CIM discussion paper july 2013

Women in marketing
A contribution to an on-going debate and an
invitation for you to make your voice heard.

women in marketing

introduction
Looking at the marketing profession from the outside, you could be
forgiven for thinking that problems of gender inequality or imbalance
were a thing of the past. And its 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 theres 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 weve 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.

www.cim.co.uk/womeninmarketing

CIM discussion paper | July 2013

women in marketing

CIM discussion paper | July 2013

problems
Women arent making it to the top of the
marketing 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 isnt
encouraging or enabling women to progress from the early
stages of their career to the most senior positions.

Psychology and attitude

Though its 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, thats what gets remembered at promotion time.
Viewpoint: Sarah Speake: Women will attribute praise to
the team; men dont.

The marketing profession isnt represented

at the top levels of business
Marketing still doesnt enjoy consistent representation at
boardroom level, and so even if women make it to the top of the
marketing profession its likely that they wont take up a seat at
the top table. CMOs are a rarer breed than CFOs or COOs.

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.

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.

The problem certainly hasnt 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)

www.cim.co.uk/womeninmarketing

women in marketing

CIM discussion paper | July 2013

Solutions
Impose quotas
Quotas stipulating the number of women on a companys
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 doesnt 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.

www.cim.co.uk/womeninmarketing

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 Sweeneys 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 didnt want to
apply because they didnt want to feel, Im the quota figure.
Other women already in post were leaving because of this
view, and didnt want to be perceived as only having the role
because of the target.

women in marketing

CIM discussion paper | July 2013

Solutions
Provide or encourage mentoring
Role 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.

Others feel that the growth of an entrepreneurial culture will

give 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 womans radar as she
develops her career that she would consider how to get onto
a board. Thats something thats 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.

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
dont have the role models to help plan their careers. Having
a relationship with someone to look up to and learn from isnt
part of our culture in the UK like it is in the US. It would be
good to change this.

www.cim.co.uk/womeninmarketing

women in marketing

CIM discussion paper | July 2013

Solutions
Adopt female-friendly policies
Where 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. Its 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 childrens 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.

www.cim.co.uk/womeninmarketing

women in marketing

CIM discussion paper | July 2013

Solutions
Stress the business case
Theres 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 on
equity (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)

www.cim.co.uk/womeninmarketing

But correlation isnt causation, and some suggest that

businesses should be cautious of such claims:
Viewpoint: Charlotte Sweeney: Theres research saying that
diversity leads to a better company, which I firmly believe, but
no conclusive data saying, if you do x, youll 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.

women in marketing

CIM discussion paper | July 2013

Solutions
Claim responsibility and create cultures
which 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 credits due?
Daryl Fielding designed and delivered Doves transformational
Campaign for Real Beauty:
Viewpoint: Daryl Fielding: I felt I deserved the credit for
leading 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.

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 dont notice that there is a problem. They need to
be made to notice.

Of course, its 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 in
which 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.

www.cim.co.uk/womeninmarketing

women in marketing

CIM discussion paper | July 2013

Solutions
Go it alone
A BIS small business survey from 2010 found that some 15% of
micro-businesses and 13% of small businesses were womenled. 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, Ill
start my own company. A generation has grown up with
certain 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 theyre
comfortable with. Some feel that entrepreneurship and the
www.cim.co.uk/womeninmarketing

technologies which facilitate it wont 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 wont tolerate unequal pay. Much
proactive work is underway too: the vast majority of
companies in Europe are actively working to redress the
gender 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?
7

women in marketing

CIM discussion paper | July 2013

get the conversation started...

Our lists of problems and solutions arent exhaustive. We want to hear your
experiences, and your responses to the views expressed by our contributors. We
want to hear what problems youve faced, whats 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=VSRPsear
chId%3A84366741373273617405%2CVSRPtargetId%3A3200181%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary

www.cim.co.uk/womeninmarketing

women in marketing

Contributors
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.

www.cim.co.uk/womeninmarketing

CIM discussion paper | July 2013

sources
(1) ONS (2012) EMP16: Employment by occupation. Office for National
Statistics. Available at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labourmarket-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%A3400000gender-pay-gap-over-course-careers
(3) Quoted in Cranfields 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-andcorporate-performance/ [The study analysed the performance of
nearly 2,400 companies with and without female board members
from 2005 onwards.]

The Chartered Institute of Marketing

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Berkshire, SL6 9QH
United Kingdom

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The Chartered Institute of Marketing 2013.

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ISBN 978-1-907368-26-4