How Did Brands Handle The Delicate International Women’s Day Topic? Adidas, Alexa, and more.

Photo credit: Stabilo Boss

We have seen many brands create their own content and initiatives to celebrate this very special day, each in their way and more or less in line with their brand voice.

Adidas, for example, decided to install around the South Bank area in London eight statues dedicated to eight international athletes known for exceptional achievements in their respective disciplines. But above all, for being militants in favor of equality and gender equality.

Amazon Alexa launched the “Woman of the day” project in Italy.

Starting from March 8th onwards, Alexa would tell us every day the story of a different Italian woman who has been a reference in a particular field, women such as Margherita Hack, Bebe Vio, and Rita Levi Montalcini, Chiara Ferragni, Raffaella Carrà, Samantha Cristoforetti, and many others.

Something unique ...

One initiative particularly stood out to us.

To celebrate International Women's Day DDB and neon highlighter manufacturer Stabilo Boss have decided to honor a great woman, a woman who made history in the world of advertising. Her name is Phyllis Kenner Robinson.

The initiative is called "Highlighting The Remarkable" and the campaign idea, already proposed in 2019, is a photo where the image of extraordinary women is literally highlighted.

This year Stabilo Boss decided to highlight a great woman:

It's no secret that the advertising industry has been a male-dominated industry since the very start, in Venice in the 16th century, when local gazettes - run by men - offered companies a new way to reach their customers.

The advertising industry remained that way until 1949 when something extraordinary happened: Phyllis Kenner Robinson entered the scene.

Robinson joined Gray in 1947, where she first met and worked for William Bernbach. Two years later, when Bernbach, Ned Doyle, and Mac Dane founded DDB, one of their first executive decisions was to recruit Phyllis Kenner Robinson as the agency's first Chief Copywriter.

An event that changed the history of advertising forever as the role of Chief Copywriter had never been held by a woman before!