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Why women leave ad agencies

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WHY WOMEN LEAVE AD AGENCIES Why aren't there more women at the top? Advertising spits them out before they've had a fair shot even.
Transcript

WHY WOMEN LEAVE AD AGENCIES

Why aren't there more women at the top? Advertising spits them out before they've had a fair shot even.

*WOMEN OVER 45 KILOS, DON'T APPLY.WHY DO YOU CARE ABOUT INCREMENTS,YOUR HUSBAND EARNS SO WELL?SHE'S JUST CRANKY BECAUSE SHE HASN'TBEEN LAID.*STRIPPER SCREENSAVERS*PROMOTION! SHE MUST BE SLEEPINGWITH THE BOSS.SORRY, LADY, CAN'T REPORT TO AWOMAN.WANNA COME FOR THE MEETING? THECLIENT'S GOT GREAT BOOBS! IT'S JUST ADIRTY JOKE, SHE'S A HUMOURLESS B***H.

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Language protocol be damned, why is advertising a sausage fest still? It's2015, for crying out loud. Why are the highest echelons of India's creativeagencies devoid of women? The eighties saw more gender diversity andwomen walking those very hallways. In Brand Equity's Ad Agency Reckoner,an annual power ranking of Indian advertising, not one woman has featuredin the Top 10 Most Creative and Top 20 Most Influential lists, and that's justthe past three editions. Perhaps Aditya Birla Group's Ajay Kakar, identifiedthe problem when he said that in the past few decades there seems to benot one woman who has threatened the ad troika of Piyush Pandey (Ogilvy),R Balki (Lowe) and Prasoon Joshi (McCann World group). “It's one of life'smysteries,“ says Kakar. One we're attempting to solve, hopefully not in vain,by asking some uncomfortable questions.

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First, is it that women are steering clear of the ad business for more lucrative andcomfortable opportunities in other fields, say, FMCG or startups? And, therefore, ifthey aren't joining en masse in the first place then rising to the top is out ofquestion? Although it's not a rarity for women, across levels and in senior positionsto leave for greener, manicured pastures, that's dodgy rationale nonetheless.Because women are joining the workforce in impressive numbers, as most agencyheads tell us. At the entry level is where the men to women ratio is its healthiest,60:40, if not more.

So, could it be that women are not as creative, hardworking and ambitious as men?Rubbish. We only wish we had a rupee for every time adwalllahs waxed eloquentabout a woman's special powers to combine instinct with real insight to come upwith winning ideas. Remember it was Anuja Chauhan and her team who came upwith Pepsi's (and one of the country's) most iconic campaigns to date -“NothingOfficial About It“.Furthermore, ad chiefs we spoke to sing paeans to a woman'swork-ethic, ability to deliver results and win over clients and fight as hard as thenext guy. Then, pray tell, what could it be, Holmes?

“The Uterus Did It!“

When BE asked industry veterans, women and men, “where have all the women gone“, theresounding answer was: “We lost them to motherhood.“ Because pregnancy is a fataldiagnosis in advertising. That's the god awful truth. “We lose some of our best peoplewhen they transition from working girl to working mother,“ they'll tell you. Agencies don'thave an articulated maternity policy or even a room to spare for crèches in swanky high-rise offices. In a clear case of insensitivity, women on maternity leave are not kept in theloop or on mailing lists, whether they wished it or not. Their promotions and incrementsare held back until their return. Then a strong case of FOMO (fear of missing out) kicks in,forcing some to work till their water breaks, in office.

It's not unusual for newborn mothers who return to work to find surprises like areplacement sitting at their former desks and a constant stream of jibes from colleaguesbecause they had the temerity to clock out at 5:30 PM. Never mind the fact they workharder and smarter than guys on their 23rd smoke break. The absurdity of gender specificdouble-standards continues when a woman must take half-a-day for, say, a PTA meet. Thewhispers are deafening; “She's not committed to her work“. When a man takes off, theyshriek, “Aww. He's totes Father of The Year.“

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However, there are women who've managed to juggle both worlds ratherefficiently despite a few bumps. Till a year ago, Swati Bhattacharya was one in ahandful of female top-bosses. But then she quit her post as National CreativeDirector at JWT, one she shared with Tista Sen, still at JWT (currently, the only largenetwork agency with a woman at the helm of its creative department). Fed up witha boardroom full of men telling her how to be a mother, Bhattacharya set upDentsu's Mama Labs, a division that helps brands target mothers. She says,although JWT proved to be supportive and accommodating, even paying ticket farefor her child and maid to accompany her on business travel, “There were alwayspeople in the industry who said `why are they so indulgent?' or `how lucky andprivileged she is! 'Disregarding such tripe, she used her office as a child care centreand left everyday at half-five. As the practice turned to habit it seemed less like aprivilege and Bhattacharya felt more empowered. Her advice to women in the adbusiness: don't be tentative about what you want even if it makes you unpopular.“You have to demand it. Make it a condition not as a mother but as a worker,“ shesays.

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On the marketing side, companies are not waiting around to lose their best talentto babies and mothers-in-law. Two months ago, Vodafone defined a mandatoryminimum maternity benefits standard -16 weeks fully paid maternity leave, as wellas a full pay for a 30-hour week for the first six-months after return to work. Why?Because 35% of Vodafone's employees worldwide are women but they account foronly 21% of the international senior leadership team. In a company statement,Vodafone Group chief executive, Vittorio Colao, said: “Too many talented womenleave working life because they face a difficult choice between either caring for anewborn baby or maintaining their careers.“

If supporting your employees is not motivation enough, consider this. KPMGanalysis indicates that global businesses could save an estimated $19 billion a yearthrough these provisions. Saving on re training by retaining “the knowledge andexperience of these women with positive consequences for productivity andeffectiveness.“

So, dear agency and employee, lean all the way in, already!

“Women Are Humourless Hags“

However, leaning in, literally, brings with it a different set of consequences.As one woman put it, “Try wearing shorts on a Saturday to office, it's likebeing inside a DTC bus (that's Delhi local transport).“ Life in advertising is, infact, a microcosm of the world outside, Bhattacharya told us, with rampantobjectification in agencies big and small. But while male colleagues openlyand audibly rue the lack of “eye-candy“ to ogle at in office or marvel at theirscreen savers of female strippers, leadership follows the principle of benignneglect. And in the absence of a robust HR structure, with no powers beyondhiring and negotiating salaries, women subjected to this variety ofharassment are left with just two options: be a “tattle tale“ or forget aboutit. Besides if one takes any umbrage or makes apparent their distaste forsexist remarks and `t**s & a**' jokes, you are kindly advised go buy a senseof humour. It only gets tougher as you rise up the ranks.

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“It isn't easy being a woman in a senior position. You get a lot of `she'sa bitch', `she's PMSing' or `she needs sex',“ says Priti Nair, director,Curry Nation. For an industry celebrated for its open-mindedness in theworkplace and progressive attitude that's alarming indeed. (But thenagain advertising is the biggest purveyor of gender stereotypes.)There's, of course, no shortage of people ready to step up with thesorriest excuse known to mankind, “boys will be boys“. And there areplenty of boys in this business. Advertising has always been a maledominated industry, says Grey Digital's Navin Kansal, “and everythinghas always been looked at through the male lens. When you think ofgirls in ad schools, where are the female role models for them to lookup to and aspire to be?“

Men Only, Women And Pets Not Allowed'

Yes, advertising has always been a Boys' Club Only . But the current recipe ofmachismo at agencies,it seems, is one part Hemingway and nine partsChulbul Pandey. It's 2015, and while Deepika Padukone discovers it's herchoice, after all, men are still uncomfortable with taking orders from afemale boss. Says Grey's ex-NCD, Malvika Mehra, “As cool as we are as anindustry , there are a lot of chauvinists out here. They could be on theclient's side or on the agency side. We may choose to gloss over this but it'sevident even in conversations with clients, etc. Sometimes your own juniormale colleagues can be a little cocky or aggressive because you're a femaleboss. It's cute to a point but then you ask them to shut the f**k up!“ And godforbid if you don't indulge in some weekly drinking and debauchery with theboys, you are likely to miss the next big professional opportunity of your life.Says KV Sridhar, chief creative officer, Sapient Nitro, “Often, by default,women are alienated and lose out on great work because an idea came upand was passed on to the person sitting beside you.

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“ To add insult to injury, women often get typecast. Sanitary napkin ac count?That's a woman's job. “It's usually left to women to do the kind of advertising malecreative hot shots don't want to do. Type casting stifles the creative spirit of theorganisation,“ warns Srid har. To top it all, agencies missed the memo on equal pay.Havas World wide's Shavon Barua, admits that if a man were in her place he'd beearning more than her. “If there are four VPs of which one is a woman, she will bemaking a lakh or two less than her male counterparts. I have been told very often`Why do you need more money? Your husband earns so well.' They all think you'rein your career because your money is pocket money and your husband pays foreverything.“

The situation started deteriorating faster when the business moved from beingprocess driven to personality driven. As Publicis' Bobby Pawar says, “It must all startwith leadership. While we've acquired a more business-like demeanor, the businessis still run like a cottage industry.“ Says independent marketing consultant, TarunChauhan;

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“Everybody wanted to ape a Balki. But what they didn't understand is thatwhile he's huge on ability he's bigger on discipline. When attitudes andabilities don't match you get a mess,“ and working conditions -hours,language, respectful professional relationships, sense of decorum, etc., godown the crapper. “No one wants to deal with that kind of s**t. The payoffisn't worth it.“ Some women who stick around at the top, he says, “becomeslaves of the environment and behave like the men.“Now, let's get some things straight. We're certainly not saying that all ad menare insensitive, sexist pigs and women are benign victims of a necroticsystem. Nor are we saying that women should be afforded “specialprivileges“ based on anatomical differences alone. And we can only hopeagencies aren't strong-armed into adopting haphazard quota-systems torecalibrate gender imbalances. In a utopian world, merit alone decides whogets the cubicle or corner office. And yes, we understand the dilemma.

Contd..

You say women must toughen up because advertising is tough. With its demandingschedules, the precarious state of the industry, and balance sheets, smotheringclients, boogeyman and what not. It's a high stress job. Hell, bomb disposalspecialists have it easier, if agency rants are anything to go by . All we're saying isthis; if life in advertising is hard, make it equally distressing for all, man or woman,and not harder for the chosen people. After all, no one likes an equal opportunityoffender.

However, there's an alternative. Tiffany Rolfe, ex-CP+B , in an article she wrote forAd Age provided the obvious, and seemingly best, solution: “If every femalecreative in a management role could mentor and promote just five other women,each of those can help five more, and onward, and before long we'll be in thehundreds. Call it a pay-it-forward meritocracy .“ It's never too late to start, right?So, gussy up, make yourself a cocktail, strap some TNT to that glass ceiling andwatch the fireworks, missy .

For details and bookings contact:-

Parveen Kumar Chadha… THINK TANK

(Founder and C.E.O of Saxbee Consultants & Other-Mother

marketingandcommunicationconsultants.com)

Email :[email protected]

Mobile No. +91-9818308353

Address:-First Floor G-20(A), Kirti Nagar, New Delhi India Postal Code-110015


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