International Women’s Day is a United Nations-sanctioned global holiday that takes place every year on March 8 to commemorate women’s rights and urge people to take action in the ongoing battle for gender equality. International Women’s Day began in America in 1909, when the Socialist Party of America took to the streets to honour garment workers who had protested against harsh working conditions the year before, according to the United Nations. It was known as National Women’s Day and was observed on February 28. The Social International founded Women’s Day in Copenhagen the next year to honour people who strive for women’s rights and universal suffrage. Over the next few years, more European countries observed March 8 as a national holiday. It wasn’t until March 8, 1975, that the United Nations declared it an official holiday during International Women’s Year. Since 1975, the event has grown in popularity as a way to honour women all throughout the world.
2021 International Women’s Day Theme: #ChooseToChallenge
To commemorate International Women’s Day, brands all over the world have created thought-provoking advertisements and campaigns. Every year on March 8, International Women’s Day recognises women’s efforts to empower themselves and live better lives. Brands go all out on social media ahead of the event, posting encouraging imagery, empowering statements, and engaging videos to showcase what women have accomplished in the past and how much more can be done to improve the situation.
#ChooseToChallenge was the theme for International Women’s Day last year, encouraging women to challenge whatever is holding them back. The Drum has compiled a list of the top brand campaigns, which include breaking gender standards, pushing people to reconsider stereotypes, and advocating equality.
Sources: Real Simple, Indian Express, The Drum
Mars: #HereToBeHeard
Photo by Mars
Mars, a chocolate brand famed for M&Ms and Snickers, launched a global campaign #HereToBeHeard at the end of January to help form a more inclusive society where women can reach their full potential and have an equal chance to succeed. The #HereToBeHeard campaign is part of the company’s Full Potential platform, which encourages action on gender parity in the workplace, sourcing communities, and the marketplace. In the run-up to International Women’s Day, the female empowerment campaign asked women all across the world, “What needs to happen so that more women can fulfil their full potential?” Mars underlines the importance of every vote in moulding the future on a special website called Beheard.Mars.com, urging all women to voice their thoughts and say what needs to be done to achieve equality. The thoughts gathered will be used in a global study that will be shared with the entire world and will be used to generate actions and initiatives targeted at ensuring that everyone has equal opportunity.
Source: Diplomacy & Commerce
Lego: Future Builders
Photo by Lego on Creative Bloq
One of the most iconic ads of all time was created by the maker of everyone’s favourite interlocking plastic bricks, Lego, in 1981. Lego has revived the campaign, after 40 years, for International Women’s Day 2021, and everyone’s children can participate. The original ad featured a little girl clutching a Lego creation, as well as some motivational writing about children’s joy in their creations. Lego is encouraging families to recreate the ad to commemorate the abilities and inventiveness of the “next generation of female leaders” on International Women’s Day 2021. Julia Goldin, the company’s chief product and marketing officer, believes that children are their role models. Every day, the company looks to them for inspiration, and they want to assist them to break down gender norms and opening doors for everyone. The campaign responded to research that found 73% of parents believe that gender inequalities are caused more by society expectations than by biology. The reenactment ads are just as entertaining and motivating as the 1981 campaign, and one of the more genuine marketing initiatives for International Women’s Day 2021 we’ve seen.
Source: Creative Bloq
IKEA: FiftyFifty
Photo by IKEA on Creative Bloq
In honour of International Women’s Day 2021, IKEA wanted to help make the household fairer. The furniture company has devised a fun game to test how successfully families divide domestic responsibilities. FiftyFifty was introduced on IKEA’s Instagram stories, and it asked women and their spouses to answer a series of questions regarding their home habits. The purpose of the question was to start a discussion on how equal things are at home. Ikea’s intention is predicated on the notion that women, on average, do far more housework than men, and this inequality has gotten worse since the pandemic began. The game begins by asking, “What is the finest part about sharing a home with you?” and then closes with, “Did you realise that women perform three times as much unpaid housework as men?” Ikea has found a brilliant method to get people actively connected with its Instagram account, while honouring International Women’s Day with a super-topical problem, by utilising all of Instagram’s engagement options, from sliding scales to polls.
Source: Creative Bloq
Universal Production Music: 100% HER
Photo by Little Black Book
Universal Production Music and shesaid.so, a multinational and diverse network of women in the music industry, collaborated on 100% HER. She Is The Music, a global non-profit dedicated to increasing the number of women in the music industry, also backed the project. In 2019, the Universal Production Music team chose to honour International Women’s Day by providing a new platform for women and gender minorities to have their voices heard. This is how they came to collaborate with shesaid.so. As a result, the project’s goal was to increase the number of women working in music production and raise their presence in order to assist close the gender gap in the industry. On March 8th, 2020, they published the first 100% HER album, which was chosen from over 500 entries from women all over the world. They brought back a second 100% HER album in 2021 Women’s Day after receiving such fantastic feedback on the first.
Source: Universal Production Music
LinkedIn: #WeCanDoIt
Photo by PR Week
LinkedIn has launched its first-ever campaign for International Women’s Day in 2021, bringing together influencers and the LinkedIn community to promote material that empowers and supports women. The campaign was created in reaction to LinkedIn statistics showing that Covid-19 has had a significantly negative influence on women’s careers. The film conveys the doubts, anxieties, and weaknesses that seven women from around the world experienced throughout the pandemic by showcasing their real-life stories.
Source: The Drum
TikTok: #WeAreHere
Photo by Mobile Marketing Magazine
On International Women’s Day in 2021, TikTok conducted a pan-European marketing campaign highlighting women’s underrepresentation in the music industry. The #WeAreHere campaign is built on an ad with a soundtrack by Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt, which shares data such as the fact that women make up only 22% of chart music vocalists and 2% of music producers. Hashtag challenges and TopView ad takeovers aided the campaign.
Source: Mobile Marketing Magazine
This Thing of Ours: Choose To Challenge
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Photo by The Drum and Beth Nash on Beth Nash Design
To celebrate International Women’s Day 2021, This Thing of Ours released an animation developed in partnership with 90 great female illustrators from around the world. The studio put out an Instagram appeal for female illustrators and received over 600 replies from across the world. Based on their drawing style, they chose 90 ladies to cooperate with on the project. The animation was designed to coincide with the #ChooseToChallenge campaign theme for the 2021 International Women’s Day. It portrays a lady raising her hand, which has been chosen as this year’s symbol of support for the cause.
Source: The Drum
Conclusion
Well, it’s good to have a day dedicated to honouring women’s accomplishments. As a result, on this International Women’s Day, let us appreciate the importance of women in our lives and society, and encourage them to achieve even more in the future, as they are capable of contributing equally to the home, society, and country.
