Gender equity is good for business. Recent research by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) showed that ads which portray women and girls accurately are more socially acceptable and well-liked by both men and women they surveyed.
New research released by ANA’s #SeeHer movement, in collaboration with TiVo, demonstrates that ads that portray women accurately work even better when paired with programming that also portrays women accurately. It’s called GEM™fit: when ads that score high in the ANA’s Gender Equality Measure (GEM™) are aired on high-scoring programs, they deliver better sales than when airing on low-scoring programs.
TiVo conducted advanced analyses using GEM™ scores across select consumer packaged goods advertising and the programs they aired within. The research showed that ads with a high GEM™ score generated double-digit incremental sales per rating point post ad exposure, when they’re aired on shows that also have a high GEM™ score.
GEM™ was developed in 2017 by ANA’s #SeeHer movement with co-founder Shelley Zalis, CEO, The Female Quotient (TFQ) to support and inspire business leaders to create content free of gender bias as part of the movement. GEM™’s data-driven methodology enables creators of advertising and entertainment to identify and reduce gender bias and improve ROI. The ANA conducted the testing through syndicated research partner Advertising Benchmark Index (ABX).
In the past year, #SeeHer members have discovered that ads with a high GEM™ score are more effective. Using GEM™fit, they’re finding that when those ads are placed in programming that also boasts a high GEM™ score, they’re more powerful and deliver a higher return.
“The foundation of the #SeeHer Movement is data. Our research consistently proves that consumers reward the marketers who create advertising and support programming that accurately portrays women and girls. #SeeHer is good for business and good for society,” said Stephen Quinn, Chair, #SeeHer.
“We are creating a portfolio of research solutions using our GEM scores as the foundation for advanced performance evaluation,” added Shelley Zalis. “GEM™fit is a great tool for contextual planning.”
To quantify the financial impact when ads and programs are GEM™fit together, TiVo leveraged its syndicated 1:1 direct household match of TV set-top box viewership data and shopper loyalty card data. The results confirmed that not only do GEM™ scores support social change, but they also have the potential to make a financial impact when scores are considered in advertising and media planning.
“Our analysis demonstrated that, when you have good GEM™fit, both women and men respond positively, with an uptick in purchasing behavior,” said Walt Horstman, senior vice president and general manager, Advanced Media and Advertising, TiVo. “The accurate portrayal of women and girls in media needs to happen in both advertising and programming content to see effective sales lift.”
AT&T, a brand committed to the #SeeHer movement, tests its ads for gender equality and has significantly improved its GEM™ scores. AT&T has pledged to eliminate all bias and accurately portray women and girls in its ads by the end of this year. “Context and content matter,” said Fiona Carter, chief brand officer, AT&T. “Unbiased advertising is proven to be more effective when it’s implemented alongside programming that also treats gender fairly.”
GEM™fit analysis is part of a broad GEM™ suite of tools, including GEM™ ads; GEM™ Programming; GEM™ Lift; GEM™ Allocator for media planning; and GEM™ Global for multi-national brands. The entire GEM™ suite of tools is made possible by ANA’s #SeeHer movement, which works to eliminate bias against women in advertising and media.
