Avid
Avid
a socially catalytic program
Contents
About
History
Insights
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8
12
Curriculum
Curriculum
Curriculum
18
20
22
Prediction
Appendix
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26
part one
part two
part three
About
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Women and the advertising industry have always had dynamic controversies with each other. The most commonly addressed problem is the sexist representation of women in advertisements. However, the arguably more detrimental issue is the one most do not even consider. The women behind the advertisements. Since day one, women working in advertising have dealt with issues of sexual harassment and discrimination. Although political and social advances have helped to eliminate these issues on the surface, there is still a large disproportion in women versus men in higher ranking creative positions.. While the lack of parity between men and women working in advertising is discussed every so often within the industry, it is hardly ever addressed within academia. Enter Avid. A program designed to address this social and cultural issue in an academic context in hopes of creating a new prospect of the future of advertising. Through a three stage curriculum, Avid strives to engage the minds of young men and women ready to act as catalysts with the ultimate goal of moving towards a better balanced creative industry. 7
History
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Contrary to what Mad Men implies early in its run, Peggy Olson isn’t as groundbreaking as the show makes her out to be. Although her trials and tribulations in her transition to a mediocre clerical worker to a successful copywriter are notable, women have been working hands on in advertising long before the Mad Men era. Yet, why is it so hard to dig up the basic history of influential women throughout American advertising history? Today there are many articles detailing modern women in advertising making names for themselves, but it takes an extra effort to curate details on the early women of advertising. Avid attempts to break this historical shortfall.
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Mathilde C. Weil opens M.C. Weil agency; first woman to establish an agency and America’s first advertising woman.
1880
A Brief History of Women in Advertising 1912 The League of Advertising Women–now Advertising Women of New York–is founded.
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Needa McGarth becomes the first female art director (at Blackman Agency). “I was discouraged by everyone from making the attempt and had to work perhaps harder than a man.” -Needa McGarth
1926
194
Jean Wade becomes B first female president.
Copywriter Erma Perham Proetz is the first woman inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame.
46
e Rindlaub BBDO’s e vice
Barbara Proctor establishes Proctor & Gardner Advertising; first black woman to own and manage an agency.
Charlotte Beers becomes chairman and chief executive of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide.
Janet Kestin, Nancy Vonk, and client Silvia Lagnado create Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” with real women.
1970
1992
2004
1952
1967 Mary Wells Lawrence establishes Wells, Rich, Greene agency; two years later she is noted as the highest paid executive in advertising.
Avid is established as an academic catalyst to advocate for gender parity in the creative industry.
2014
2012 The alarming fact is that this does not cover every single influential woman in American advertising. It should also be considered that there are women in advertising worldwide that are making big changes. Avid believes one day students involved in the program can help to curate an in-depth and thorough time line of these brave women.
Kat Gordon launches the first 3% conference involving 400 people.
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Insights
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Advertising Hall of Achievement
Advertising Hall of Fame
34%
99.3%
inductees are women1
inductees are men2
Creative Women Breakdown
3
22.2% 18.7% 14.6% 23.3% Copywriters
Art Directors
Creative Directors
Creative Departments 13
3% 14
of Creative Directors in the U.S. are females4
85%
of all consumer purchases are made by women5
American women annually spend about
$7 trillion Over half of the U.S. GDP7
91%
of women say advertisers do not understand them 6
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A total of 50 advertising students, 25 females and 25 males, were surveyed. All of the females were focused on copywriting or art direction in their education. The male pool was a collection of creatives and account focuses. I had no idea women made up only 3% of CDs worldwide
92%
These statistics concern me
I had no idea women made up only 3% of CDs worldwide
96% 16
100%
These statistics concern me
84%
There is both a need and want for a program like Avid. Many female students aspiring to work within creative departments of advertising agencies are unaware of the never-ending ladder they will constantly be trying to climb throughout their career. Avid is open to both male and female students. The program hopes to champion new thought leaders that will create a more positive outlook for women in advertising.
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Curriculum part one
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History Students will conduct in-depth research projects on influential and notable women in American advertising history. Each student will present his or her findings and then submit it to the Avid database. Avid programmers will sift through the students findings to fact check, organize, and publish the findings. With a strong collection of historical findings, Avid will be known as the goto collection for the history of women in advertising. Each student whose findings are published in the historical curation will be attributed for his or her contributions.
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Curriculum part two
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Mentors/Insight Gathering In order to help student create a network of professionals, students will work on their own–with some help from an instructor–to find a mentor that will work with them throughout the school year. Mentors will provide advice and real-life experiences students can learn from. If students are unable to acquire a mentor, they have the option to conduct in-depth interviews with at least five different advertising professionals, preferably women or individuals concerned with the issue at hand such as academic researchers, talent recruiters, HR leaders, etc. At the end of the school year, each student will present their key takeaways to their peers.
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Curriculum part three
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Collaboration In groups, students will work together to create new ideas to tackle the issue at hand. Whether they be hiring initiatives, networking programs, or an awareness-raising event, students will foster collaborative their own insights, findings, and thoughts to address the gender imbalance within the advertising industry. After presenting their projects, each venture will be posted within Avid’s collaborative database. Advertising professionals will have access to this database and will hopefully pick up a few project proposals. The goal is to eventually get some of these ideas implemented within the industry to spark change. If projects aren’t picked up by professionals, it is Avid’s hope that the students involved in the program will enter the field of advertising and will one day implement their own thoughtful ideas on their own.
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Prediction
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It is Avid’s goal to foster smart thought leaders as well as considerate and knowledgeable young professionals. Rather than restricting the conversation of the lack of women in creative departments to just the advertising industry, Avid opens it up to the students who are on the rise to be leaders in the field. Rather than just talking about the issue at hand, Avid is a call to action to cultivate change by talking, collaborating, and creating amongst students and advertising professionals. Avid is a socially catalytic program for the avid.
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Appendix
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1. http://advertisinghall.org/members/index.html 2. http://www.aaf.org/default.asp?id=77 3. Grow, Jean and Deng, Tao. (2014). Sex Segregation in Advertising Creative Departments Across the Globe. Advertising & Society, 14(4). Retrieved from http: http://tinyurl.com/mt2junf 4. http://3percentconf.com/index.php/about/history 5-7. http://she-conomy.com/report/marketing-to-womenquick-facts
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