Call at Loeries for more women

More women decision-makers in the advertising industry.

That’s the call by Loeries chairperson Suhana Gordhan‚ who asked advertising agencies to help increase female representation on judging panels.

The Loeries, now in its 40th year, is an annual event that rewards and promotes creative excellence in advertising and the communications industry.

Speaking at the Loeries MasterClass on “Female representation and the media – who controls the narrative?” on Thursday‚ she said: “We need the support of the entire industry to put forward the names of females and people of colour who they believe are more than capable [to sit on panels].

She added: “One of the things I specifically look at as the chairperson is making sure we have more women judges on our judging panels‚ we have been doing a lot of things to try and make that happen but it is a slow burn.”

Dealing specifically with advertising‚ the MasterClass looked at the stereotypical portrayal of women in the media.

Emma Reeves‚ executive director of Free the Bid‚ said: “If the majority of your production is male‚ as a marketer you have to ask yourself if you are genuinely tapping into . . . your actual consumers because across the board 85% of consumers are female”.

Free the Bid is an international organisation aimed at fixing women representation in the media and production world. — DDC