GEM® Lift: Turbocharging Sales Through Gender Equality Advertising Strategies
SeeHer, in partnership with Circana and iSpot, has proven that embedding gender equality principles in advertising drives sales growth for consumers across generations, underscoring the elevated importance of accurate representation and portrayal of women. Yatisha Forde from SeeHer discussed best practices to drive business growth across generations, genders, race, ethnicity and language.
Key Takeaways
The economic influence of diverse audiences is substantial, with women controlling $10 trillion, multicultural consumers controlling $5 trillion, and LGBTQIA+ persons controlling $3.7 trillion in spending power. This influence is set to grow significantly, with generation Z projected to control $12 trillion and generation Alpha $5 trillion by 2030. Despite this economic power, representation gaps persist, with only 22 percent of women of color saying media portrays them accurately, and 72 percent of LGBTQIA+ women reporting they are more likely to be portrayed as sexy rather than accomplished.
The GEM® Lift study, encompassing 12 consumer packaged goods companies, 21 brands, and 73 campaign creatives across eight categories, has demonstrated significant sales impact from gender-equitable advertising. The research shows that accurate portrayals in advertising can drive sales lifts up to 10 times higher across consumer segments, with particularly strong performance among younger generations and Hispanic consumers.
Intersectional representation has proven especially powerful, with Black Americans showing 3.5 times higher sales lift and Spanish-language Hispanic Americans showing 10 times higher sales lift in response to diverse representation of women. Importantly, this inclusive advertising doesn't alienate non-POC audiences; instead, it drives allyship, with non-African Americans showing twice the sales increase when exposed to accurate portrayals of Black women in campaigns.
Generational response to gender-equitable advertising varies significantly, with generation Z showing the strongest response. The data reveals nine times higher sales lift among generation Z and younger millennials, compared to four times higher sales lift among generation X and older millennials. These findings underscore the growing importance of authentic representation in driving business results across demographic segments.
Action Steps
- Implement intentional representation of intersectional identities in advertising campaigns.
- Incorporate cultural and linguistic diversity in marketing communications.
- Develop content that normalizes women's lived experiences across different contexts.
- Create advertising that depicts women in multi-dimensional roles.
- Showcase women exercising self-agency in campaign narratives.
- Challenge traditional norms and stereotypes through creative execution.
- Measure campaign impact across different demographic segments.
- Track sales lift metrics for gender-equitable advertising initiatives.
- Foster allyship through inclusive representation strategies.
- Apply GEM® best practices to optimize sales performance across consumer segments.
Source
"GEM® Lift: Turbocharging Sales Through Gender Equality Advertising Strategies." Yatisha Forde, senior director of insights at SeeHer. Virtual Diversity Marketing and Measurement Fair, 10/15/24.