Cim Women in Marketing

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WOMEN IN MARKETING

A contribution to an on-going debate and aninvitation for you to make your voice heard.

CIM DISCUSSION PAPER JULY 2013

http://www.cim.co.uk/Home.aspx


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WOMEN IN MARKETING CIM DISCUSSION PAPER | JULY 2013

www.cim.co.uk/womeninmarketing

Looking at the marketing profession from the outside, you could beforgiven for thinking that problems of gender inequality or imbalance

were a thing of the past. And it’s true – to a certain extent. Marketing

enjoys a more balanced demographic profile than many professions,

and there are many shining examples of marketing departments and

organisations that do their utmost to encourage women to both enter

and reach their full potential in the profession.

But problems remain, and there’s more to be done. The Chartered

Institute of Marketing (CIM) recently convened a panel of senior

marketers from some of the biggest brands and businesses in the world.

In this report we’ve summarised some of the views, issues and possible

solutions that emerged from the discussions.

This is intended to be both a contribution to an on-going debate and an

invitation to you to make your voice heard. You may disagree with some

of the views, or think that there are bigger problems or better solutions:

CIM WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU.

INTRODUCTION

http://www.cim.co.uk/Research/Papersandsurveys/womeninmarketing.aspxhttp://www.linkedin.com/groups/CIM-Women-In-Marketing-3200181?gid=3200181&trk=vsrp_groups_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A84366741373273617405%2CVSRPtargetId%3A3200181%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimaryhttp://www.linkedin.com/groups/CIM-Women-In-Marketing-3200181?gid=3200181&trk=vsrp_groups_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A84366741373273617405%2CVSRPtargetId%3A3200181%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimaryhttp://www.cim.co.uk/Research/Papersandsurveys/womeninmarketing.aspx


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PROBLEMS

Women aren’t making it to the top of themarketing profession

Women are well represented in more junior marketing

roles – indeed, the majority of graduate and junior

marketing positions are occupied by women. But there are

comparatively few female CMOs or marketing directors:

government data indicates that only 23% of marketing and

sales directors are female. (1)

For whatever reason, the marketing profession isn’t

encouraging or enabling women to progress from the early

stages of their career to the most senior positions.

The marketing profession isn’t representedat the top levels of business

Marketing still doesn’t enjoy consistent representation at

boardroom level, and so – even if women make it to the top of the

marketing profession – it’s likely that they won’t take up a seat at

the top table. CMOs are a rarer breed than CFOs or COOs.

VIEWPOINT: Sarah Speake, Strategic Marketing Director,

Google UK and Ireland: “If marketing was represented better

at C-level and director level, that would change the dynamic

and the argument. Where women are being given senior

roles, they are often at non-executive level, so the figures are

skewed because these numbers do not show up”.

Psychology and attitudeThough it’s dangerous to generalise, it is worth considering

the impact of differences in the ways in which men and

women approach problems and celebrate success. In business

cultures which tend to reward conspicuous success ahead of

quiet achievement, women can be at a disadvantage.

VIEWPOINT: Bernie Emery, Partnership Development Director

at the Nisai Group: “Because men are better at projecting their

success, that’s what gets remembered at promotion time.”

VIEWPOINT: Sarah Speake: “Women will attribute praise to

the team; men don’t.”

Remuneration

Pay differences in marketing have almost disappeared, and at

most levels pay is transparently equal. However, inequalities

do persist at the very top of the profession: men are still paid

more at director level.

The problem certainly hasn’t gone away in business in general,

either: a recent CMI salary survey indicated that female

executives earn £400,000 less over the course of the career

than their male counterparts in identical jobs. The same report

also indicated that women are also more at risk of being made

redundant. (2)

http://www.cim.co.uk/Research/Papersandsurveys/womeninmarketing.aspxhttp://www.cim.co.uk/Research/Papersandsurveys/womeninmarketing.aspx


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SOLUTIONS

Impose quotasQuotas stipulating the number of women on a company’s

board or at a particular management level have been the

subject of considerable recent debate. Could they be a part

of the solution? Quotas force the issue to the top of the

agenda, and can focus minds, but the idea has also been

widely criticised.

Some suggest that quotas make the problem worse rather

than better, as capable female executives can be reluctant

to take on roles for fear of being seen as ‘only there to fill a

quota’. Others argue that quotas are a distraction from the

real issues: Andrew Hill of the Financial Times wrote recently

that ‘endlessly batting the boardroom quota question back

and forth distracts companies from the scarcity of women in

their executive ranks.’ (3)

VIEWPOINT: Charlotte Sweeney, former International Head of

Diversity and Inclusion at Nomura International: “People hear

the word quota and they hear sub-standard, or only getting

the role because of the quota. It doesn’t mean that. Actually,

it means you have to work harder to fill the roles. There does

need to be a culture change, and quotas are one way to do

that.”

Sarah Speake suggests that targets, rather than quotas,might be the way forward, and cites a case at Google where

a 50-50 male-female target of interviewees for a senior role

was established:

VIEWPOINT: Sarah Speake: “Nowhere was the word quota

used. This stops it being a top-down mandate where

suspicion arises about whether the right candidate has got

the job. Instead, it has the right underlying message, which is

that we want to work harder to cast the net, and to interview

a wider range of candidates to get the required headcount.”

But others suggest that even targets might not work. At

Charlotte Sweeney’s previous firm, a target was set for female

representation at senior level over five years – but numbers of

women in these positions actually fell:

VIEWPOINT: Charlotte Sweeney: “Women didn’t want to

apply because they didn’t want to feel, ‘I’m the quota figure’.

Other women already in post were leaving because of this

view, and didn’t want to be perceived as only having the role

because of the target.”



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SOLUTIONS

Provide or encourage mentoringRole models are of critical importance to career progression

in all industries and professions: with few women at the top

of marketing, and even fewer women at the top of business

in general, those in junior positions often lack the role models

that their male counterparts benefit from.

VIEWPOINT: Sally Muggeridge, former Chief Executive of the

Industry and Parliament Trust and a former Marketing Director

for Cable & Wireless: “Rules and regulations do not fix this.

The answers need to be pro-active ones: mentoring is one

example.”

VIEWPOINT: Anna Bateson, Director of Global Marcom at

YouTube: “Cultures are shaped from the top, so if you want

to foster future talent, both male and female, then it helps to

have that reflected at the top end of the company… women

don’t have the role models to help plan their careers. Having

a relationship with someone to look up to and learn from isn’t

part of our culture in the UK like it is in the US. It would be

good to change this.”

Others feel that the growth of an entrepreneurial culture willgive rise to a new generation of female business role models:

VIEWPOINT: Ellie Mickleburgh, Marketing Director UK and

Ireland, Hays: “Generally, it is not on a woman’s radar as she

develops her career that she would consider how to get onto

a board. That’s something that’s starting to change as the

number of entrepreneurs increase and more women realise

that they can run, or input into the running of, a business.”



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SOLUTIONS

Adopt female-friendly policiesWhere companies have adopted policies that are designed to

take into account the needs of a diverse workforce, they tend

to find it easier to recruit, retain, and promote women into

executive roles.

VIEWPOINT: Fiona Dawson, President, Mars Chocolate: “50%

of our Board members are female. It’s about creating the

right environment for success, and allowing individuals to flex

their career aspirations in line with their life-stage. Mars offers

shorter hours to allow for children’s drop-offs and pick-ups,

and part-time and flexitime. This benefits not just the female

population but male as well – as we see more quality and a

desire to share childrearing.”

Simple things such as creating working environments which

encourage collegiate working, interaction between teams

and informal collaboration can create a culture which helps

foster a diverse workforce, motivate all employees and retain

talented staff.



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SOLUTIONS

Stress the business caseThere’s a wealth of evidence to suggest that a more diverse

workforce brings benefits to the bottom line as well as to

employees. Could stressing the business case for diversity

– rather than advancing emotive arguments or prescribing

policies and quotas – be the line of least resistance?

Research by Thomson Reuters in 2011 established that, from

a cross-referenced database of environmental, social and

corporate governance matters, companies that are ahead of

their peers in gender equality tend to have share prices that

outperform rivals, particularly in tough market conditions. (4)

Other existing research, such as the Women Matter report

from McKinsey & Company and the Female FTSE Board

Report also finds an overall positive correlation between

diversity and bottom line profitability. (3 and 5) The Davies report

indicates that companies with more women on their boards

outperform their rivals with a 42% higher return in sales, 66%

higher return on invested capital and 53% higher return onequity (6), and research by Credit Suisse states that, over the

past six years, companies with at least some female board

representation consistently outperformed those with no

women on the board in terms of share price performance. (7)

But correlation isn’t causation, and some suggest thatbusinesses should be cautious of such claims:

VIEWPOINT: Charlotte Sweeney: “There’s research saying that

diversity leads to a better company, which I firmly believe, but

no conclusive data saying, if you do x, you’ll get y. This is what

many companies are looking for before they take this agenda

seriously.”

Is the next challenge to empirically prove the value of

diversity and gender equality at the top levels of business?

VIEWPOINT: Daryl Fielding, former VP Marketing at Kraft

Foods Europe: “There is insufficient belief that diversity is a

fundamental driver of business performance. Instead, it can be

seen as a ‘nice to have’.”



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SOLUTIONS

Claim responsibility – and create cultureswhich encourage this

If one problem is that women are sometimes reluctant to take

their share of the credit for success, should female marketers

be more mindful of the need to accept – and claim – credit

where credit’s due?

Daryl Fielding designed and delivered Dove’s transformational

‘Campaign for Real Beauty’:

VIEWPOINT: Daryl Fielding: “I felt I deserved the credit forleading the campaign, but I had to force myself to own it. This

felt very uncomfortable because it challenged my values and

caused me considerable stress.”

Of course, it’s difficult to speak up and claim success in

business cultures which frown upon forthright expression:

VIEWPOINT: Sarah Speake: “This level of transparency,

encouraging conversation and allowing everyone to have a

voice without being frowned upon, creates an environment inwhich there is less of a fear factor. Get rid of the old cultures

and address the problem differently, and you solve the

problem of not having enough women in the business.”

Some advocate a more direct approach to the problem:

VIEWPOINT: Sally Muggeridge: “It is the responsibility of

any woman in a senior position to point out inconsistencies.

This is entirely legitimate from a company point of view, not

a personal one. If you have unreformed characters who only

look for ‘the best man for the job’ I question them on it; what

is your justification for not bringing women in? Some male

leaders just don’t notice that there is a problem. They need to

be made to notice.”



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SOLUTIONS

Go it alone

A BIS small business survey from 2010 found that some 15% of

micro-businesses and 13% of small businesses were women-

led. A significant 21% of start-ups are run by women: could

the start-up business be one way forward for women wanting

more responsibility?

VIEWPOINT: Ade Onilude, founder of the Women in

Marketing Network and sales consultant for Swarovski:

“Thanks to technology, young graduates are able to say, ‘I’ll

start my own company’.” A generation has grown up withcertain expectations; they are no longer so willing, Onilude

suggests, to stay in a male-oriented corporate culture where

they feel less able to make a difference.

Aside from the independence and autonomy afforded by

start-ups, founding a new business can offer women one

way to combine continuous professional advancement with

a break from a career that may be incompatible with looking

after a family. Could women return to the workplace after

having children, and having founded a successful start-up,

even stand to leap-frog their contemporaries?

But perhaps we should be concerned if large numbers

of women feel that they have to step outside traditional

workplaces in order to pursue success on terms they’re

comfortable with. Some feel that entrepreneurship and the

technologies which facilitate it won’t offer any quick solutions

to problems of workforce diversity:

VIEWPOINT: Anna Bateson: “Setting up your own business

requires, and always will require, a particular type of person.

Perhaps the technology will help more people think, I can do

that; but it may not lead to more successful entrepreneurship

in itself.”

Wait and see

As a new generation of ‘millennials’ – usually defined as those

born between the early 1980s and early 2000s – enter the

workplace and take up increasingly senior positions, is there

reason to hope that the problem of gender inequality will

simply fade away?

An increasing move towards transparency in business may,

sooner or later, bring salaries out from the shadows – and

younger workers surely won’t tolerate unequal pay. Much

proactive work is underway too: the ‘vast majority’ of

companies in Europe are actively working to redress thegender balance, according to a McKinsey & Co report. (5)

Indeed, the latest version of the report finds that 63% of

companies have at least 20 different initiatives in place as part

of their gender diversity programmes. Should we just sit back

and wait for these programmes to bear fruit?



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8www.cim.co.uk/womeninmarketing

GET THE CONVERSATION STARTED...

Our lists of problems and solutions aren’t exhaustive. We want to hear yourexperiences, and your responses to the views expressed by our contributors. We

want to hear what problems you’ve faced, what’s worked for you, and what you

think should be tried next.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION HERE

REF: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CIM-Women-In-Marketing-3200181?gid=3200181&trk=vsrp_groups_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A84366741373273617405%2CVSRPtargetId%3A3200181%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary

http://www.cim.co.uk/Research/Papersandsurveys/womeninmarketing.aspxhttp://www.linkedin.com/groups/CIM-Women-In-Marketing-3200181?gid=3200181&trk=vsrp_groups_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A84366741373273617405%2CVSRPtargetId%3A3200181%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimaryhttp://www.linkedin.com/groups/CIM-Women-In-Marketing-3200181?gid=3200181&trk=vsrp_groups_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A84366741373273617405%2CVSRPtargetId%3A3200181%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimaryhttp://www.linkedin.com/groups/CIM-Women-In-Marketing-3200181?gid=3200181&trk=vsrp_groups_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A84366741373273617405%2CVSRPtargetId%3A3200181%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimaryhttp://www.linkedin.com/groups/CIM-Women-In-Marketing-3200181?gid=3200181&trk=vsrp_groups_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A84366741373273617405%2CVSRPtargetId%3A3200181%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimaryhttp://www.linkedin.com/groups/CIM-Women-In-Marketing-3200181?gid=3200181&trk=vsrp_groups_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A84366741373273617405%2CVSRPtargetId%3A3200181%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimaryhttp://www.linkedin.com/groups/CIM-Women-In-Marketing-3200181?gid=3200181&trk=vsrp_groups_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A84366741373273617405%2CVSRPtargetId%3A3200181%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimaryhttp://www.cim.co.uk/Research/Papersandsurveys/womeninmarketing.aspx


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CONTRIBUTORS SOURCES

CIM is grateful to the following for their views and opinions.The views expressed should not be regarded as those of the

individuals, except where directly quoted.

• Anna Bateson, Director of Global Marcom, YouTube.

• Fiona Dawson, President, Mars Chocolate.

• Bernie Emery, Partnership Development Director

at the Nisai Group.

• Daryl Fielding, Former Vice President, Marketing at

Kraft Foods Europe.

• Ellie Mickleburgh, Marketing Director UK and Ireland, Hays.

• Sally Muggeridge, former Chief Executive of the Industry

and Parliament Trust, former Marketing Director for

Cable & Wireless.

• Ade Onilude, Founder of the Women in Marketing

Network and a sales consultant for Swarovski.

• Sarah Speake, Strategic Marketing Director,

Google UK and Ireland.

• Charlotte Sweeney, Former International Head of Diversity

and Inclusion at Nomura International and currently

an Independent Consultant.

(1) ONS (2012) EMP16: Employment by occupation. Office for NationalStatistics. Available at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-

market-statistics/october-2012/table-emp16.xls

(2) Kenlock, E. (2012) Women hit by £400,000 gender pay gap over

course of careers. Chartered Management Institute, 11 November.

http://www.managers.org.uk/news/women-hit-%C2%A3400000-

gender-pay-gap-over-course-careers

(3) Quoted in Cranfield’s Female FTSE Board Report 2012, p.12. http://

www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/ftse

(4) Chanavat, A. (2012) Women in the workplace: latest trends in

gender equality. Thomson Reuters special report. http://alphanow.

thomsonreuters.com/ebooks/women-in-the-workplace/#0

(5) Devillard, S. et al (2012) Women matter: making the breakthrough.

McKinsey & Company. pdf available at http://www.mckinsey.com/

features/women_matter

(6) As quoted in Corporate Advantage: How Women Leaders Elevate the

Bottom Line. http://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/2012/184988.htm

(7) Curtis, M. et al (2012) Gender diversity and corporate performance.

Credit Suisse. https://publications.credit-suisse.com/index.cfm/

publikationen-shop/research-institute/gender-diversity-and-corporate-performance/ [The study analysed the performance of

nearly 2,400 companies with and without female board members

from 2005 onwards.]

http://www.cim.co.uk/Research/Papersandsurveys/womeninmarketing.aspxhttp://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/october-2012/table-emp16.xlshttp://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/october-2012/table-emp16.xlshttp://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/october-2012/table-emp16.xlshttp://www.managers.org.uk/news/women-hit-%C2%A3400000-gender-pay-gap-over-course-careershttp://www.managers.org.uk/news/women-hit-%C2%A3400000-gender-pay-gap-over-course-careershttp://www.managers.org.uk/news/women-hit-%C2%A3400000-gender-pay-gap-over-course-careershttp://www.managers.org.uk/news/women-hit-%C2%A3400000-gender-pay-gap-over-course-careershttp://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/ftsehttp://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/ftsehttp://alphanow.thomsonreuters.com/ebooks/women-in-the-workplace/#0http://alphanow.thomsonreuters.com/ebooks/women-in-the-workplace/#0http://alphanow.thomsonreuters.com/ebooks/women-in-the-workplace/#0http://www.mckinsey.com/features/women_matterhttp://www.mckinsey.com/features/women_matterhttp://www.mckinsey.com/features/women_matterhttp://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/2012/184988.htmhttp://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/2012/184988.htmhttps://publications.credit-suisse.com/index.cfm/publikationen-shop/research-institute/gender-diversity-and-corporate-performance/https://publications.credit-suisse.com/index.cfm/publikationen-shop/research-institute/gender-diversity-and-corporate-performance/https://publications.credit-suisse.com/index.cfm/publikationen-shop/research-institute/gender-diversity-and-corporate-performance/https://publications.credit-suisse.com/index.cfm/publikationen-shop/research-institute/gender-diversity-and-corporate-performance/https://publications.credit-suisse.com/index.cfm/publikationen-shop/research-institute/gender-diversity-and-corporate-performance/https://publications.credit-suisse.com/index.cfm/publikationen-shop/research-institute/gender-diversity-and-corporate-performance/https://publications.credit-suisse.com/index.cfm/publikationen-shop/research-institute/gender-diversity-and-corporate-performance/https://publications.credit-suisse.com/index.cfm/publikationen-shop/research-institute/gender-diversity-and-corporate-performance/https://publications.credit-suisse.com/index.cfm/publikationen-shop/research-institute/gender-diversity-and-corporate-performance/http://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/2012/184988.htmhttp://www.mckinsey.com/features/women_matterhttp://alphanow.thomsonreuters.com/ebooks/women-in-the-workplace/#0http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/ftsehttp://www.managers.org.uk/news/women-hit-%C2%A3400000-gender-pay-gap-over-course-careershttp://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/october-2012/table-emp16.xlshttp://www.cim.co.uk/Research/Papersandsurveys/womeninmarketing.aspx


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