If the economy had a gender, it would be female – with these words, Forbes magazine introduced readers two years ago to the results of research showing that women account for an astonishing 80 percent of total global consumption. This figure, of course, does not refer to the purchase of handbags and shoes, which men often and gladly shove in women’s faces, but rather to the fact that they buy, initiate, or participate in the decision-making process regarding the purchase of most products, whether it is a car or toilet paper. Thus, their opinions influence what men, younger and older family members (parents and relatives), their friends and acquaintances will buy. Because of this ‘influence’ on various target groups, they are undoubtedly the rulers of the market, or rather the economy. Considering all this, it is truly surprising that behind marketing campaigns aimed at winning over women (directly or indirectly) stand – men. More precisely, only three percent of women in the world (!) lead creative teams and hold the position of creative directors. Clearly, there are too few women in most industries, but this discrepancy in the creative industry is particularly glaring when one considers that a) it is not as pronounced in other marketing branches, such as media buying; b) the creative industry cultivates the image of a modern industry that looks forward and strives to avoid prejudices and gender, sexual, and other divisions, valuing individuality, creativity, and innovation. Does this mean that women are not as creative as men? Is it really necessary to have guts, literally, for the position of creative director? Or is the creative industry, in this sense, just as backward as any other, so that a woman is not the first choice for any leadership position? To the question of where the creative directors are in the land of Croats and Croatian citizens, three ladies who have managed to enrich their resumes with that function despite prejudices attempted to answer.
The Burden of Patriarchy on the Shoulders of Female Marketers
