Women wary of locker room life

By IRENE CHAPPLE

Women advertising executives are asking why their gender is woefully under-represented at senior levels in an industry that aims largely at females.

They want to know why young, female creatives are dropping out - and how they can be nurtured into executive positions.

A better gender balance at the executive level not only creates a better environment within an agency, some argue, but also makes smart business sense for clients.

The figures tell much of the story: out of around 20 internationally affiliated agencies in New Zealand, only two have females in the vital creative director role.

Spread the net wider, to include positions such as account directors and managers, and the figures improve. According to AdMedia's latest Agencies and Clients publication, about 25 per cent of "key executive positions" in the main agencies are female. Under-represented still, but not as much as in the creative departments, which are seriously lacking female leaders.

Whether the clients suffer is moot. One camp says advertising professionals must be able to understand any buyer demographic. Another says logic dictates that clients gain an advantage when both genders work on a brief.

Women are undoubtedly the leading consumers. Figures vary, but all show females are the target in more than 50 per cent of advertising briefs.

ACNielsen national readership figures, released yesterday, show 70 per cent of females aged over 18 are their households' main shoppers.

Statistics New Zealand proves they spend longer on shopping. Latest figures from a time use survey shows that women spend an average of 43 minutes a day buying goods and services for the household, men 28 minutes. Women remain the gatekeepers of domestic spending.

Jeneal Rohrback, creative director at DDB, says the gender bias should be righted - not because of a feminist agenda, but because it makes strong business sense. The issue, she stresses, is not about excluding men, but of righting an imbalance.

Throughout a 15-year international career, she has rarely seen more than one female in a creative department at any one time. At DDB, Ms Rohrback is working in a creative team almost evenly split between males and females.

"A mix of men and women gives the agency a competitive edge," she says. "When you combine the two different ways the two sexes think, communicate, behave, you create an extraordinary powerhouse that leads to sharper thinking."

Since she was appointed creative director 18 months ago, Ms Rohrback has won four clients, increasing the agency's billings by more than $5 million.

"Women are being recognised as good and sometimes better managers than men," says Ms Rohrback.

"They tend to be more diligent, work better in teams and are less prone to the destructive aspects of competitiveness."

No one is suggesting the lack of senior women is new, or happens only in the industry. But in advertising, unlike other traditionally male-dominated industries, there are no logical barriers to women.

Nevertheless, they still seem to be disappearing from the ranks between graduate and top level positions. Axis Adschool, a highly regarded 36-week course teaching creatives, has a mix of 40 female and 60 male students. But by senior level, anecdote suggests, far more men apply for the top jobs.

Mike O'Sullivan, creative director at Colenso BBDO, did a headcount of the women in his agency. Overall, about half the staff are female. But in the creative team of 28 there are six women, with one female copywriter. Mr O'Sullivan says the industry would benefit with more women in such roles, but female applicants have been a minority.

Mr O'Sullivan, supported by other executives who recall a tiny minority of women in the industry when their careers started, believes it is a traditional imbalance that will gradually right itself.

Ms Rohrback has discussed the issue with friend and colleagues, and asks some harder questions. "Is it because creative departments are seen to be dominated by masculine culture, full of massive egos, talking about rugby and tits?" she asks.

"Or are men conveniently blind to the whole issue? Maybe there has never been a 'real' problem and women are 'just talking a load of rubbish'?"

Not according to expatriate advertising executive Nicki Mortimer. She was assigned a creative brief for feminine hygiene products while working at a multinational Sydney agency, back when "soft-focus ads showing white-clad women talking in dulcet tones over blue liquid demos were the norm".

Ms Mortimer and her creative team researched the topic and found women weren't particularly embarrassed about sanitary products. The blue liquid demo was dumped and the campaign progressed into pre-production. However, two weeks before filming, senior male executives of the client pulled rank and insisted the demo be returned to the campaign.

Ms Mortimer refused. "It took them about a week to decide what to do about me," recalls Ms Mortimer. "I think they hoped I'd resign and save them embarrassment, but I wasn't going to make it quite that easy." She was fired, with three months' pay, and now lectures on advertising at the University of Western Sydney.

Jill Brinsdon, credited with being the first female creative director in New Zealand, now works an arm's length from the industry.

Ms Brinsdon founded and now runs Radiation, a "brand navigation" company. Of her years as a creative director, Ms Brinsdon says: "Most creative departments are locker rooms, filled with revved-up boys. Sometimes girls are allowed in, but only if they are happy to act like revved-up boys - there is a definite code of conduct."

Both Ms Rohrback and the only other female creative director of a big agency, Chrissie Lahood of Young & Rubicam Wellington, have intentionally dampened aggressive attitudes within their agencies in favour of a more inclusive approach.

"I've worked in both [types of atmospheres]," says Ms Lahood, "and prefer the less competitive, loving approach."

Young creatives Penelope Guthrie and Nadia Joel have just graduated, and are undertaking placements in various agencies, initially working under Ms Rohrback. "She served as a great example when we started," they agree.

"You've got to be able to kick ball in this industry, and the simple fact is, the sooner you master pool, ping-pong, fooz-ball or whatever it is that keeps your agency ticking ... the sooner you get to play with the big boys."

Overlying issues such as unwelcoming agency atmospheres are, predictably, underscored by the much-worn biological and society arguments. A 10 to 20-year crawl towards being creative director will inevitably suffer when children are born, says Ms Lahood.

"When I had children I couldn't go to lunch any more, because I had to leave on the button. I wasn't party to a lot of the soft decisions that were being made. It was really hard, and of course, that's because I'm a woman.

"I'm not complaining about it, but I don't think you should have to make a choice between being part of an agency and having children."

Marie Jackson, managing director at M&C Saatchi, agrees. She believes a highly fraught debate can be boiled down to this basic fact.

Both she and Ms Lahood argue that a gender-biased creative team doesn't necessarily deny effective work for a client. Ms Jackson says clients benefit from working with brainy, intuitive people.

"It would be a tragic workforce if it were only made up of women, however the opposite is equally true. The key to success is getting the mix right," says Ms Jackson.

Ms Lahood argues that an advertising professional should be able to advertise any product, because that's the job.

But, says Ms Brinsdon, "say you have a client with a brand targeting 25 to 49-year-old women. You have a couple of extremely creative young 22-year-old guys who are amping to do cool jokes or ads for the award shows. These two things do not have much in common. That's a very real situation, and that's a problem."

Ms Rohrback believes clients could do a "thousand times better", with a balanced gender mix creating ads, and she is keen to push for change.

She suggests a Women in Advertising Club, where females can talk freely about the issues they face, or perhaps a website where women can find information and exchange stories. She also says women need to use more positive language and tactics to deal with the issue.

Such moves, she says, would not be male-bashing but would instead provide support for rising females.

Communications Agencies Association head Lynne Clifton endorses Ms Rohrback's position, and is cautiously supportive.

However, she points out her position is to liaise with the industry, not lead change. And if a club were to be formed, "can't you just hear the raised eyebrows? Can you imagine what the men would say?"