Positioning yourself in the mind of the consumer is the main objective of any brand. However, companies often forget that achieving this also involves managing the company’s communication responsibly, so that their mission, vision and values are aligned or correspond with what is socially accepted.
Despite the fact that movements in favor of gender equality have become very important in Mexico, it is evident that “machismo”, rooted in the deepest part of our society, still persists. Machismo stems from a cultural classification of individuals according to their gender and imposes certain biological expectations that these individuals must fulfill to consummate their role as a “real” man or woman in society. Being a cultural issue, this machismo is dictating behaviors. Behaviors and beliefs that reinforce, reproduce and promote various forms of discrimination against women.
In advertising, the clearest examples are the campaigns for product for the home, where women are exclusively used to promote said merchandise. The same happens in the case of brands that promote products for men, where females tend to pose with little clothing, or suggestively provocative – even both – in order to attract the attention of men and generate “brand recall”. In both cases, a gender role is arbitrarily assumed for women: as the sole person responsible for the home and as a sexual object, respectively.
Many of these conceptions go unnoticed and that is where we’re talking about the fact that they are within the cultural code. We take it for granted and accept it as an irrefutable fact. In a society that changes with an increasingly vertiginous rhythm, advertising cannot be left behind and is a great showcase to support the elimination of this stereotyped vision of gender.
For example, there are many other ways to provide the attribute of masculinity to a brand beyond cheap provocation such as competitiveness, strength or rudeness. But even so, that the target of a brand is mostly male does not mean that it should exclude women who also consume and love the products. From this point of view, the segmentation that the digital environment provides is invaluable for generating an emotional bond and enabling the loyalty of diverse audiences.
There is unique power that comes with being a business during the digital marketing age. Everyday, we get the opportunity to shift the messages we choose to send through our brand and with that, shift the social norm too. Creating an outside-of-the-box “masculine” brand during a time where gender equality is a booming topic, not only shows that your business is in the loop about important social movements, but it also sets you apart from competition who are still following the paradigms of yesterday.
At Mijo! Brands our team will help you refine your message and create targeted campaigns, with an interdisciplinary team of expert professionals that will project your brand in the digital world. Contact us today.
Carlos Becerra is a Community Manager at Mijo! Brands, a leading creative digital marketing agency with presence in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta.
Carlos is a graduate of the Bachelor of Social Communication from UAM Autonomous Metropolitan University, has developed experience in different marketing tasks with direct customer service and places his main strengths in empathy and the search for creative solutions. A fan of stories regardless of the digital or analog format through which they are transmited, and animal enthusiast as confirmed by his dog Toto, adopted in distant lands – Mérida, not Kansas, and his cat Luis Miguel.