About 85% of the purchasing power is in the hands of women but female creative executives have long been scarce on Madison Avenue.
This has been a problem that has caught the attention of big-name advertisers like Procter & Gamble, whose ads more often target women than men. Jerry Judge, the former chief executive of the Lowe agency, says, "The issue is women want to work, but business doesn't allow them to work the way they can."
Yet, the Internet allows creative people to live where and how they wish but come together to make good money working on a project...similar to the way a movie is made. A new company, Womenkind, is hoping to address this women-driven opportunity by harnessing the power of female ad and marketing executives, including stay-at-home moms.
The plan is to pool the know-how of about 60 female creative types, from copy writers to art directors, many of whom will be women who have left the work force. Most will be freelancers tapped on a project basis rather than hired as full-time employees of the agency. Womenkind has commissioned a piece of research called 'Womentuition' to look at the differences between the way women look at advertising and marketing versus how men look at it.
This is an example of how executive women networks are emerging in the corporate world to use their creative smarts and Internet-based technology to counter the old boy's club. Women are also beginning to mentor other women on how to advance and succeed doing powerful and interesting work...while living a fulfilling personal life.
If you know women executives in your organization who need to become better and more creative leaders, suggest you point them toward: www.executivewoman.info
Source: The Wall Street Journal, November 21, 2007