WEConnect International was established as a certifying body worldwide to ensure that companies that are at least 51 % owned, managed and controlled by one or more women can grow with WBE (Women's Business Enterprise) certification. Leading companies such as Deloitte, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc, Johnson & Johnson, UBS, Mondelēz International, SAP, Nestlé, to name a few, are members of this program.
Seeing purchasing behavior through women's eyes also holds significant potential for business, which needs to be explored further.
"Brandsoul has always been predominantly run by women. Therefore, the recognition of the certification is a great step forward," says Carole Ramuz, Owner of Brandsoul.
Brandsoul is already working with companies that share these goals and values. Among others Equal Voice by Ringier, Bagatt Launch by AstorMueller - Tech meets Shoe Excellence, Edit-a-thon "Women for Wikipedia" by Wikipedia, SRF.
The inter-agency initiative Gislerprotokoll is committed to the multi-faceted representation of gender in marketing, communication and advertising. The Gisler Protocol is organized as an association and has around 126 members at the beginning of March 2023. Last year, the initiative conducted a stereotype analysis for the first time - and reissued it this year. In it, the moving image advertisements (TVC and digital) published in the trade media in the corresponding year in which at least one person appeared are analyzed.
The focus of the analysis is on the presence and representation of female and male read*. The 10 stereotypes identified by the Gisler Protocol, which are most frequently used in advertising, serve as a grid. The stereotypes are divided into six male and four female stereotypes.
The most important results
The study analyzed 319 moving image ads published in Switzerland in 2022, based on all ads communicated via industry media in 2022. In 245 commercials, female characters appear, and 81 times these characters also speak. In 266 advertisements, males are read, and 103 times these persons also speak. In the 319 advertisements 114 male stereotypes and 44 female stereotypes occur. It can be seen: male-read persons are stereotyped more often than female-read persons. In 150 advertisements no stereotypical representations were used. In 168 advertisements at least one stereotype occurred, in 54 of them more than one stereotype.
By far the most popular male stereotype (46 times): "That One Funny Guy" - the funny man.
The stereotype "A true hero" follows at some distance in 2nd place (24 times). Most popular female stereotype: "The Caretaker" (18), followed in 2nd place by "The Quiet Epicure".
(13). In 21 of the analyzed advertisements, a male-read person explicitly takes care of children, the household or fellow men. In 41 advertisements, female-read persons were portrayed as experts, and in 12 advertisements female-read persons occupied funny roles. 70 advertisements passed the "potted plant test" introduced by the Gisler Protocol. If an advertisement passes this test, it means that a female-read person or minority is portrayed in a purely decorative role.
Stereotypes slowly dissolve
The stereotype analysis was conducted for the second time this year. The increased number of ads analyzed (319 vs. 149 in 2021) results from the fact that each moving image asset was now evaluated individually per campaign. For this reason, some of the following classification works with percentages: The ratio between stereotypical and non-stereotypical representation has not changed compared to 2021. Whereas in 2021 51% of the ads analyzed contained stereotypes, in 2022 the figure was 52%.
There was also no change in the fact that males read stereotypes more often than females read stereotypes (2021: 95 vs. 53; 2022: 114 vs. 44). The most popular male stereotype continues to be "That One Funny Guy" in 2022. The most popular female stereotype in 2022 is no longer "Cool Girl" but "The Caretaker."
On the positive side, both male- and female-read characters are more often portrayed in roles otherwise reserved for the opposite sex: Male-read characters who care, female-read characters who are portrayed as funny, as heroines, or as experts. Stereotypical representations of gender thus seem to be slowly dissolving, allowing for more diversity in role models.
The six male stereotypes
The one funny guy: The funny one. The character head. Doesn't take himself too seriously, but that's exactly why he's to be taken seriously. That's why he plays the leading role and can afford to make fun of himself.
3 dudes having fun: Three men who experience something. Friends for life, bros or just random... men. Very popular in Switzerland because of our three (four) national languages. Women? Would only disturb the fun.
A true hero: Like Odysseus, our hero fights his way through all adversity, but of course succeeds heroically in the end. Gladly, the true hero is also a well-known athlete. We are impressed. What a man. Can women do the same? Are women also famous athletes? Hard to imagine...
The master at work: The master - gladly 50+ - has great expertise. In matters of chocolate, calcified sinks or cheese. Only he knows how to do it right. He doesn't even have to say much, his masterly aura alone inspires the greatest respect.
Mr. Mainsplainer: Like the "master at work", our Mr. Mansplainer has great expertise in his ancestral field. And is usually over 50. Unlike the silent master, Mr. Mansplainer is very happy to explain the world to us. After all, we don't really know where we're going ourselves.
A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do (grill, sweat): A collection category for everything that men do. And only them. They steer cars skillfully, grill to perfection and sweat manly.
The four female stereotypes
The Caretaker: She cares. For children, animals, calcified coffee machines. Gladly in profile, since she has to turn her attention to something or someone. She can't say much, she's busy taking care of herself.
The quiet connoisseur:Unbelievable how creamy this yogurt is. This immediately leaves the quiet connoisseur speechless. Which is why she just continues to silently enjoy her chocolate (but not too much!), her yogurt (preferably low-fat and low-sugar) or just the moment.
The Räklerin: Fortunately, an almost extinct category. Except in perfume and cosmetics advertising. There the Räklerin still enjoys great popularity. Always with her mouth half-open, a moan on her lips, she lolls lasciviously in front of perfume bottles, mascaras or anti-wrinkle creams. Speak? Would only destroy the moment.
The cool girl: The Cool Girl is not like any other typical woman. The Cool Girl likes to eat burgers, play soccer, swear and is also otherwise just as cool as a man and not as conservative as a woman. The Cool Girl likes to be a bit more "edgier" on the outside and thus shows her crazy character to the outside world.
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"What an honor to be able to speak in New York on the topic of how to advance gender equality through technology and our EqualVoice initiative. I'm proud of how much the initiative has contributed to growing awareness and engagement on the topic of Gender Equality. Companies are increasingly recognizing the benefits of diversity in their teams and taking effective measures to make diversity and inclusion a reality in the business environment," says EqualVoice initiator and Ringier CFO Annabella Bassler.
The current highlight is the invitation to a side event hosted by the International Peace Institute (IPI) at the Commission on the Status of Women on "Using Innovation and Technology to Advance Gender Equality." Among the examples presented of innovative and technological approaches to improving gender equality was Annabella Bassler's EqualVoice initiative, founded in 2019.
EqualVoice Factor in print titles
2022 EqualVoice has achieved a lot: The initiative was rolled out for the first time in a medium outside Ringier and RASCH with the integration of the Berliner Zeitung (B.Z.). With the help of the Swiss media database SMD, the EqualVoice Factor was extended to print titles and the measurement process was validated by the algorithm from ETH Zurich. In May 2022, the first EqualVoice Summit took place, featuring top-notch speakers such as human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter and economics professor Iris Bohnet - to name just a few. The EqualVoice Summit also enabled top executives from leading international companies to exchange views on the visibility of women in the media.
Ringier, Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz, Axel Springer SE, DPG Media and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) are sending a strong and binding signal by signing the "EqualVoice Pledge". With this, the media companies and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers pledge to support gender equality in their organizations, to introduce measures to promote gender equality, to implement the idea of EqualVoice with their respective media brands, to increase the visibility of women in the media and to communicate the benefits of gender equality. The event also saw the announcement of the international EqualVoice Advisory Board, which is particularly committed to expanding EqualVoice beyond Switzerland's borders. In addition, EqualVoice made an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2022 and 2023.
Implementation in Eastern and Central Europe
The EqualVoice Factor is currently being implemented in the Ringier Group's Eastern and Central European markets. In June, the EqualVoice Summit in Zurich enters its second round, and the EqualVoice United network, which was launched a year ago to promote gender equality in business - in line with the fifth of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), gender equality and the advancement of girls and women - has grown from ten to 15 members this year. In addition to Ringier, the network includes Bank Cler, Ebay, Insel Group, ISS, Mastercard, Migros, Oerlikon, Swiss Post, Sunrise/UPC, Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland, Credit Suisse, Farner, Helvetia, Energy Group Switzerland, and On.
The EqualVoice United network was launched a year ago to advance gender equality in business (Werbewoche.ch reported). The network is from the Ringier initiative EqualVoice which campaigns for more visibility for women in the media.
On Tuesday, another five Swiss companies - Credit Suisse, Farner, Energy Group Switzerland and On - committed to working together to make gender equality a reality in the Swiss workplace. They join the ten companies that have already been part of EqualVoice United since its inception in January 2022: Bank Cler, Ebay, Insel Group, ISS, Mastercard, Migros, Oerlikon, Swiss Post, Sunrise UPC and Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland.
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The investment in the company will help Edge founder Aniela Unguresan and her management team drive international development.
Edge Strategy is a "software as a service" solution for measuring, accelerating, and certifying gender equity and intersectional justice. It enables organizations to effectively promote and manage a diverse workforce. Edge Certification was officially launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2011 and the assessment methodology is implemented in the form of an online tool. Edge Strategy's current client base consists of over 200 large organizations in 50 countries across 30 different industries.
Aniela Unguresan, founder of Edge Strategy, says: "Organizations and their various stakeholders have recognized the paramount importance of diversity, equality and inclusion to achieve fairer conditions in the work environment as well as society. The investment helps us step on the gas on this journey to make real change."
Ringier CEO Marc Walder, explains: "Ringier is using its publishing and technological power to promote gender equality. We do this through the EqualVoice initiative, which aims to make women more visible in the media and to give women and men an equal voice. The core of our initiative is the measurement of the gender share in the contributions of our media brands through the EqualVoice Factor based on a semantic algorithm. We are convinced: Only what is measured is implemented."
]]>Ringier's EqualVoice Summit gathered top executives from politics, business and the media at the beginning of May to initiate a constructive discourse on gender equality in the media. Renowned speakers from around the world included lawyer and human rights advocate Amal Clooney, Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter, behavioral economist Iris Bohnet of Harvard University, and Mariana Santos, founder of Chicas Poderosas, to name a few. Singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald took the stage as the show act. The first EqualVoice Summit was moderated by Steffi Buchli and Sylwina Spiess, who led through the event with Marc Walder, Ringiers CEO, and Annabella Bassler, Ringiers CFO and founder of the EqualVoice Initiative.
Christoph Schmidt, CEO at FS Parker, says about the EqualVoice event: "At FS Parker, we always try to make a positive impact and make a difference with our work every day. The EqualVoice initiative is trying to do just that. It's shocking that 82 percent of all media articles are about men. We also see a clear need for action here. That's why it's great to have been part of such a meaningful movement in an advisory capacity and with an incredibly powerful 360° staging."
Noelia Blanco, COO at FS Parker, is also enthusiastic about the EqualVoice message. "With this Summit, Ringier is clearly setting trend-setting impulses for the entire media industry. The top-class speakers gave the event an international flair."
Johanna Walser, CCO at Ringier explains the background: "The main goals of EqualVoice are to ensure equal representation of women and men and to raise awareness of gender representation in the media. The real-time measurement of the EqualVoice factor is a tool to achieve these goals: It shifts the discussion from subjective perceptions of gender equality in publications to a factual basis."
Benjamin Franz, Creative Director at FS Parker, is delighted with the successful event: "Visually playing the Aura event location was incredibly fun. We took advantage of the creative freedom and created something we're all proud of." Hannes Sigrist, Executive Creative Director adds, "We are more than proud. It was great cinema!"
Responsible at FS Parker: Christoph Schmidt (CEO & Managing Director), Hannes Sigrist-Thompson (Executive Creative Director), Noelia Blanco (COO), Benjamin Franz (Creative Director), Toni Pihlaja (Art Director & Senior Motion Designer), Marvin Osenda & Jan Espig (Motion Design), Bärbel Jördens (Consulting & Project Management). Responsible at Ringier: Annabella Bassler (CFO and initiator of EqualVoice), Marc Walder (CEO and Managing Partner), Katia Murmann (CPO Global Media & Blick Group and Co-Founder EqualVoice Initiative, Steffi Buchli and Sylwina Spiess (Moderation), Nicole Oprandi (Head of Events), Lea Eberle (Project Officer CFO and Head of Strategy Equal Voice), Johanna Walser (Chief Communications Officer).
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The media companies Ringier, Axel Springer, DPG Media and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) set a strong and binding signal during the EqualVoice Summit by signing the "EqualVoice Pledge". In doing so, the media companies and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers pledge to support gender equality in their organizations, introduce measures to promote gender equality, implement the idea of EqualVoice with their respective media brands, increase the visibility of women in the media, and communicate the benefits of gender equality.
ETH validates the EqualVoice factor
Based on the EqualVoice Factor, a semantic algorithm developed in-house by Ringier, Ringier measures the proportion of women and men in the online reports of its media brands. Two key figures are collected: The Teaser Score evaluates the visibility of women in images, headlines and titles, and the Body Score shows how often women and men are mentioned in the article text. The EqualVoice Factor can also be used by other media houses and corporate communications departments. The EqualVoice Factor measurement method has been validated by ETH Zurich - scientifically documented proof has been provided. Dr. Vanessa Wood, Professor at the Institute of Electronics and Vice President for Knowledge Transfer and Business Relations at ETH Zurich, presented the current research results and quality characteristics of the Factor to the Summit participants.
Annabella Bassler, initiator of the EqualVoice initiative and CFO of Ringier, explains: "EqualVoice shows what's what. The EqualVoice Factor turns an emotional issue into a fact-based discussion and solution-oriented action. This in turn leads to measurable change, which is what we see at Ringier Group. I'm even more pleased that we can now offer our EqualVoice Factor to other companies."
Axel Springer will integrate EqualVoice to increase the visibility of women in the coverage of its News Media brands. During the EqualVoice Summit, Mathias Döpfner, CEO Axel Springer SE, announced that the media and technology group, which operates in 40 countries, will support the EqualVoice initiative and deploy the EqualVoice Factor with immediate effect. The launch will be with B.Z.-Berlin, Berlin's largest tabloid newspaper. Editorial integration has been tested at B.Z. Digital, the B.Z. online offering, since January 2022. Best practice models for analyses and measures are to be developed from the pilot and successively applied to other News Media brands such as BILD and WELT.
Mathias Döpfner, CEO Axel Springer SE: "Diversity and gender balance are indispensable for journalism with a promising future. That is why we want to drive this change with Equal Voice and other initiatives. We are committed to ensuring that all genders are fairly represented, as well as nationalities, religions, skin colors or sexual orientations. This is a particular concern of mine and of the entire Axel Springer brands and our goal for the coming years. The Equal Voice technology is an effective tool to create awareness in the editorial offices. And thus to establish diverse reporting as a sustainable standard."
The editors-in-chief of the media brands of the Polish joint venture Ringier Axel Springer Polska have already been supporting the EqualVoice initiative since 2021 and evaluate their publications using the EqualVoice Factor. Other Central and Eastern European countries in which Ringier is active will follow in the near future.
Internationalization of the EqualVoice Advisory Board
On the occasion of the first EqualVoice Summit it was announced that the existing Advisory Board of the initiative will be expanded by an international offshoot. The International EqualVoice Advisory Board consists of Brittany Kaiser (co-founder of the Own Your Data Foundation ), Mathias Döpfner (CEO Axel Springer SE), Katharina Borchert (journalist and former Chief Innovation Officer at Mozilla) and Yann Borgstedt (entrepreneur and founder Womanity Foundation). They are particularly committed to the expansion of EqualVoice beyond the borders of Switzerland.
The EqualVoice Advisory Board consists of: David Allemann (CEO & Co-Founder On), Pascale Baeriswyl (Chief of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations), Nicole Burth (Head of Communication Services Swiss Post), Regula Bührer Fecker (Advertiser & Co-Founder Rod Kommunikation), Ingrid Deltenre (Media Manager), Tanja Grandits ("Chef of the Year 2020"), Dr. Sabine Keller-Busse (President Personal & Corporate Banking and President UBS Switzerland), Carolina Müller-Möhl (President Müller-Möhl Foundation), Simona Scarpaleggia (Board Member EDGE Strategy), Franziska Tschudi Sauber (CEO Weidmann Holding AG), Christiane zu Salm (media entrepreneur and advisor) and Petra Ehmann (former Global Lead Product Partnerships Augmented Reality Google Switzerland and newly Chief Innovation Officer at Ringier).
Marc Walder said: "To successfully master the great challenges of our time in politics, business and society, we need the best at the top - men as well as women. An initiative like EqualVoice makes an important contribution in that it helps to change entrenched role models and trigger holistic thinking. A network of partnerships is important to ensure that the goals and discussions are carried forward. I am pleased that with Brittany Kaiser, Mathias Döpfner, Katharina Borchert and Yann Borgstedt we have been able to win over four personalities who, with their international network and reputation, will help us to carry EqualVoice beyond the borders of Switzerland."
International top-class EqualVoice Summit in Zurich
On May 2, 2022, Ringier CEO Marc Walder and Ringier CFO Annabella Bassler invited top executives from the international business and media world to Zurich to engage in a constructive discourse on gender equality in the media at the EqualVoice Summit.
The program included speeches and presentations by internationally renowned personalities such as human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, Federal Councillor and Minister of Justice Karin Keller-Sutter, behavioral economist Prof. Iris Bohnet from Harvard University, Mariana Santos, founder and CEO of Chicas Poderosas, Carolina Müller-Möhl, founder and president of the Müller-Möhl Foundation, Corine Mauch, Mayor of Zurich, and Brittany Kaiser, co-founder of the Own Your Data Foundation.
On a panel, Aleksandra Karasinska, Editor-in-Chief of the Polish Forbes Women, Nicole Schwab, Co-Director Nature-Based Solutions WEF, Mathias Döpfner, CEO Axel Springer SE and Christian Van Thillo, Executive Chairman of the Belgian-Dutch DPG Media Group discussed the responsibility of the media around equality.
The EqualVoice Summit concluded with a concert performance by singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald.
Statements from participants
Marc Walder, CEO Ringier AG: "The EqualVoice Summit addresses the role of the media around the visibility of women. They are, still, dramatically underrepresented. The media have it in their hands to finally give women more visibility in all areas. This is in the interest of equality between women and men. And, of course, in the interest of readers."
Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter: "I am happy to appear at the EqualVoice Summit to support the cause of having more women in the media. The visibility of female politicians and experts in the media is central to equality."
Amal Clooney, human rights lawyer: "As women, we are not in the minority, but there is a unique connection between us. That connection is not geographic. Or religious. Or cultural. What unites us are our experiences - experiences that only women have, and challenges that only women face."
Iris Bohnet, professor at Harvard University: "Participating in the EqualVoice Summit was important to me because advancing equality is both my passion and one of my primary professional responsibilities."
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A majority of respondents believe that many tasks should be performed by both men and women. Exceptions are basic vehicle maintenance and snow shoveling. A majority of these two tasks are assigned to men, 58 % and 50 %, respectively. When it comes to washing, ironing and supplying laundry, wrapping presents and furnishing and decorating the house/apartment, more than a third of respondents see women as responsible.
The situation is different when participants are asked specifically about the division of tasks in their last relationship: For example, 76 percent of respondents think that both men and women should earn most of the money to support the family - but in fact this division of tasks was only present for 45 percent in their last relationship. The situation is similar with household cleaning, where although 83 percent of respondents see both men and women as responsible, in the last relationship only 54 percent had both women and men taking on the task.
Women and men in management positions
When it comes to dream jobs in childhood, primary school teachers (26 percent), veterinarians (20 percent) and nurses (17 percent) lead the way among women, while among men it is pilots (29 percent), police officers (23 percent), professional athletes and craftsmen (17 percent each). However, one third of the respondents each also had another dream job that was not listed.
The current workload was also queried, and here it emerges that at 57 percent, more than half of the men work 91 to 100 percent - among women, this is only 24 percent. Accordingly, the proportion of women with lower workloads is higher than that of men.
Finally, the participants were also asked whether they currently hold a management position - and whether they could imagine taking one. Almost a third of the men surveyed (31 percent) currently hold a management position, compared with only 18 % of the women surveyed. However, significantly more people on both sides of the survey could imagine themselves in such a position: 65 percent of men and 48 percent of women could.
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