Improving the System: How Can Marketing Work for Everyone?
Women make up a significant portion of the marketing workforce, with 58% of marketing professionals in the UK identifying as women (Statista, 2022). Marketing is often seen as a progressive industry, and often promotes the idea of empowerment, urging women to be more confident, lean in, and push harder. But are brands and agencies actually addressing the barriers that hold women and other underrepresented groups back?
The Leadership Drop-Off
Women may have representation at mid-level marketing roles, but the higher up the ladder you go, the more they disappear, with leadership positions remaining disproportionately male.
- 2024 marked the first decline in female business leaders in eight years (Reuters, 2024).
- Businesses that have at least 30% women in senior positions are 12 times more likely to rank in the top 20% for financial performance (Forbes, 2024)
- Progress remains slow, with true parity in senior leadership not likely to be achieved until at least 2053 (Grant Thornton, 2024).
Despite the fact that marketing is often hailed as a female-dominated field, they don’t seem to hold the decision-making power. These stats simply show that the industry still isn’t translating representation into leadership.
The issue is not just about fairness, but about performance. Companies with gender-diverse leadership teams perform significantly better, with businesses that have at least 30% women in senior positions being 12 times more likely to rank in the top 20% for financial performance (Forbes, 2024).
How can the industry create fairer, more inclusive ways of working?
If marketing is to truly reflect the audiences it serves, businesses must take concrete steps to ensure that female talent rises to the top. This means:
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- Challenging biases in hiring, promotion..: Ensuring that leadership roles aren’t just given to those who fit stereotypes of what a ‘leader’ looks like. Businesses need to recognise and value different ways of leading and not overlook those who have different approaches.
- ... And of course, pay: Marketing Week ’s most recent 2025 Career & Salary Survey identified that the gender pay-gap has widened to 17.8%, with 42.3% of women likely to have taken on extra work without a bump in pay.
- Redesigning career progression: Addressing the structural issues that see women and other underrepresented groups drop out before they reach senior levels, such as inflexible working conditions and lack of sponsorship.
Holding agencies and brands accountable:
Marketers should be setting the standard, ensuring that the partners they work with also prioritise diversity in leadership.
Brands like Diageo have set ambitious targets for its leadership to comprise 50% women and 45% individuals from ethnically diverse backgrounds by the end of the decade. They also emphasise visibility of its female non-executive directors and incorporates diversity metrics into its long-term incentive plans (Financial Times).
Agencies must also take responsibility for building inclusive cultures that promote diverse leadership. This includes ensuring equal pay, flexible career pathways, and transparent promotion processes that don’t reinforce existing biases.
An example of best practice in this space to level the playing field is Forsman & Bodenfors - they're the only global creative agency to have achieved gender fair pay certification, have a generous maternity package, and an inclusive hiring approach resulting in a multi-generational team. These are initiatives championed by its CEO and Winner of this year’s Suki Thompson Award for Championing Change at the Oystercatchers Awards, Helen James .
At Oystercatchers, we focus on building high-performing, future-focused relationships for brands and agencies. On this International Women’s Day, where the theme is #AccelerateAction, we recognise that a key part of that future is taking clear steps to gender diversity and equity. We understand that this isn’t just a box-ticking exercise and ensure this is translated when we help leading brands find agency partners that reflect the diversity and creativity needed to thrive in today’s market.
By Izzy Jacobs , Programme Manager, Oystercatchers