Apr 02
“I was brave enough to say it.” Maybe this is how we all want to see ourselves. But when Shelly Lazarus, Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, said this at the finale of the Ogilvy’s Women’s Leadership Panels Friday morning, the courage and confidence she shared with the audience were tangible. She was sharing how she was able to balance her roles as an Ogilvy executive and mother of three; she was brave enough to set her boundaries with her team and clients. If a meeting conflicted with an important family event, she simply said no.
“There is no work-life balance; you triangulate priorities with the possible outcomes,” says Lazarus. It seems the same attitude that made Shelly successful and indispensable at Ogilvy also made her a loving mother. It is in her character to attack projects (at work and home) with passion, to be decisive, and stay true to herself. These qualities are obvious in the role of a senior executive or dedicated parent, but these are the same qualities that have allowed her to change with the times, innovate, and move up the ranks to be a respected CEO and celebrated leader. She’s excited about the growth and utility of social media, and sees it as one of the next BIG creative movements for advertising.
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Mar 29
For the past few weeks I’ve been following the ongoing feature published in The Washington Post called Black Women in America, which stems from a new nation-wide survey by the Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation that paints an interesting portrait of the lives of Black women. The survey includes interviews with more than 800 women and covers topics such as body image, personal finance, discrimination and overall happiness. Last week’s article, “Breast cancer toll among black women fed in part by fear, silence” really stopped me in my tracks.
According to the article, Black women are less likely than women of other ethnicities to get breast cancer, but are more likely to die from it. Death rates are 41 percent higher among African American women than among white women.
A separate study published last Wednesday in the International Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Detection and Prevention compared mortality rates of black and white women in the nation’s 25 largest cities. The study found nearly five black women die per day from breast cancer.
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Mar 26
Eight months ago, I gave birth to my third child, a baby girl named Caroline Olivia. After a wonderful five month maternity leave, it was time for me to go back to work and time for my husband and I to determine how we were going to manage three children and two careers.
After careful thought and a lot of discussion, we decided that my husband, a small business owner, would scale down his work schedule to be home two days a week with our children and that I would return to work full time. This was not an easy decision as my husband’s business has been successfully growing despite a poor economy and he has worked hard to make that happen. However, for our family, this is what works right now.
Needless to say it was perfect timing when the March 26 issue of TIME magazine arrived last week. The cover story, “The Richer Sex,” is centered around the fact that women are overtaking men as America’s breadwinners and men are playing a stronger role in the home. According to the article, married men have almost tripled their weekly household contributions since 1965 and are more involved in the child rearing than ever before. Research shows this is a positive thing for a number of reasons:
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Mar 07
Every time I spar or roll (generally with men), I tell my opponent not to treat me like a girl. I can tell when you’re taking it easy on me, even in the slightest way. It could be the look in your eye, the half-second pause before you execute an arm bar, the lightening up of your weight on my ribcage. Frankly, I hate it. Don’t treat me like a girl. I’m a fighter.
There has been a slow uptake of female cagefighting—there is no female UFC division, but women do compete in Strikeforce and with lesser-known organizations. Women are hindered in part by the attitude that training females in martial arts is acceptable, but “I don’t need to see ladies pummel each other in a cage.” Ladies playing soccer, basketball and tennis? Ok. Ladies going all out; no holds barred; tap, nap or snap? Not so much.
There are two issues here. One, are women interested in watching cagefighting at all? The answer to this is easy—yes. UFC President Dana White quoted a stat that in 2011, 45% of the UFC fanbase was female. So, we’ll certainly watch men fight. But, the second and more controversial question is, does this audience want to see women fight?
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Mar 01
Sometimes when I’m really feeling like giving my brain a vacation, I watch reality TV…
This is (was) my dirty little secret. But the REALITY of reality TV is how poorly women are portrayed across the board. The ‘famous’ moments include the RHNJ fist fight at the christening party or the mother who showed up on “Dance Moms” yelling obscenities at Abby Lee while Abby called the police. Who can forget June “the Coupon Queen” and Alana, her daughter, who “hollers for the dollar” from Toddlers & Tiaras? Their behavior has earned over 2,440,000 views on YouTube. And what about the seemingly endless wave of women vying for a coveted spot on “The Bachelor,” desperate to get a rose from a complete stranger and then shattered to tears when they aren’t chosen. What is that all about? I could go on and on, but I won’t because it would lead the reader to believe I watch more of this form of entertainment than I do.
The truth is women aren’t the only one watching these shows. The number of tween and teen girls enjoying reality TV is on the rise – 43 percent are regular viewers and 30 percent said they sometimes watch. Teen Mom, a show that follows the lives of young pregnant girls—many of whom have trouble with drugs, alcohol and the law—is one of the most popular shows among this set. My 14-year-old daughter now loves “Dance Moms” and this new found excitement has led her to ask if I can encourage my younger 9 year old daughter to go into dance. I’m not sure I follow why she thinks it would be interesting to see her mother join the ranks of angry dance moms. Maybe she has a mature and ironic sense of humor for a 14 year old girl. It made me wonder what kind of effect this is having on her (and what kind of mother am I to allow her to watch this crazy show).
This question and concern led me to a recently published survey conducted by the Girl Scout Research Institute and I was surprised by what I learned.
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Tags: Dance Moms, Girl Scout Research Institute, media portrayal of women, Real Housewives, Reality Television, Teen Mom, teens, the bachelor, Toddlers & Tiaras, tweens, WomenOlogy
Feb 22
If you’ve ever watched a season of ABC’s The Bachelor, you know you can always count on the following:
Tags: Ben Flajnik, Blakely, Chris Harrison, Courtney, Jenna, Kacie B, Media, media portrayal of women, the bachelor, Women, WomenOlogy
Feb 19
Women outnumber men on a wide variety of social media sites, and now are taking leadership positions in a wide number of professions with social media at their heart.
How can women in the profession come together to both support each other, share experiences and best practices was the topic of a panel lead by Mo Krochmal, editor of Social Media News NY at this week’s Social Media Week, taking place in New York, February 13-17th 2012.
I was honored to be on that panel, and in preparation worked with the Social@Ogilvy team in New York to crowdsource our tips for women working in social media. These experiences were then part of the content discussed by the panel – a full report of which can be seen here from Amy Vernon.
Our six tips for women in social media-based professions in 2012:
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Feb 14
For women, Valentine’s Day can be a day of expectation. Will he get me something? Will he make dinner reservations? Will he send flowers? Oh God, will my parents send flowers? As Ms. Revis pointed out in her article on the Teleflora commercial, I have also noticed the “give and you will receive” marketing campaign that seems to be a popular advertising strategy (Zales). More importantly I’ve noticed all the commercials I remember seeing this holiday season are gender normative, and advertise Valentines Day in the narrow fashion of male and female lovers. If brands can break away from this classic, obviously played out story of loser-guy-finally-gets-it-right-and-crazy-girlfriend-is-nice-for-once, they would reach a much larger market than the men and women in rocky relationships.
The majority of people with whom I have celebrated Valentines Day with over the years are parents, grandparents, siblings, and my girlfriends: we exchange cards, cook meals together, toast ourselves to champagne, and devour flourless chocolate cake. Maybe it wasn’t particularly sexy or glamorous, but I represent a large and active market! Cooking classes, girlfriend getaways, restaurant deals, deliverable wine/cheese/chocolate baskets, nice gender neutral valentines stationery, not those ugly cards, would be great gifts to advertise and tap into this demographic.
Until then, I’ll continue to “give and receive,” in my own way.
Feb 13
Click photo to view commercial
In last week’s Super Bowl Ad-Stravaganza Recap, Layla Revis and Nikki Copas shared thoughts on ads from Teleflora and H&M and touched upon an interesting marketing trend: Marketing to Men through Women or vice-versa. Regardless of your opinion of the ads’ content and tact, the marketing approach is worth reflection.
Click photo to view commercial
Marketing products FOR women does not necessarily mean marketing products TO women. Strategies like these usually pop up around Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and other times when significant others are tasked with purchasing items for one another. Think Kay Jewelers or Zales ads.
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Tags: adriana lima, advertising, david beckham, H&M, Marketing to Men through Women, Marketing to women, Media, super bowl, Super Bowl Ad-stravaganza 2012, teleflora, Valentine's Day, WomenOlogy
Feb 10
Click photo to view commercial
I can tell you this much. I sure do love flowers, but I won’t sleep with you just because you give them to me. I’m pretty sure the majority of women won’t. Teleflora, I’m sorry, but you’ve missed the mark. When it comes to Super Bowl ads, it’s fairly obvious the things that play well include: humor, family (particularly humorous takes on the family – VW/Star Wars, Chevy), pop culture references, and reversing gender roles because both women and men find them increasingly frustrating and tired. Adriana Lima may be stunning in this commercial, but here’s where Teleflora lost the opportunity to do something truly clever, something charming, something downright funny. Just think of all the things you can do with a super model and references to ‘not getting pricked’ because ‘when kissing, tulips are better than one’.
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