How brands have marked International Women’s Day

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is “Invest in women: Accelerate progress”, taking place on 8th March. #InspireInclusion emphasises the importance of creating an inclusive society and investing in women’s empowerment.

There’s no doubt some progress has been made in the representation of women and their opportunities in the workplace over the last decade, but significant barriers and inequalities remain. The gender pay gap remains a persistent issue across all industries, including marketing for example.

With progress still needed, IWD sees a range of activity from brands every year with campaigns, charity partnerships and social media activations.

Here are a few empowering picks from the Fireworx team that have caught our eye:

Barbie encourages girls to pursue STEM subjects and opportunities

To provide children with access to successful female role models in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, Barbie has created one-of-a-kind dolls in the likeness of seven leaders from around the world.

The campaign was created to inspire younger generations to engage with STEM fields.

Nike ‘Dream crazier’

An advert that still stands the test of time is Nike’s striking video titled ‘Dream Crazier’, aiming to “shine a spotlight on female athletes who have broken barriers, brought people together through their performance and inspired generations of athletes to chase after their dreams.”

Nike have prioritised celebrating the athletes’ achievements over pushing product, allowing it to feel more genuine.

WUKA’s period pants

Although not strictly for IWD, we spotted this Wuka campaign for their period-proof underwear that bared the messy truth about periods and we love how the brand is disrupting the market.

Due to the advert realistically depicting periods by showing blood, ‘A focus group also revealed real discomfort for some viewers, which again, shows how much work still needs to be done to make period realities part of our everyday conversations.’

‘Co-founder and CEO, Ruby Raut believes that open and accurate representations of menstruation in the media are key to breaking down taboos surrounding the subject, and has spoken with pride about the final product: “I am a female founder, an immigrant and a self-funded businesswoman, who is disrupting the dominance of billion-dollar disposable period product giants.

She continued: In this ad – a first for WUKA – we didn’t want to hold back. We have been surprised by the challenges we faced in getting approvals, which is clear evidence that there is still a long way to go in normalising periods, smashing taboos and depicting period realities.’

https://www.marketing-beat.co.uk/2023/04/25/wuka-period-ad-fight-censor/

We believe that ideas backed by creativity win hands down. In fact, when it comes to successful marketing, creativity kicks the hell out of non-creative work. All of the above picks challenge the ‘norm’, stand out and will ultimately be the content that people will feel compelled to talk about.

Let us know the campaigns that are catching your eye!