Women-Owned Agencies In Demand: Marketing No Longer a Boys Club

Searches for women-owned agencies up 74%

Lynn Gregorski, President of Rapunzel Creative.

It has been remarked that 2018 was the “year of the woman” as all across the world there were great strides made in the women’s movement ranging from business to politics. As of 2018, the number of women-owned businesses in the U.S. has surpassed 12 million. Many incredible women have gone to great lengths to defy social expectations and find success in their fields.¹

High interest in women-owned agencies

Women-owned companies represent less than 1% of the suppliers hired by large corporations.²However, data from our 2019 Marketing Trends Report suggests that might not be true for much longer. In fact, the search for women-owned agencies went up by 74% on Agency Spotter.

Overcoming the past

As portrayed in the television show Mad Men, marketing and advertising has always been a male-dominated world. Although there has been great strides towards gender equality, there still remains great room for progress.

As of today, women own only 39% of all privately held firms. Lynn Gregorski, president of Rapunzel Creative, explains that: “By hiring a women-owned agency that is a certified WBE (Women Business Enterprise), you are not only supporting women entrepreneurs—you are also helping us move the needle.”

Gregorski believes that women are natural problem solvers. Research shows that women are better multitaskers and communicators. With the right women-owned agency the possibilities are limitless.

“By hiring a women-owned agency that is a certified WBE (Women Business Enterprise), you are not only supporting women entrepreneurs—you are also helping us move the needle.”
– Lynn Gregorski, President, Rapunzel Creative

Super Woman at work

According to a study, nearly 91% of women feel that marketers and advertisers don’t quite understand them.³ And in a world where women control over 80% of consumer spending, it leaves many questioning why there aren’t more women leading in this industry.³ For brands with a central target audience of women, a women-owned agency ensures an opportunity to gain valuable female consumer insight.

Diversity for the win

Women-owned agencies have the ability to provide a brand with a few important benefits. The first being diversity. Research studies have shown that diversity fosters both creativity and innovation. Different individuals will bring different insights to the workplace. As a result, diverse teams tend to produce more creative results than a team of like minded individuals.⁵

Moira Vetter, founder and CEO of Modo Modo, highlights that there can be rewards for hiring a diverse agency, “If you’re a major corporation with an objective (or corporate mandate) of increasing diversity among your vendors and partners, hiring a certified WBENC (women-owned) business can potentially gain you additional budget allocations for your marketing initiatives—or at the least gain you brownie points.”

More Than Just Woman-Owned

As mentioned above there are a few perks of hiring a women-owned agency, however, these women leaders want clients to understand that by hiring them they are getting more than just a certified WBENC business.

In fact, Amie Stanley, founder and CEO at E29, “I don’t want to be the “best woman-owned agency”, I want to be the “best agency” period. I strongly believe being woman-owned gives us an edge over the competition, but I never want to be considered by a potential client or award for only that reason.”

Stanley believes that E29 is breaking through barriers. With different thinking they hope to defy industry standards and develop better results for their clients.

“I don’t want to be the “best woman-owned agency”, I want to be the “best agency” period. I strongly believe being woman-owned gives us an edge over the competition, but I never want to be considered by a potential client or award for only that reason.”
– Amie Stanley, Founder and CEO, E29

Who runs the world? Girls!

It’s hard to know what agency is going to fit all of your marketing needs, let alone a women-owned agency. Agency Spotter’s search engine allows you to search for more than just budget, industry, and experience. In fact, our filters make your search just that much easier to find a women-owned agency.

References

¹ Women Business Enterprise National Council | ² WEConnect International ³Girl Power Marketing | ⁴AdWeek | ⁵ Innovation Management | ⁶ Agency Spotter’s 2019 Marketing Trends Report

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