Joining the (Olympic) Movement to #SeeHer in the Media

If you live in the US and have been watching any of the Winter Olympics coverage on NBC, you may have seen the amazing ads celebrating the women taking part in the games.

Many of the spots are sponsored by companies such as P&G, AT&T, USAA, Verizon, and NBC Universal and they are broadcast multiple times during prime time on NBC in support of the Association of National Advertisers’ #SeeHer global effort. The mission of #SeeHer is to lead the movement to accurately portray all women and girls in the media, so that by 2020, they see themselves reflected as they truly are. In a study by Unilever, only 3% of ads show women in leadership positions, 2% show women being intelligent, and 1% show women with a sense of humor. NBCUniversal Chairman of Advertising & Client Parthernships Linda Yaccarino says the media company wanted to partner with other companies “to help expand the ways strong women and girls are depicted in advertisements.” [Check out her blog to watch one of the videos]

As a board member of the ANA, I have committed to supporting the #SeeHer movement by ensuring our advertising and creative assets accurately represent the diverse make-up of the world. We are already being incredibly conscious about the way we show women in our branded creative assets – and for non-branded content we are training agencies and partners that this needs to be a priority.

One great example of this is a recent video The Network’s 6th Sense, launched as the next wave of The Network. Intuitive. in Cisco Live Barcelona. A story told through the eyes of a female Director of Network Operations, the video also serves the other commitment we’re making with this initiative: showing tech as a welcoming industry for women to thrive in.

I encourage you to check out #SeeHer on Twitter and Instagram. And look out for more from Cisco!