The IWD Playbook

A strategic guide to meaningful International Women's Day narratives

International Women’s Day is less than a month away (March 8) are you ready?

Rachel McAdams in Girls Girls Girls Magazine ‘Be a Lady, They Said’

The day celebrates women’s achievements and calls for gender equity. While many brands participate, audiences increasingly - and rightfully so - expect real-world actions over snappy statements.

Yes, there is an International Men’s Day. It’s November 19th and no, we won’t be talking about it right now.

Empty gestures, reinforcing stereotypes or performative messaging can quickly backfire. And at a time when DEI initiatives are being rolled-back or questioned when gender gaps still persist, it’s important to keep doing the work (and creating stories that resonate about it!) so scroll on for a snackable guide on how to talk about IWD.

So What’s it All About?

I’m going to take a different approach on this one and instead of an article, I’ve returned to my corporate roots and prepared a deck. The hope is that it’s slightly more helpful than the initial listicle format I had in mind.

Let me know what you think!

Check out the full deck HERE

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

The Appendix

A firm believer no deck should ever go beyond 10-15 slides, here’s the juicy content alluded to but not quite able to include in a presentation. Nobody likes the awkward silence of watching an ad in a deck…it’s weird.

Ground your mindset with Girls Girls Girls’ Be A Lady They Said. Somewhat depressingly, it still brings me to angry tears all these years after it was first released.

And Nike’s Dream Crazier campaign. One problematic company with an innate knack for storytelling. There’s an opportunity here to steal (with pride) that storytelling approach and back it up with real-world progress initiatives, so take notes…

Interested in reading more about the gender gap? Check out Caroline Criado-Perez’ Invisible Women or follow here right here on substack. Fashion Revolution or Aja Barber’s Consumed is a must-read for anyone unaware of the explotative fashion industry and finally, if you want ALL the information on International Women’s Day, check them out here.

What do you wish existed to help close the gender gap? Better pay? Better opportunities? Better cities designed for people other than 6ft dudes driving cars?