Nearly half of women now describe brand communications as performative and almost the same proportion have actively stopped buying from brands because of it. Women aren’t switching off brands because they don’t care, they’re switching off because too much brand messaging no longer reflects the reality they live in. Across industries, marketers face the same challenge: declining attention, rising scepticism, and a growing disconnect between culture and creative output.
Drawing on 8 years of experience building a global female empowerment movement from the ground up, Stefanie Sword-Williams shares insights from her community and explores what it takes to create work that earns attention, trust, and cultural relevance at scale.
Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how to build campaigns that are closer to reality, more culturally intelligent, and significantly more effective in today’s attention economy. For brand marketers, agency leaders and creatives, this session offers practical recommendations on how to reconnect with women and build bolder, more courageous campaigns.
Talk will cover:
- Why traditional “female audience” messaging is losing impact
- How cultural disconnect shows up in modern campaign development
- What it looks like to build ideas with communities, not just about them
- How to create work that earns attention, trust, and cultural relevance at scale