LinkedIn releases first global integrated campaign for International Women’s Day 2021

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, has launched its first global integrated campaign for International Women’s Day 2021 with creators, content and community at its heart. Launched in time for International Women’s Day on March 8 (yesterday), the campaign sees LinkedIn bring together influencers and its community to share content that helps and supports women, creating global engagement across the platform.

The launch comes as LinkedIn’s data shows COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted women’s careers. Its latest Opportunity Index findings show that 85 per cent of women in India have missed out on a raise, promotion because of their gender.

Women’s careers have been more adversely affected, despite increasing flexibility at work, as 68 per cent of women and 74 per cent of working mothers in India say it is difficult to balance career and familial responsibilities today. More than seven in 10 women and working mothers in India also say that household responsibilities often come in the way of their career progress.

Created with lead creative agency VCCP, the campaign will publish advice, insights and inspirational stories to celebrate women’s voices on and off the LinkedIn platform, and encourage conversations that help and empower them.

The campaign leads with a film showcasing inspirational real-life stories of women from around the world. The film, directed by Jessie Ayles, a filmmaker with a focus on socially conscious issues, takes viewers across the world to meet real women telling us their emotive accounts of the doubts, fears and vulnerabilities they have experienced during the pandemic.

The campaign features stories of seven women professionals from varied industries from seven countries, who share their pandemic story and talk about a woman in their network who supported and inspired them throughout the crisis. Each story narrates the power of ‘community’, highlighting how women allies come together to help other women shelter their professions from the pandemic and smoothly transition into the new, evolving, normal.

From India, the campaign features pastry chef and entrepreneur Pooja Dhingra and her struggles as a business owner during the pandemic. In the video, she shares how she was forced to shut down a large part of her pastry business and let go of her staff due to the pandemic. She also credits the unrelenting support from her mother and mentor that helped her survive and pivot a decade-long business effort by reimagining her outlook towards progress and life in the ‘new normal’.

Using #WeCanDoIt, the campaign aims to encourage both women and men to support as well as engage women professionals on International Women’s Day with inspirational stories that spark honest conversations about the pressures working women are under during the pandemic.

Ngaire Moyes, senior director of brand and communication, EMEA, LATAM and APAC at LinkedIn, said, “Women have faced greater economic hardship through the COVID-19 pandemic, disproportionately losing jobs and income. Decades of progress in gender equality has been undone in a matter of months. This shift has impacted how our female members interact on the platform and we have seen countless examples of the LinkedIn community sharing their stories and supporting each other in whatever way they can.”

“Seeing the way our community pulled together in this crisis was the inspiration for our first international integrated campaign to mark International Women’s Day. Through the #WeCanDoIt campaign, we hope to elevate the voices of our female members across the platform, and encourage others to share their personal stories in a bid to help and empower working women around the world.”

To help people and businesses take steps to improve gender equality in the workplace, LinkedIn is also making free online learning courses available to everyone: Leadership Strategies for Women, Planning Your Family Leave and Return, Proven Success Strategies for Women at Work, Own It: The Power of Women at Work, and Becoming a Male Ally at Work (available till March 31).

The campaign will go live across PR, social, above the line and through influencer activity, as well as LinkedIn’s owned channels: LinkedIn News, LinkedIn Learning, LinkedIn Marketing and LinkedIn Employee Resource Groups. The campaign was launched on March 8 across UK, France, Germany, India, Australia and Japan, where members will be encouraged to join the conversation on LinkedIn to help and empower others by using #WeCanDoIt.