I’d say my advertising career as a copywriter has been a bit unusual in one sense: Most of the CDs I directly reported to have been women. But it’s not that way for most people, nor are many of the top CD slots at agencies held by women.
To call attention to the issue, and to bring female CDs together, is The 3 Percent Conference, which will be held later this year in San Francisco.
From the conference website:
Women control 80% of consumer spending, yet don’t feel advertisers understand them. Could it be because only 3% of advertising creative directors are women?
In a world where ad dollars have to work harder than ever, brands know they cannot woo the gatekeepers of $4.3 trillion of spending by using messaging created – or green lighted – almost solely by men.
It’s time for change.
Join us for a long overdue conversation about why advertising remains a boys club in a woman’s world. This will not be a gripefest.
We will problem solve, story tell, trend watch and square off with some of the best minds in advertising, gender research, and human resources.
I’m sure that as the conference approaches, we’ll see more information about it, and more importantly, whether it will be embraced by the industry as a whole.
You can also follow the conference on Twitter.
