On this sequence, Speak information to me, we chat with leaders from the world’s greatest manufacturers and businesses about how they’re utilizing insights to drive their enterprise methods.
We caught up with Latha Sarathy, Chief Analysis Officer of the Affiliation of Nationwide Advertisers and EVP of Analytics, Insights, and Measurement for SeeHer, the ANA’s world division for selling gender equality in media and advertising. We bought her ideas on a spread of well timed matters, from cultural change and Gen Z’s tackle gender/sexuality, to navigating the cookieless future and the approaching collectively of selling and tech.
Inform us a bit about your function at SeeHer
Our mission at SeeHer is to extend the illustration and enhance the portrayal of ladies and women in advertising, media, and leisure. My function in that’s to know how ladies are portrayed in promoting, media, and content material with the intention to replicate our altering tradition and – finally – remodel society.
What’s retaining you busy for the time being?
Staying updated with cultural change. For instance, we simply did a examine on Gen Z and their perceptions of gender and sexuality, taking a look at how these perceptions affect each society, entrepreneurs, and media corporations. All our thought management is designed to assist our members and the business embed gender equality of their methods of doing enterprise. In different phrases, to drive our mission ahead by being a drive for good and a drive for progress.
What’s your favourite stat in the entire vast world?
We did a examine in partnership with dentsu – the multinational promoting company, and SeeHer members in 2021, taking a look at perceptions of gender within the US. We discovered 84% of American adults say media and advertising have the ability to show kids that women can do something boys can do – and vice versa. It underscores the ability that media and advertising have in the case of altering the restrictions society locations on ladies and women. Gender bias begins as younger as 6 years outdated, so, for me that’s a very necessary stat. And SeeHer’s mantra is, “In the event you can see her, you will be her.” That’s so necessary for younger women to know.
Speak to me about an instance of data-led creativity that you simply love.
In 2016, SeeHer spearheaded the creation of the Gender Equality Measure, or GEM®. GEM® is a set of 4 statements used to measure attitudes in the direction of gender depiction. It was the primary data-driven methodology to measure gender bias in advertisements and programming. Up to now, there have been almost 300,000 advertisements measured with this system throughout 14 international locations.
Based mostly on years of testing, we suspected that sure portrayals and themes persistently delivered a excessive GEM® rating. Final yr, we put this to the take a look at by making a predictive mannequin primarily based on themes and portrayals of ladies and men that recurrently drove above common GEM® scores. What we discovered was eye-opening. We seen that if an ad featured a lady in a non-stereotypical function, each women and men reacted positively. However what actually moved the needle was displaying ladies in multi-dimensional roles, similar to knowledgeable and a mother – as a result of this displays our actual lives. It was additionally attention-grabbing to see the response to males depicted in home roles – for instance, at dwelling cooking or caring for kids, which additionally drove excessive GEM® scores.
We used these findings to create a framework of inventive greatest practices to assist our members get illustration proper and obtain a correct male/feminine stability in advertisements. I cherished that venture as a result of whereas it was very data-led, it was actually about bettering the inventive course of primarily based on what at present’s customers expertise and wish to see.
How does information and the usage of viewers insights inform what you are promoting technique? And the way does it offer you a aggressive edge?
One in all our key enterprise methods is to create a extra gender equitable media ecosystem. We will probably be releasing our annual GEM® Multiplatform Video Programming Information shortly, highlighting probably the most considered video content material and genres throughout linear and streaming platforms that audiences really feel actually depict ladies authentically.
We additionally present feminine illustration on display and behind the digicam to offer entrepreneurs, businesses, and media corporations a information that may drive enhancements within the amount and high quality of feminine illustration.
The viewers information utilized in our information additionally performs a vital function in serving to entrepreneurs, businesses, and media corporations to collectively obtain media planning and shopping for objectives and to advance gender equality all through the media panorama.
At SeeHer, we help everybody world wide who’s working to enhance gender equality.
What’s probably the most attention-grabbing factor about your viewers?
By way of our members, I simply love the truth that all people needs to help our mission. All people is leaning in, and we get a lot enthusiasm and help.
In the event you had a magic wand to alter something about your use of information, what would you modify – and why?
Knowledge throughout the media and advertising panorama continues to be extremely segmented, so in a super world I’d like a neater, extra streamlined approach to join the dots. It’s a long-standing business problem, however after we can extra simply combine information units, we will all higher serve customers by means of our advertising and media.
What would be the greatest menace and the largest alternative to your sector within the coming years?
The reply to each is AI. There’s an enormous alternative within the sense that AI might probably get rid of gender bias throughout big areas of life. However with AI, the enter is important, so what precisely are AI programs being skilled on?
I’m speaking about the issue of unconscious bias changing into inadvertently baked into AI programs, a state of affairs that isn’t helped by the very fact most AI engineers are males. So, there’s an enormous alternative, however we should be very, very vigilant to keep away from repeating previous errors. If the enter is flawed, the output will probably be flawed.
What’s your tackle the cookieless future?
We have to get extra imaginative with a special type of client dialog. For a begin, I feel we should be extra up-front. There must be much more open dialogue and training of customers, particularly those that’re older. I feel the youthful technology completely will get it when it comes to what they’re snug sharing and never sharing.
The entire relationship between media and advertising and customers has to alter to turn into extra clear. If we will get that dialogue proper with customers then the cookie much less future must be vibrant.
What prime development are you seeing emerge in your wider business?
Past discussions of AI, a prime development I’ve seen is that advertising and know-how are getting nearer collectively. That’s going to imply vital modifications for advertising capabilities inside companies. The place precisely are the intersection factors between advertising and know-how? What precisely ought to they be specializing in? How are they re-imagining conventional tasks? That’s a important query for entrepreneurs proper now.
