Dive Brief:
- During Ad Age's Women to Watch roundtable, a discussion among about a dozen high-powered women across industries covered a wide range of topics, from the need to look beyond generational divides, flexibility at work, and the objectification of women in ads.
- Mondelez's global head of e-commerce ventures Cindy Chen spoke to the importance of work-life balance and time flexibility, where technology can play a crucial role, especially for global companies.
- Lisa Mann, who left Mondelez to become executive vice president of marketing at Kind, talked about purpose and how it motivated her move from a larger company to a smaller, mission-driven company.
Dive Insight:
For employees, Chen said, pay is still of utmost importance, but location and flexibility beat out even benefits in their minds. Manufacturers that offer flexibility may have a leg up in bringing onboard top talent in the industry, especially millennials, 74% of whom say that flexible work schedules are important to them, according to Intelligence Group studies.
Purpose was another roundtable topic; it's important for the employees and the brand itself, the roundtable agreed. A roundtable moderator mentioned that female empowerment was increasingly being seen as a marketing tool. But if the link between the brand and a higher purpose is clear, the roundtable agreed, then that marketing message and brand is better trusted.
Another opportunity for expressing this higher purpose is for executives, both men and women, to end the objectification of women in ads, or as Chen put it, "Take a stand" and "Just say no." Chen described her earlier career experiences in marketing, where she learned that "Sex does sell. ... But we need to respect ourselves. When you see that work, simply say, 'No.'"