A majority of Asian women feel unrepresented in ads, how can adland lend its support?

In today’s day and age, influencers form the bridge between a brand and its consumers and are crucial to many campaigns and its success.

Keeping that in mind, it would seem only sensible for brands to hire influencers who accurately represent their target audience. However, that is not always the case and often, we find that there is a significant gender disparity when it comes to influencers promoting products in certain categories.

According to a 2023 ‘Inclusive Influence’ whitepaper by media agency Mediacom, the right representation of gender and gender roles on social media seems to still be a problem, with 79% of female survey responders saying that they do not feel represented in the advertisements they see.

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This is especially true of industries such as finance and automotive, in which brands are still using male-dominated voices to speak to females who now account for more than 40% of all decision makers, according to Mediacom. The report went on to state that 40% of females today are actively participating and making decisions in these categories and yet, there are less than 10% of female influencers in the space who are representing their needs.

In fact, this statistic is actually estimated to be even lower when looking at the percentage of paid influencers. Barring the fitness and automotive industries, the health and fitness industry boasts a surprisingly prevalent gap between female decision makers and female influencers appointed to represent health and fitness brands. In these industries, both men and women engage equally in the field. However, it was found by Mediacom, that only 20% of female influencers made social content for these categories.

Moreover, while 55% of influencers based in the APAC region are females, only 24% of them have been represented in the media in the last 20 years, said Mediacom. Evidently, there is a gap when it comes to the understanding of these markets and who brands are ultimately targetting.

The whitepaper emphasised that it is the job of marketers to reflect the realities of consumers. “Consumers are exposed to an ever-increasing number of media narratives on a regular basis, and these narratives play a critical role in how we see ourselves and others,”

In order to break this cycle, it is imperative to understand why the lack of female representation even exists to begin with. It would seem that ingrained mindsets may form the crux of this issue, according to Charu Srivastava, chief strategy officer at TriOn and Co.

She believes that while industries such as the finance and automotive ones might recognise that a large percentage of their audience is female, they may fail to acknowledge that female influencers can deliver the marketing ROI needed. Similarly, while there are some finance and automotive female influencers, she said that many still gravitate towards more attractive industries which are more established and lucrative alternatives for an influencer.

“So even as society is evolving and gender stereotypes are being challenged, brands and influencers are slow to catch up,” she added.

However, being inclusive returns more value for brands. As cited in the whitepaper, advertising perceived as diverse and inclusive consistently delivered better outcomes for them, which makes it confusing why advertising seemingly fails to do so.

Srivastava posited that even though gender norms have been challenged, they need to be continually questioned as society evolves. “Influencers are influential. Especially with more of the younger generations looking up to influencers as role models. It is then important to ensure that there is real representation amongst influencers. It is regressive when the use of influencers is subjected to outdated gender norms that only perpetuate stereotypes,” she added. 

What needs to change?

Srivastava posited that there needs to be a shift in mindset and diversity of thought at every level of the advertising industry.

Brands and agencies need to have representation at decision making levels. It is only then that outdated thinking that is not reflective of reality can be challenged and changed.

On the other hand, there is a need for more diverse influencers who have interest and expertise in different areas beyond beauty. Change will happen when there is diversity and representation on both sides of the equation.

According to Shanker Joyrama, founder and CEO of Orion Digital, the change is here and is present. However, he also believes that brands are bound to do what is most financially lucrative for them. 

"Truth be told, from our conversations with brand CMO’s - most of them are of the opinion that being bold works and they are keen to explore ways to be more inclusive to their customers. This involves how branding is done and also how products are also marketed towards these segments. I don't think it’s right to also expect brands to change their entire look and feel just for a smaller segment yet we should embrace this positive change as an added dimension to the brand story," he said. 

Agreeing with Joyrama is Augustin Chan, regional strategy director of Initiative APAC who believes that the presence and positioning of women in brand endorsements is improving. However, to increase inclusivity, Chan thinks that a bottom up and top-down approach needs to be applied in tandem, where brands will need to shift or change their policies and practices when choosing their endorsers. 

"It is however, important for women to feel empowered to represent themselves from the bottom up," he added. 

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