' Union website to make IWD a public holiday www.tgwu.org.uk.

Events are being held throughout the UK this year to celebrate IWD. Venues in London, Corby, Northampton, Daventry, Inverness and many more will be playing host to talks, activity days and ceremonies. Visit www.internationalwomensday.com for more details.