The ‘Imagine’ omnichannel campaign centred on the #BreakTheBias theme of this year’s International Women’s Day.

A big challenge when it comes to gender diversity is our unconscious biases. We are wired to think a certain way, based on the world we grew up in. To achieve gender diversity, we need to confront and question our gender biases.

To tackle this issue, the campaign invites the viewer to simply think of someone in the role of, among others, a CEO, a nurse or a makeup artist. And then asks gently, 'Is it a man?" / 'Is it a woman?"

Our objectives were simple:

1. Create urgency around the gender diversity and equality movement

2. Raise awareness of the unconscious biases we all have

3. Harness the theme of International Women’s Day 2022 (BreaktheBias) to create some much needed conversation

Taking place on March 8 each year, International Women’s Day offers an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women around the world, remember those who have fought for their rights and reflect on how we can continue the fight for equality.

This year’s theme is ‘Break the Bias,’ encouraging us to imagine a gender-equal world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination – one that is diverse, equitable and inclusive, and where difference is valued and celebrated.

The campaign centred around unconscious gender biases and delves into the assumptions we carry with us.

We wanted the message to do all the talking, so we used a stripped back but beautiful design to allow the power of the message to cut through. The questions were intentionally rooted in everyday scenarios that everyone could relate to, and written with an open-ended tone that encouraged self-awareness, not judgement.

We expanded the idea to a wider audience by creating a children’s colouring book. The book asks the audience, “Draw what you imagine when you read the headline”, with an empty scene ready and waiting. The aim? To capture children’s gut reactions, and prompt a conversation at home and the classroom about gender roles.

We partnered with a research agency to assess how children are still affected by unconscious gender bias, creating a campaign from its findings.

The study, conducted in February, surveyed 1,000 UK-based parents of children aged 5 to 11 and 1,000 UK-based children in that age group.

Among other insights, the survey revealed that, even in this modern day and age, the majority of young children still assume that doctors are men, nurses are women and that there are certain jobs that girls can’t or shouldn’t aim for in life.

It revealed that 39% of the children polled thought that, “mummies should look after babies and do all the housework” with 38% agreeing that, “daddies should go to work“.

Implementation was critical to make the campaign successful and so we built a multidisciplinary team with partner agencies to give the campaign reach and impact.

The creative ran across the UK from March 8th 2022, amplified by an omnichannel campaign with an overall budget of £10,000. With a combination of donated media across OOH, social platforms and display, the campaign has reached a wide range of audiences to spark productive conversation for International Women's Day and beyond. The creative was also made bespoke for the media placement to make the headlines contextual to the environment i.e. ‘Imagine a Footballer’ outside football stadiums, ‘Imagine an Investor’ displayed in financial districts, and ‘Imagine a Director’ outside cinemas adding more relevance to the creative.

The 'Imagine' theme also carries through into a kid’s colouring book. "Draw what you imagine when you read the headline' each page asks, the aim being to prompt a conversation at home and in the classroom about gender roles.

With over 4.7 million impressions in one month, the campaign was seen by all the right people; government institutions, academics, individuals, brands, women, men. It sparked an international debate about gender bias.

We were even approached by an auction house suggesting we mint the campaign as an NFT drop, to take it into the Web3 space and create additional reach and longevity for the campaign.

The campaign has created conversations with governments institutions and campaigning bodies seeking advice on their upcoming gender equality work.

Our mission was successful - get people to notice that gender bias is still a problem, realise that they can do something about it and avoid passing it on to the next generation.

The campaign resulted in over a quarter of a million engagements across social media, including comments, shares and reactions and a 10.28% organic engagement rate, averaging well above the industry benchmarks.