Naga DDB Tribal explains intent of controversial allyship IWD post featuring male staff

Naga DDB Tribal has found itself the subject of discussion after an International Women's Day (IWD) social post it made offended some netizens. The post featured five agency heads at Naga DDB Tribal such as Alex Goh, chief strategy officer, Loo Chun Guan, creative director and Allen Looi, head of social. They were featured in individual photos, each expressing their well wishes to their female colleagues. 

Don't miss: She Speaks Power highlight female entrepreneurs this IWD

The post further read, "Today, we celebrate the incredible women of Naga DDB Tribal and the immeasurable contributions they make every day. From sparking innovation to fearlessly leading the way, your impact knows no bounds. Happy International Women's Day from your male allies. We appreciate you." 

Unfortunately, netizens were unhappy with the lack of female representation in the series of posts with many calling for the agency to highlight the women in the agency and saying that they "fumbled the ball" for IWD. Others asked where the women in the post were.

In response to the feedback, Goh took to LinkedIn to share an "open letter" which was addressed to the "easily offended" along with a screenshot of some of the comments on the page. 

"The comments we've gotten on one of our IWD initiative (which has its merits) has reminded me that we're living in the age of offense," wrote Goh. He added that the problem of social media is not its anonymity; ironically, it's the de-personalisation it causes.

"It's a lot easier to tell anyone to 'get their eyes checked' and that they are 'blind and deluded' when you aren't actually saying that to someone's face," he said, going on to explain that a real person put thought, effort and time to trying to do something good.

He added that while there is always space of improvement, he urged netizens to think how their words impact the team of women who went beyond their day-to-day jobs to do something to commemorate IWD. He added that the very people netizens were fighting for were the ones they were tearing down. 

"Amidst all the learnings, I'm happy to see that a strong support system exists internally - that the people working on the few initiatives for IWD were reminded that whilst the comments on the surface challenges one's competency (and physical abilities), it's also an open invitation to always strive to do better and improve," Goh added in an update to his post.

The importance of allyship

When A+M reached out, Farrah Harith-McPherson, chief growth officer at Naga DDB Tribal said that they were deeply appreciative of everyone who took a moment to share their thoughts on its International Women's Day initiative.

"Your feedback—both the high fives and the concerns—means the world to us. It's clear that our post, which shone a light on the incredible male allies within our team, sparked a lot of conversation. And honestly, that's exactly what we hoped for—though we recognise some were hoping to see more women front and center on this special day," she said, adding that the idea was actually dreamed up and brought to life by a group of women on their team. 

We knew a lot of eyes would be on the amazing women out there (as they should be), and we wanted to add a unique twist by having our allies congratulate the women of Naga.

She added that the agency didn't want to forget the women who "inspire daily" and as such, it also kicked off a She Speaks Power Instagram page—a place dedicated to showcasing self-made women and their incredible ventures.

She Speaks Power was established in 2022 with the aim of empowering women in entrepreneurship. Since its inception, the agency has organised networking sessions and collaborated with female artists on merchandise lines. She said in its statement that looking ahead in 2024, its dedication to championing female entrepreneurship remains "unwavering" and a "central focus".

It's sparked some valuable discussions within our team and made us reflect on how we can better celebrate everyone's contributions, today and every day.

Harith-McPherson added that after listening to all the feedback, the team decided that the post needed refinement in order to ensure its intent would come across with more clarity, "in the hopes of garnering feedback towards the original objective of utilising a different concept by having men celebrating and paying tribute to their female colleagues on this special day."

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