With a majority (80 per cent) of consumer spending influenced by women, there is a need to change the way products are marketed in favour of men and it needs to be inclusive, according to women leaders from different fields.
The need to close the gap between perception and metrics when it comes to gender roles in the workplace was also highlighted in a roundtable organised by MMA India, a part of MMA global, which is the world's leading not-for-profit marketing trade body.
"The way we market our products needs to change, it needs to be inclusive. As long as women type the words 'for women' in the search bars, the change will be slow," Google Asia-Pacific Vice-President for Marketing (India, Southeast Asia and South Asia) Sapna Chadha said in a statement by MMA India.
Google had analysed almost three million YouTube videos in advertising and marketing in India and found male representation to be 1.5 times more than women, when 80 per cent of consumer spending is influenced by women, she added.
While there is an appreciation for leaders with qualities that are perceived as essentially female today, Chadha said, "However, the barrier needs to be broken and women aspiring to become future leaders should imbibe 'alpha' qualities, too."
Chadha added that there needs to be more women in the tech industry. "It will enable them to become better networkers, leaders and effective modern marketers."
Expressing similar views, Geetanjali Bhattacharji, executive director (Africa, India & Middle East), advisory services at EY, stressed the need for women to set their key performance indicators and deliver accordingly to drive the conversation around what they bring to the table.
This will go a long way in closing pay gaps and raising awareness among women about how they quantify their performance at the very beginning of their careers and ask for what they deserve, she added.
"We need to continue to create opportunities for women to make their way into executive boards as decision-makers... It is time to improve the numbers from just 4 per cent women CEOs in India to higher," Moneka Khurana, country head at MMA India, said.
(With inputs from PTI)
