Gender Stereotypes: Damaging Brands, Confidence and Self Esteem

Gender Stereotyping: It is harming people, not just your brand

Gender stereotypes and the effect that they have upon brands marketing and the media is an issue on everybody’s lips at the moments and rightfully so. New research from The Pineapple Studio has shown that girls prefer brands that empower them and help to define and discover who they are in ways that don’t match up to stereotypes that currently exist in marketing, leaving those who use gender stereotypes with outdated marketing materials.

The article on marketing week goes on to discuss how brands that default to gender stereotypes in marketing materials put off a large proportion of the brand for good, therefor missing out on a lucrative market and “endangering brand loyalty from a young age.”

Once girls hit 13 they start to feel less confident and more worried about the world around them. The number of girls found to be feeling positive about their futures takes a swift decline at the age of 13-14 where 55% say they feel confident compared to 62% of 8-10s and 63% of 11-12s.

#LikeAGirl

Always #LikeAGirl was an incredible campaign, which, if you haven’t seen it, focuses on giving back a positive meaning to the phrase “like a girl” which is often used in a negative or insulting way in an attempt to end gender stereotypes. If you haven’t seen the ad, watch it now. The result? #LikeAGirl was the most tweeted hash tag from The Super Bowl.

Perhaps the saddest thing is that this campaign was such a stand out, clearly, as marketers, we’re missing the mark with being truly empowering and clearly this needs to change within marketing and we need to look deeper than an “endangering brand loyalty” view point.

Gender Stereotypes Damage Confidence

Look deeper than brand loyalty, look at them figures, notice the drop in young girls’ confidence and recognise that we are in a profession that can drive change, just like the #LikeAGirl campaign which has generated a conversation and helped to inspire rather than force unrealistic ideals upon the world.

Clearly, gender stereotyping and the image we create in the media (including our marketing materials) impact on confidence is a very real issue, it forces expectations and pressures on both women and men, some of which are documented in this project.

These images were taken from a class of ninth graders in the US. That is 14-15 years old. The impacts that the media and marketing materials have upon their views of disadvantages is really sad.

(Many thanks to the contributor for the images that can be found on Flickr)

We have already seen positive steps forward on this front, as there has been a 46% drop in the proportion of online retailers that using gender to categorise toys but it clearly is not a big enough step forward.

Working Together to Overcome Gender Stereotypes in Marketing

As marketers, we have great influence, decisions we make, in some industries more than others, every image we use, the tone of our voice can have an impact and the way we target young people, regardless of gender, needs to change.

So when you’re next targeting men, women or children, put gender stereotyping at the forefront of your mind, remember the ideals that don’t help encourage confidence but in some instances, slowly instill fear and damage confidence then look to break the mold with your campaign.

In the future, approach your campaigns with a reassuring, realistic and non stereotypical, forward thinking marketing view point and make sure you believe in the ideals that your campaign reflects. Not only could you be impacting on peoples views of themselves and the world but your honesty, passion and realistic targeting will ultimately increase brand loyalty and more importantly drive the change that is so desperately needed and lets face it, if you use these stereotypes, it's lazy, outdated marketing.

Marketing Recruitment | Pros and Cons

Every organisation has to spend money to make money, and this also applies in the field of marketing recruitment. When you do recruit new team members, you’re betting that they’ll contribute to the business and improve your profits – so any amount that you spend bringing them on board will turn out to be worth it.  

This may turn out to be the case, and when you manage your organisation’s funds well, you will find more often than not that you make back the cost of recruitment quite quickly.

But this doesn’t justify being charged over the odds for your online marketing recruitment needs when that doesn’t have to be the cost.

The standard rate for a marketing recruitment agency is usually upwards of 15% of their yearly salary, topping out at about 30% for one-off or highly-paid hires. Headhunting firms can charge even more – between a third and a half of the starting salary.

This means if a company hires 10 people per year at an average salary of £25,000, they could expect to pay around £50,000 to agencies who act essentially as middlemen.

Again, this is commonly accepted as just another of the costs of doing business. If the new hires generate profit for the business, why not pay out these high costs?

But just because this is how recruitment agencies operate as standard, that doesn’t mean it’s the best way, or that better alternatives don’t exist.

For example, we can question if it is really necessary to charge fees at a percentage of an employee’s salary.

To do this implies that agencies put more effort into recruiting quality staff at a higher level. But maintaining a higher calibre of candidates is vital at all levels – including lower-paid staff who make up the core of the business.

Added to this is the fact that a few organisations may be reluctant to pay their staff more as a higher salary would be reflected in the recruitment fees for each position. Lowering salaries to ensure cheaper recruitment might save cash in the short term but doesn’t work out well for anyone involved.

A flat-fee model for online recruitment makes more sense as a low cost for advertising is maintained while still ensuring an excellent standard of candidates. Using all the same techniques as an agency, but without tying rates to salaries, costs become clearer and more affordable.

With an online marketing recruitment company charging a flat fee, you could expect to pay only a few hundred pounds per vacancy, depending on volume. Even for fewer hires you would still pay significantly below agency rates – again, a figure in the hundreds rather than thousands, whether the position is that of a director or a cleaner.

Whether you recruit in high volumes or not, savings in this area can result in huge sums of money saved, and when you don’t have to compromise on quality, there really are no arguments for spending more.

Demand for Marketers on the Rise

Demand for marketers on the rise Demand for marketers is increasing, with job ads for marketing professionals rising 8 per cent in the second quarter, according to a report.

Demand for marketers is on the rise, with job ads increasing 8 per cent in the second quarter.

Marketing Recruitment consultancy Edward Samuel Associates in Birmingham track marketing vacancies posted online. It found that the number of roles being advertised rose compared to last year and the prior quarter, with 6 per cent more ads in the second quarter than the first.

The Midlands saw the biggest growth within the Marketing Recruitment Sector, with 15 per cent more roles being advertised than in the second quarter of 2013. In London, job ads were up 8 per cent year on year.

Dan Heathcote, director of marketing recruitment at Edward Samuel Associates, says the results reflect rising investment and “an appetite” to hire marketers to help boost growth. In particular there is growing demand for digital marketers, he adds.

“While many employers have embraced the digital revolution, up-skilling staff or making new hires, the flow of digital marketing vacancies shows no sign of abating. Among discerning employers, the focus will be on recruiting for highly specialist or niche digital marketing roles to build up fresh layers of expertise,” says Heathcote.

Recruitment Agencies Need Candidates Who Have Multichannel Marketing Skills

Despite using a multichannel approach, it is vital that a single view of the consumer is maintained. Customers today interact in many different ways through a variety of touch points. Marketers must have a good understanding of customer behaviour at every level and acknowledge the value of each to the organisation.  

In order to achieve the single view, it can be helpful to collate all data in one place, regardless of source. This can be achieved using a centralised database. However, this is just the first step towards developing an accurate single view. Once it's consolidated, no matter how much information there is, it must be used to establish insight. If not, the data will mean very little. What is more, as the business evolves so too will the customer. As such, it is important to continuously update the customer view using new data and new models to interpret it.

Create a platform for multichannel marketing. This should include technology and processes that support a range of functions. Sales recruitment agencies will be looking out for candidates who can implement these.

Campaign Management

Campaign execution, workflow creation and segmentation are all capabilities that need to be considered as part of campaign management systems.

Analytics

In order to optimise current campaigns and determine how future projects might run, marketers must use advanced and predictive analytics.

Advanced Execution

Next-best-offer and content management approaches, as well as real-time decision making and event triggering, are all helpful capabilities for outbound and inbound marketing projects.

Response Attribution

The development of skills such as optimising the marketing mix and analysis of marketing attribution.

Digital Marketing

Capabilities which expand to all channels (including social media, video and mobile) are a must in the fast-paced technological age where most people have access to a mobile device.

Emerging and traditional channels can be integrated using a multichannel platform for marketing. Cross-channel campaigns are simplified, as one campaign can be easily adapted for use across a variety of channels. Doing so will help marketers communicate the right message to the right people at the right time — all in a cost-efficient and effective manner.

Improve Customer Experiences

All those within the marketing recruitment industry will agree that creating a positive customer experience is one of the most important objectives. In a crowded market place, it serves as a major differentiator between competitors.

Not only does the customer experience need to be positive, but there also needs to be a good degree of consistency. The reason for this is that regardless of where the interaction is taking place — online, over the telephone or face-to-face — the customer will always experience and view the brand as a whole. There is no value therefore in creating a positive experience face-to-face if the online experience is not also positive. Consistency can only be delivered effectively if all channels are treated as one rather than several independent aspects.

Sales Recruitment - the perils and the pitfalls!

Within sales recruitment there is often a tendency for the focus to remain on one or two strong players with the expectation that with these individuals in place, things will ‘sort themselves out’. Unfortunately, this ‘quick fix’ solution very rarely works. In fact, for sales recruitment to be successful, candidates must be both right for the position and fit into any existing team well.  

All candidates, including star players, must be carefully managed. There should be plenty of scope for them to grow and develop within the organisation. Involving top candidates in pitches and significant projects will increase loyalty and help them to feel a valuable part of the company — and transform their role from a job into a career.

Enabling existing and new sales recruits to reach their full potential is certainly one important aspect of team building that works when everyone pulls together. This approach will need to be monitored continuously to ensure it is working as expected and that the team (and as a result the organisation), is progressing. As part of the monitoring process, it is important to identify where current practices are ineffective and to make changes where appropriate. Careful analysis of which processes are not working and why will assist with decision making.

Hiring the wrong candidate for a sales recruitment position could potentially cost recruitment agencies in London thousands of pounds. What is more, poor hiring choices could lose an organisation valuable clients. It is vital, therefore, that a cautious approach to recruitment is adopted. Sales professionals are customer-facing and must have the ability to interact in such a way as to portray a positive company image. The wrong candidate could negatively impact the corporate reputation, which is subsequently difficult to counteract.

The very best sales people are few and far between. They are difficult to find and may be even harder to recruit. Once they have been recruited, there will be a fight to keep hold of them. However, ensuring there are lots of fresh opportunities within the company will go some way towards maintaining this objective. Effective induction and additional ongoing training and coaching are also important.

Why a Recruitment Agency in the Midlands Should Optimise for Mobile.

The number of mobile phone subscriptions is set to be greater than the world's population by 2015. In addition, smartphones will quickly become more popular than traditional mobile phones. However, fewer than 10 per cent of company career pages are suitable for viewing on a remote device.  

Careers network Beyond.com claims that just eight per cent of people consider application processes to be painless. Those organisations already benefitting from making the move to become mobile-enabled look set for a bright future. Companies that lag behind the mobile revolution are certain to lose out on the top candidates, especially with the technology-savvy Millennials providing the talent for future recruitment. The smartphones and tablets have become so fully integrated into society that it is rare for individuals not to have a device.

For a  Midland recruitment agency serious about entering the mobile arena, there is much to consider. It's not just about designing a website with additional functionality to accommodate mobile viewing. They must also think carefully about differences in the way information is delivered and digested. Calls to action, concentration, marketing styles and the depth of information provided will all need to be different when catering for on-the-go job-seekers.

The way job-seekers communicate with hiring teams also needs to be adapted. Writing covering letters and attaching CVs to documents can be difficult tasks to perform with a mobile device. Supplying links to accounts such as LinkedIn could prove more convenient and may provide potential employers with a more rounded view of candidates. In addition, given the propensity for considerably reduced attention spans from those using a mobile device, a recruitment agency in London must be ready to supply much more succinct job descriptions to attract potential candidates.