Introduction
It is important to note that the modern world is becoming more and more globalized, and issues of equality and diversity are highly relevant. This change is not unnoticed by organizations and businesses, which is especially true in regard to advertising and marketing. The rise of technological advancements and digital media made consumers highly exposed to an array of marketing measures, which made the modern average customer more resistant and dismissive of such efforts. Therefore, companies are beginning to advertise themselves and their products through more persuasive tactics, which are centered around addressing key social issues. The given analysis will focus on one of such examples, which is an ad #LikeaGirl by Always, a part of Proctor & Gamble or P&G. The company raises awareness of the problem of gender inequality by implicitly linking the message to the products, where a society labels girls are labeled as “weak,” but the company and all women make a stand during such a sensitive developmental stage.
Campaign Overview
The ad #LikeaGirl by Always addresses the issue of gender inequality and how various members of society perceive young girls as weak and incapable. The core problem lies in the notion that both men and women of a wide range of ages understand the term “like a girl” as a description of doing something in the most ineffective and non-resultative way. Gender inequality can be manifested in many forms, but it deeply damages the youngest members of a society since such discouragement and subjugation of a particular gender is normalized, and these individuals grow up believing that they are weak and inferior to males. The term evidently leaves a long-lasting and even permanent impression of the notion that girls do not equal to men, which manifests itself in low self-confidence and self-esteem.
Contents
The ad itself can be divided into three distinct sections, where, in the first one, adult men, young boys, and adult women are asked to demonstrate various physical activities “like a girl,” which they do in a stereotypical and damaging way. It is evident that their demonstrations are not reflective of reality, which shows that gender inequality is pervasive and subliminal as well as external and internal because even women themselves perform these activities in a hurtful manner. The second part of the ad revolves around asking young girls themselves to perform these activities “like a girl,” which they do in a way that does not match the perceptions or expectations of individuals from the first section (Always, 2014). The third segment primarily focuses on interviewing all of the participants on the issue of gender inequality, where young girls confess that the depiction and the term are hurtful and damaging, and women admit that there is no benefit in adhering to this stereotypical thinking.
Message
The significance of the persuasive attempt can be found in its main message, which is focused on revealing that many seemingly innocent phrases and terms, such as doing a physical activity “like a girl,” are highly damaging and hindering to a young girl’s development. Such a stereotypical description makes girls grow up with low levels of self-esteem and self-confidence, where they might become reluctant to engage in physical activities. In addition, such a description can long-lastingly affect all other areas of a young girl’s life, where she perceives herself as inferior to her male counterparts. Therefore, the ad wants to raise awareness of the pervasiveness and subliminal perception of gender inequality, which can start downgrading women from a young age.
Goals
The goal of the ad in regards to the business is to increase the sales of Always products by boosting the company brand image and consumer perception. The ad itself is cleverly built and developed because it depicts mostly young teenage girls and adult women, who are the main consumers of Always’ products. It is important to note that gender inequality manifestations, such as doing a physical activity “like a girl,” are most impactful during young adolescent age when children begin to develop sexual differences. This is also the period when girls will be in need of women’s products, such as Always, which is why the ad achieves two major goals, which are empowerment of females and, in doing so, implicitly promoting the products.
Audience
One should be aware that the ad is designed to raise awareness, which is why the general audience includes all members of society. However, the ad itself targets younger women, such as teenage girls, because Always wants to establish its brand image and imprint it on its younger consumers. In other words, young adolescent females are the main audience because they are the ones who need empowerment and Always products, but the general message is designed for everyone.
Persuasion Techniques
Moreover, the ad’s significance of the persuasive attempt is manifested in the fact that it is viral and persuasive by nature. The element of pathos can be observed in background music and expressions of young girls. The emotions of concern and empowerment are established through music, which is most evident in the third section of the video, where women’s speeches of empowerment are accompanied by empowering and motivating music. The element of logos is manifested in the fact that the issue of gender inequality is real and prevalent in all societies. For example, a study conducted in 36 countries suggests that “adolescents in different contexts are influenced by the dominant societal discourse on gender inequality, which they interiorize and display through their own attitudes toward gender roles” (Dotti Sani & Quaranta, 2016, p. 30). The element of ethos can be found in the representation of various members of society, who all, including women, adhere to a damaging and hindering stereotype of doing physical activity “like a girl.”
Vehicles and Tactics
It is important to point out that the ad was shown solely through digital media, such as social media platforms. However, the latter was the primary contributor to its viral nature because it allowed the ad to have the highest level of exposure. A study suggests that there are three main consumer resistance strategies, which are avoidance, contesting, and empowering (Fransen et al., 2015). The selected ad is an example of an empowerment-based resistance-neutralizing persuasion tactic, where the message is designed to create self-affirmation and a sense of freedom (Fransen et al., 2015). The strengths of the persuasive attempt are rooted in the notion that the majority of a civilized population believes in gender equality, or at least considers it as something good, which is why the message is to remind people about this fact through one of the highly pervasive and subliminal manifestations of gender inequality, such as “like a girl.” The concept of attitude is at the core of the tactic because it is a psychological construct, which characterizes an individual (Perloff, 2020). In other words, the belief and adherence to gender equality is a good attitude, which is an emotional and mental entity.
Timing, Budget, and Evaluation Tactics
The ad was released in 2014 on various social media platforms. P&G spends $10 billion per year on commercial advertisements and marketing measures. It is stated that the company is gradually shifting its budgetary allocations towards social media and digital media, moving away from traditional television ads (Coolidge, 2014). The evaluation evidently reveals that the ad was a success because “it’s been viewed 21 million times on YouTube, shared 300,000 times on Facebook, and tweeted 40,000 times on Twitter” within a year (Coolidge, 2014, para. 2). Although it is challenging to accurately determine the ROI of the campaign, these metrics indicate that the ad brought a wide range of positive changes to the company, such as an improved brand image, consumer loyalty, a new influx of customers, and sales. However, the active use of social media reveals the weakness of the persuasive attempt, which is the fact that it is non-lasting. Viral videos by nature are quick at becoming popular but fade away in a similar manner. Thus, the company’s attempt to acquire new loyal customers was highly effective only for a short period of time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the ad #LikeaGirl by Always addresses the issue of gender inequality by exposing the hindering and damaging stereotypes about young women and their capabilities. The ad itself was highly successful due to its sole focus on social media platforms as means of distribution, but it is short-lasting by nature. One can learn from the case that empowerment consumer resistance can be overcome by selectively focusing on the target group’s attitudes by affirming them.
References
Always. (2014). Always #LikeAGirl [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Coolidge, A. (2014). P&G ad hits ‘Like a Girl’. The Enquirer. Web.
Dotti Sani, G. M., & Quaranta, M. (2016). The best is yet to come? Attitudes toward gender roles among adolescents in 36 countries. Sex Roles, 77(1-2), 30–45. Web.
Fransen, M. L., Verlegh, P. W. J., Kirmani, A., & Smit, E. G. (2015). A typology of consumer strategies for resisting advertising, and a review of mechanisms for countering them. International Journal of Advertising, 34(1), 6-16. Web.
Perloff, R. M. (2020). The dynamics of persuasion: Communication and attitudes in the twenty-first century (7th ed.). Routledge.