9 Inspiring Examples of Brands Celebrating International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day, a day where people around the world raise awareness of the continuing need to promote gender equality and celebrate women’s achievements.

Here at C Beth Anderson Communication, I’m marking #IWD2017 by highlighting a range of brands, organisations and individuals who are helping to make a positive impact in the lives of women – in big ways and small.

Over the coming weeks, each Wednesday, I’ll be featuring:

Founder of Share the Dignity, Rochelle Courtenay. She and the charity she founded helps women and children who are homeless, particularly those who are victims of domestic violence.

Rachelle Panitz, the founder of the So Brave Breast Cancer Calendar. Rachelle works hard to raise awareness of breast cancer in younger women and funds for breast cancer research.

Bronnie Mackintosh, Training Officer with Fire & Rescue NSW. Bronnie continues to raise the profile of women in the fire and rescue services.

Business Women, like Lisa and Elianne from Ambitious Mamas, Yve Lavine and Jade and Alanna from Femeconomy, who are changing how women participate in business and leadership.

And, teachers and students who are raising awareness of gender issues, fundraising for women in need and collaborating with tertiary and industry mentors to broaden their personal and employment horizons.

All are encouraging others to #BeBoldForChange, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day.

Today, however, read on to see how 9 brands are recognising International Women’s Day 2017 and engaging with their target markets online to do so.

Perhaps their efforts may give you some extra ideas for next year’s International Women’s Day.

 

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ABC Splash

As a teacher, I often used resources from ABC Splash, an online resource provided by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) and Education Services Australia.

These multimedia and interactive resources cover all learning stages and subjects and are aligned with the Australian Curriculum.

ABC Splash is promoting #IWD2017 widely on Twitter and Facebook, with activities including a Facebook Live video encouraging girls in tech, recommended reading about women and gender issues and learning resources about prominent Australian women who have made a difference.

 

 

 

Adidas

A cause-based marketing collaboration between Adidas and the Swedish women’s football team achieved viral success last week, getting coverage in mainstream media across the globe.

The campaign was created by Swedish creative agency, Edelman Deportivo, and was designed to inspire young women to believe in themselves.

Women players swapped their normal shirts for ones featuring inspiring quotes such as “Never look down on someone unless it is to help her up” and ‘Believe in your damn self’.

The player’s jerseys will be sold from today, with 10% of profits going towards young female athletes.

Adidas is the Swedish Football Association’s kit sponsor.

 

Al Jazeera English

International news organisation, Al Jazeera, used its Twitter feed to highlight inspirational women from around the world.

ANZ

Australia’s ANZ Bank dedicated the week to publishing women’s stories on it’s Blue Notes site, which it also promoted on Twitter.

Among the issues it highlighted was the importance of providing maternity leave.

 

Avon

Beauty company, Avon and its philanthropic arm, the Avon Foundation marked International Women’s Day by focusing on the company’s significant contributions to women’s causes, such as breast cancer research and domestic violence.

In a media release issued this week, the company announced it had contributed $1 billion towards “causes that matter most to women”. This followed another release announcing $500,000 in funding for US domestic violence organisations.

Other contributions and partnerships were also announced and publicised on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Caterpillar

Heavy equipment company, Caterpillar, is another International Women’s Day partner. It used its website and Youtube to highlight the many roles that women play in industry.

It also emphasised the role that men can play for gender equality.

 

Facebook

Using the hashtag  #SheMeansBusiness Facebook is hosting a 24 hour live stream using Facebook Live,  featuring women leaders and entrepreneurs from across the world.

In a video message, Facebook Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, said that although there was a lot more to be done to achieve ‘true equality’ International Women’s Day was an opportunity to celebrate women’s progress and achievements. 

 

Google

Google chose to honor both the past and the future in it’s International Women’s Day celebrations.

It released a slideshow of doodles featuring women who’ve pioneered advancement in civil rights (Ida Wells, American journalist and civil rights activist), research (Olga Skorokhodova, the Soviet researcher in deaf and blind communication), the arts (Miriam Makeba, Rukmini Devi) and the sciences (Sally Ride, Cecilia Grierson) – among others.

Throughout the month of March Google is also hosting a series of global summits celebrating women in technology.

 

Vodafone

Telecommunications company, Vodafone, called on companies to think more creatively about ways of retaining talented female staff.

It’s video was a warm and fuzzy call-to-action, which highlighted the benefits of more flexible working opportunities for women.

 

Conclusion

How did you mark International Women’s Day?

Did this selection of gender-specific marketing content give you some ideas for next year?

Let me know your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter.