Brazil is the 130th country in the ranking of salary equity in the world, which demonstrates the importance of the topic in our society. It adds to the fact the scenario for women with children is even more severe, with 1 in 3 women with children in early childhood thinking about downgrading their careers or quitting their jobs and still having fewer resources than other women. Women head more than half of families in Brazil but, on average, with INCOME 21% LESS THAN MEN.

Why do brands still remain so naive on Mother's Day?

Mother's Day is one of the main dates for the national retail industry, where brands take advantage to sell as much as they can to people. Especially in the financial sector, the date is full of advertisements that do not reflect the reality of mothers in Brazil. Women head 50.8% of Brazilian households, undertake 3 times more, yet earn 21% less than men. Santander has a commitment: to strengthen women's participation in the economy, challenging norms and driving discussions. Therefore, on Mother's Day, we create fairer life situations for women. Santander challenged the status quo with media pieces, encouraging employers and sectors to participate in the project. So much to spend, so much to buy, the card is the consumption hero... but have you ever stopped to think that these same mothers earn 21% less?

The bank has been a pioneer in dedicating efforts to service innovations to combat gender inequities through the Santander Delas Platform, activated both continuously and with dedicated flights around International Women's Day. Santander is one of the best companies for women to work for in Brazil, according to GPTW. They already represent 60% of the total 46,000 employees of the bank in the country.

The attractiveness of female professionals to work at the bank is one of the most critical indicators for proving brand and company reputation. The proportion of women who submitted their resumes for open positions increased by 194% compared to the previous month, reaching 73% of all resumes sent. For the bank's commitment to be legitimate, it must demonstrate that it is genuine, from the outside in, having achieved salary equity among its employees, Santander understands the importance of evaluating the growth of its reputation among women.

Santander needed, once again, to validate its position as a partner bank, supporting women to thrive economically. Our major challenge on the date was not only to speak to mothers. Equity is an essential issue for all women. This means that, in addition to current mothers, our target includes women in general, whether they are customers, non-customers, employees, or future employees of the bank. In practice, we are talking about: Women: economically active, aged 18 or older, residing in any region of the country. Brazil ranks 130th in the world gender pay equity ranking, which demonstrates the importance of the topic in our society. This is compounded by the fact that mothers face even more difficulties, with 1 in 3 women with children in early childhood considering downgrading their careers or resigning and still earning lower salaries than other women.

Brazil participates in the fight for gender equality at a slow pace, for instance, currently ranking as only the 130th country in wage equality. In addition to consistently being at a disadvantage, there's the aggravating factor that over 11 million mothers raise their children alone, which makes it impossible for them to pursue higher education or even to maintain employment. Even in such an unfavorable scenario, brands, especially in the financial market, direct their communication efforts towards advertisements that avoid the harsh reality.

Mother's Day historically ranks among the dates that most drive the economy in Brazil. So what's the use of driving the economy on Mother's Day if women's earnings lag behind men's by 21%?

Upon seeing that during seasonal dates, brands often employ emotional discourse, largely focused on gifts, Santander saw an opportunity to innovate and do something different by addressing one of the main problems in our country: the gender pay gap, which currently stands at 21%.

How can we encourage a fairer world and better living conditions for women?

Therefore, Mother's Day 2023 served as a platform for an unprecedented discussion about wage inequality in the mainstream media, with Santander offering a 21% discount on various bank services exclusively for women. Going beyond the date, Santander decided it's not enough to just acknowledge a debt, it needs to be paid.

In such a challenging scenario for the individuals celebrated on this day, it's important to move beyond the realm of advertising and take real actions to continue the fight for gender equality. Recognizing the need to impact the reality of mothers, we knew it was important to uphold a discourse built by Santander in the struggle for gender equality, which originated from within the organization. With a bold proposal, Santander decided to address this debt and offer special conditions for women, doing something financially relevant for them. In these special conditions, the bank eliminated the gap, ensuring that wage disparity was transformed into equity in Santander products. During the campaign, Santander faced numerous misogynistic attacks on social media. However, this became a reason for the bank to embrace the cause even more, not giving up on the initiative or reducing efforts and investments.

Through a film broadcasted on both free-to-air and cable television, as well as extensively across the digital sphere including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, we highlighted the issue of wage disparity among women. In the film, we featured real Santander employees from various departments to underscore the authenticity of our commitment to fairer living conditions for women. Throughout the marketing funnel and across all media touchpoints, we tailored the message to fit the formats, placing more emphasis on the objective selling points. In this campaign, Santander utilized all its own communication channels to amplify the impact of the social disparity theme, including bank branches, website, app, OOH strategically distributed across the cities and social media. In social media, we employed a targeted communication strategy focused on the female audience to mitigate negative and destructive comments regarding the urgent need for pay equity between men and women.

Faced with such a significant challenge, we not only became a disruptive brand but also achieved extraordinary results for the brand, the business, and society. We recognize this debt and are committed to creating fairer conditions for mothers and women by offering a 21% discount on key bank services. Through social media alone, we achieved 608 million positive impacts and an estimated reach of 69 million people. By undertaking a social debt of R$34 million in exemptions and discounts, we surpassed goals with a return of 5.2. We saw a significant increase: 201% more insurance policies contracted by women, 7% more invoices split by women, 125% more capitalization titles sold to women, 157% more cards issued to women, and 91% more loans granted to women. In addition to the results, we are increasingly closer to having the same number of male and female clients, with a gap of approximately 3%.

With the initiative, Santander attracted thousands of women to join the institution, and today, the bank remains at the top as the only bank for 5 consecutive years among the top 10 companies for women to work in Brazil. Additionally, there is an increasingly smaller gender gap between men and women, and in some segments within Santander, the number of women already exceeds that of men. As the bank carries out such important initiatives year after year, there is a process of harvesting learning to enhance the next action, reaching a stage where it's possible to recognize the evolution in the fight for gender equality and the advancement of the economy for all women across Brazil.

N/A.