International Journal of Advertising

The Review of Marketing Communications

ISSN: 0265-0487 (Print) 1759-3948 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rina20

How brand-cause fit shapes real world

advertising messages: a qualitative exploration of
‘femvertising’

Sara Champlin, Yvette Sterbenk, Kasey Windels & Maddison Poteet

To cite this article: Sara Champlin, Yvette Sterbenk, Kasey Windels & Maddison Poteet
(2019): How brand-cause fit shapes real world advertising messages: a qualitative exploration of
‘femvertising’, International Journal of Advertising, DOI: 10.1080/02650487.2019.1615294

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2019.1615294

Published online: 31 May 2019.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING
https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2019.1615294

ARTICLE

How brand-cause fit shapes real world advertising

messages: a qualitative exploration of ‘femvertising’
Sara Champlina, Yvette Sterbenkb, Kasey Windelsc and Maddison Poteeta
a
Mayborn School of Journalism, The University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA; bRoy H. Park School
of Communications, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, USA; cCollege of Journalism and Communications,
The University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Brand-cause fit, the concept that a brand and a social issue ‘pair’ Received 16 November 2018
together conceptually, has been a topic of great interest yet it is Accepted 1 May 2019
not fully understood due to inconsistent findings and limited the-
oretical development. In this study, we take a different approach
to understanding brand-cause fit to explore how and in what
ways ‘fit’ shapes advertising message strategies. A growing trend
in advertising is ‘brand responsibility’, wherein a brand aligns
itself with a social issue. A prominent focus of these messages is
gender equality, namely, female empowerment. Advertisers utilize
‘femvertisements’ to emphasize their support of women. The
motive behind this work is often called into question, given
brands’ inherent desire to sell products. Advertisers should con-
sider how brands ‘fit’ with specific social issues. Through a quali-
tative analysis of advertisements that received an award for
femvertising, this study sheds light on the differences in message
themes between brands with high versus low brand-cause fit,
specifically target audience brand-cause fit, in an effort to further
this literature and advertising practice. Five key messaging
themes are elucidated among high-fit brands (overt femininity,
fixing the self, being a girl is a hardship, actors on set, and let’s
talk about it) and four themes among low-fit brands (low feminin-
ity, breaking stereotypes, reminders that women and men do the
same activities, and getting men on board); which shape how
women are depicted, the overall brand message, and the overall
social issue message. Indeed, fit should be considered beyond
simple high/low congruence. Implications for advertising practi-
tioners and researchers are discussed.

Introduction
A growing practice in the advertising industry is that of ‘brand responsibility’ or ‘brand
advocacy,’ in which brands and clients align themselves with social issues to appear
more socially responsible, transparent, and ethical (Champlin and Sterbenk, 2018;
Sheehan and Morrison 2018). As a brand management tactic, the use of activism sets

CONTACT Sara Champlin sara.champlin@unt.edu The University of North Texas, 1155 Union Cir, Denton, TX
76203, USA
ß 2019 Advertising Association
2 S. CHAMPLIN ET AL.

brands apart from others and contributes to consumer decision making (Aaker 1997;
Becker-Olsen, Cudmore, and Hill 2006; Edelman 2017; Hoeffler and Keller 2002;
Madrigal and Boush 2008). Brands that position themselves as socially responsible
profit in bottom-line sales (Edelman 2017; Nan and Heo 2007), more positive brand
attitudes, and overall positive reception of their advertising messages (Castaldo et al.
2009; Feldman and Vasquez-Parraga 2010). Brand advocacy campaigns are well
received among audiences of all generations (Cone Communications 2015), but espe-
cially resonate with millennial consumers, who demand marketing authenticity and
honesty (Barakat 2014). Given millennials’ growing spending power, brand advocacy is
a critical advertising trend that warrants greater exploration through research.
In a time of political divisiveness, corporations also feel pressure to take stances on
political and social issues, using advertising as the most direct and widely distributed
channel for these messages. One social issue that has become a mainstay of activist
advertising is that of gender equality, namely, topics related to women (Zeisler 2016).
In their 2017 report on corporate social responsibility (CSR), Cone Communications
found that 84% of Americans believe companies should take a stance on ‘women’s
rights’, thus surpassing other critical issues such as immigration, climate change, and
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) rights. Ads that feature female
empowerment alongside commercial brands, also known as ‘femvertisements’, aim to
confront female stereotypes and societal stigma (Akestam, Rosengren, and Dahlen
2017). Ads like these were once limited to feminist-oriented magazines such as Bust
(D’Enbeau 2011). However, in an era of brand responsibility and in response to
increased societal focus on issues of gender equality, femvertisements are featured on
cable television, large-scale print and outdoor media, as well as through online plat-
forms such as YouTube, and are thus receiving greater attention in advertising practice
and research. Femvertisements are not always overtly ‘feminist’ and brands prefer to
steer away from this term; rather, these messages often focus on ‘internal empower-
ment that is inclusive of all females’, perhaps to ‘soft[en]’ this message (Hsu 2018, 28)
for large-scale audiences.
A brand’s decision to engage in activist advertising can be a risky one, and the
brand may find it difficult to manage the balance between marketing strategy and
social issue messaging. For example, Pepsi released a commercial featuring a famous
model and celebrity, Kendall Jenner, who joins a protest and hands a Pepsi to the
stone-faced police officer blocking the streets. Upon receiving the Pepsi, the police
officer breaks character and takes a sip as the crowd of protesters cheers. While the
brand hoped to bring awareness to racial inequality and social justice, many viewers
were outraged in response to the brand’s use of a wealthy model with no previous
history of fighting or speaking out on racial injustice as well as the suggestion that a
Pepsi was a simple answer to long-standing, controversial instances of police brutality
across the US. This advertisement ultimately trivialized these initiatives by posing the
brand as a solution to these complex issues. Examples such as this raise questions
about the topics brands should speak about and how they should address complex
social issues in their advertising messages. Unfortunately, a set of best practices
regarding effective ‘pairing’ between a brand and a social issue is not available for
practitioners who hope to design advocacy messages on behalf of brands (Zdravkovic,
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 3

Magnusson, and Stanley 2010). Regarding the role of brands in femvertising messages,
findings from a recent survey argue that female consumers believe any brand can pair
their products with a female empowerment message (Castillo 2014). Thus, in women’s
eyes, no specific brand or product category ‘owns’ rights to the femvertising space or
‘fits’ better with this issue.
Consumer response to the concept of brand-cause ‘fit’, wherein a brand aligns itself
with a cause and exhibits a conceptual ‘match’ between the two (Nan and Heo 2007),
has been explored in the areas of CSR and cause-related marketing (Barone, Norman,
and Miyazaki 2007; Lafferty 2007, 2009; Nan and Heo 2007; Pracejus and Olsen 2004).
Results from these studies suggest that the effect of brand-cause fit is mixed, where
high fit is received positively in some cases and negatively in others. To date, however,
brand-cause fit research has only explored consumer perceptions to experimental
manipulations of cases where brands and social issues go together conceptually well
(high fit) or poorly (low fit). This limits our understanding of how brand-cause fit might
shape the messaging strategies used to communicate the ways the brand and social
issue go together. It may be that the impact of brand-cause fit extends beyond simple
congruence (high or low) and instead influences overall message themes, contributing
to other decisions such as the models or messages presented in an ad.
To date, no study has explored the ways in which brand-cause fit is depicted in
real world advertisements. By evaluating how brand-cause fit plays out in advertise-
ments, we may (1) gain insights on the current practices for this advertising strategy
and (2) add to the literature on the impact of brand-cause fit, which is necessary to
establish much needed best practices for brand advocacy advertising, a rapidly
expanding and critical trend in this industry. While consumer response to ‘fit’ has
been mixed in experimental design studies, exploring how fit shapes real world adver-
tising messages can contribute novel, important, and practical findings to
this literature.
Through an in-depth, qualitative analysis of advertisements that have won a
#Femvertising Award, this study seeks to examine the relevant message themes uti-
lized by brands with high versus low brand-cause fit. This can help inform future
efforts by practitioners and advertisers who want to address issues of gender equality
and can help illuminate key differences for theoretical application to this and other
social issues addressed in advertising. Findings from this study have a bevy of implica-
tions for advertising practice, as well as research. This research is especially important
for practitioners who hope to support female empowerment through their client’s
messages, but feel limited in what they can do or say because the brand has not his-
torically targeted women with their messages. Additionally, this work contributes to
existing literature on brand-cause fit, as well as the current status of femvertising mes-
sages in the U.S. Results from this study suggest that the level of fit (high or low)
between a brand’s target audience and a social issue shapes the overall advertising
message. In building brand advocacy advertisements, advertising practitioners should
consider how they might communicate the brand’s authentic and thorough under-
standing of the social issue, before ‘claiming’ the issue as part of the brand’s position-
ing strategy. In the case of femvertisements, the way in which women and gender
inequality is depicted is consistent among brands of high or low brand-cause fit.
4 S. CHAMPLIN ET AL.

Practitioners are urged to consider stepping outside stereotyped presentations of

women, especially for beauty products.

Literature review
The emergence of femvertising
Gender-based disparities, such as experiencing sexual harassment or discrimination at
work, receiving unwanted or harmful comments online, and feeling pressured to
appear physically attractive, persist for women in the U.S. (Gramlich 2017); the same is
true for the use and propagation of salient female stereotypes (Haines, Deaux, and
Lofaro 2016). Unfortunately, advertising has played a well-documented part in endors-
ing and proliferating stereotyped, sexist views of women through symbolic visual cues
and messages (Gill and Elias 2014; Grau and Zotos 2016; Kilbourne 2010; Plakoyiannaki
and Zotos 2009). Women are regularly depicted in advertisements through ‘traditional
role’ imagery such as that of being a housewife and reliant on male strength, as well
as ‘decorative role’ visuals including sexual objectification and a focus on physical
attractiveness (Kilbourne 2010; Plakoyiannaki and Zotos 2009, Table II). A similar review
echoed these findings, stating that from 2006 to 2016 there were ‘some changes, but
not so many’ (Timke and O’Barr 2017).
In response to these actions, to the growing backlash (especially online) against
this objectification, and to the rise of women to key leadership positions at advertising
and marketing agencies (Hsu 2018), brands now see an opportunity to repurpose their
advertising messages so they convey female empowerment, rather than degradation.
This practice, known as ‘femvertising’ (Zeisler 2016), demarcates advertisements that
focus on celebrating women and decreasing stigma for gender-based disparities.
Results from a SheKnows survey suggest that the practice of femvertising is effect-
ive. First, over half of the respondents (52%) indicated that they purchased from a
brand because of the ways women were depicted in the brand’s messages and many
reported having shared these advertisements with others (45%) (Castillo 2014).
YouTube Leaderboard statistics similarly reflect that women are choosing to watch
empowering advertisements, rather than skip them (Wojcicki 2016). Positive effects of
femvertisements are not solely limited to brand benefits. A majority of SheKnows sur-
vey respondents reported enjoying femvertisements because they believed the mes-
sages ‘break down gender-equality barriers’ (Castillo 2014). Additionally, 81% noted
the importance and value of femvertising messages for young girls (Castillo 2014).
While there exists prominent research on the use of gender-based stereotypes in
advertising (Gill and Elias 2014; Grau and Zotos 2016; Plakoyiannaki and Zotos 2009;
Timke and O’Barr 2017), research assessing the impact of female empowerment on
behalf of brands is limited. In one study, when compared to advertisements that
depicted women in ‘traditional’ advertising contexts, femvertisements received consid-
erably less message reactance and more positive evaluations among female consum-
ers (Akestam, Rosengren, and Dahlen 2017). It is worth noting that women’s
receptivity to femvertising may differ based on the role feminism, female empower-
ment, and gender equality play in different countries. For example, Jalakas (2016)
found that women in Sweden, a country known for female leadership and gender
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 5

equality, were ‘highly ambivalent’ in their responses to several well-known

femvertisements.
To summarize, femvertising is emerging as a key exemplar of brand advocacy. This
practice can contribute to growth in bottom-line sales (Edelman 2017; Nan and Heo
2007), but it can also result in positive responses from a female target audience. This
type of advertising, and the number of brands engaging in femvertising, continues to
grow, with specific awards dedicated for exceptional work each year. This makes the
concept of gender equality, specifically female empowerment, and its corresponding
advertisements, a leading example of successful brand advocacy practices. In an effort
to explore the composition of femvertisements further, it is important to consider the
‘fit’ between female empowerment and the products sold by the brand.

The role of brand-cause fit

The current brand advocacy trend is an extension of cause-related marketing.
Varadarajan and Menon (1988) define cause-related marketing as a way for companies
to profit while doing good, through a blend of philanthropy, promotion, sponsorship
and other communication activities. This aspect of marketing, as a part of an overall
CSR campaign, can impact brand loyalty both positively and negatively by creating
brand associations with a specific cause (van den Brink, Odekerken, and Pauwels 2006;
Sheikh and Beise-Zee 2011). Previous research articulates the influence of brand-cause
fit on the impact of CSR and cause-related initiatives. Bower and Grau (2009) state,
‘the concept of fit is considered to be everything from useful to critical’ (p. 114). While
important, researchers do not agree on how this ‘fit’ should be conceptualized or
operationalized and number of definitions exist.
The concept of ‘fit’ emerged from a similar practice in the areas of event sponsor-
ships, celebrity endorsers, and brand extensions, all of which account for a ‘match’
with a given brand (Aaker and Keller 1990; Nan and Heo 2007). A brand can match
with a ‘cause’ or ‘social issue’ in many different ways. These include: (1) a functional
match where the functions of a product sold by a brand are connected to the cause;
(2) an image match where the type of personality or similar features a brand conveys,
such as activism, match the image of the social issue; or (3) a target audience match
where the current consumers of a brand coincide with those who would be interested
in supporting the social issue (Barone, Norman, and Miyazaki 2007; Nan and Heo
2007). Existing research typically ignores these different definitions of fit (Melero and
Montaner 2016), instead opting for loose definition such as when a brand sells prod-
ucts that are ‘consistent,’ ‘complementary,’ and ‘make sense’ with the social issue
(Lafferty, Goldsmith, and Hult 2004; Melero and Montaner 2016) and is nearly always
dichotomized into ‘high’ and ‘low’ categorizations (Zdravkovic, Magnusson, and
Stanley, 2010).
Despite the known importance and value of brand-cause fit, research that examines
consumer responses to this practice is mixed (Barone, Norman, and Miyazaki 2007).
From one perspective, if the relationship is obvious or clear to the viewer, this congru-
ence makes the message of the advertisement similarly obvious and clear. Within the
context of femvertising, a comparable example would be when a brand that typically
6 S. CHAMPLIN ET AL.

targets women aligns with a female-focused social issue, it should similarly produce
positive evaluations due to this conceptual ‘match’. In other words, brands that are
comfortable and have a history of talking with women as their target audience have a
high target audience fit when it comes to simultaneously promoting female empower-
ment as a social issue. Indeed, Robinson, Irmak, and Jayachandran (2012) suggest that,
in the context of cause-related marketing, a brand that exhibits a clearer match with
the social issue might be viewed as more equipped to truly support the initiatives.
Female-focused brands might be more likely to ‘know’ women. A majority of existing
research supports the notion that a salient match between a brand and a cause will
produce more positive responses compared to a low fit match (Aaker and Keller 1990;
Pracejus and Olsen 2004; Sen and Bhattacharya 2001). To add, in one study, a weak fit
was found to actively work against the brand itself (Becker-Olsen, Cudmore, and
Hill 2006).
Another perspective contends that high brand-cause fit advertisements can
come across as disingenuous to consumers. In this case, consumers might view this
approach as inextricably linked to bottom-line sales (Barone, Norman, and Miyazaki
2007). Additionally, brands that sell products to women and engage in femvertising
have been accused of contributing to the existence of the social issue in the first
place (Zeisler 2016). Hoeffler and Keller (2002) similarly argue that there are bene-
fits to selecting a cause that is inconsistent with the brand. For example, high-fit
brands may be seen as only living within themselves and their own interests, and,
thus may be viewed as self-centered and lacking distinctiveness. Conversely, a low-
fit brand might be viewed as conversant or well-rounded by taking on an issue
that is not directly tied to their products (Hoeffler and Keller 2002). In one study,
consumer responses to brand-cause fit were evaluated across three levels of cor-
porate credibility (low, moderate, high credibility) (Lafferty 2007). Under all three
conditions, brand-cause fit was found to have no significant impact on consumers’
attitude toward the company or the brand, and made no difference regarding pur-
chase intentions. Additional studies support these findings, finding no difference in
high versus low brand-cause fit (Nan and Heo 2007; Robinson, Irmak, and
Jayachandran 2012).
The existing literature on brand-cause fit has focused on the level of congruence
between the brand and the cause, and how that affects consumers’ perceptions.
Because the evidence of this effect is mixed, the present study is devoted to exploring
the concept of brand-cause fit further, by examining the advertising message strat-
egies utilized by brands that have a high or a low fit with a given social issue.
Previous research on brand-cause fit has completely disregarded pursuing explana-
tions for why high fit is received by consumers in positive ways in some cases and
produce negative or no responses in other cases. It is likely that the impact of brand-
cause fit extends beyond simple congruence and instead influences and plays a role
in the types of messaging strategies used by a given a brand. Exploring the messaging
strategies of high and low fit brands could help explain the ways fit is carried out or
how it ‘looks’ in advertisements. Research that explores how and why fit matters is
needed. This study does that through an examination of real-world, award-winning
femvertising ads.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 7

In the context of femvertisements, we argue that the case for a target audience
match is most critical, which focuses on whether the brand’s customers coincide with
those who might support a social issue, rather than a functional or image match. The
social issue in this case is women and female empowerment and the focus of femver-
tisements is to ‘build stereotype-busting, pro-female messages and images into ads
that target women’ (SheKnows Media, 2019). The advertising strategy of femvertising
‘rests on the idea that advertising can empower women, while also selling products’
(Jalakas, 2016, 5) and previous, successful femvertisements often directly targeted
women (e.g. Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty). However, given the increasing repre-
sentation of women and female stories through initiatives such as #MeToo and others,
brands that do not have majority female target audiences are also adapting this posi-
tioning tactic. It is important to explore this emerging advertising practice, wherein
brands choose to align themselves with social issues that may or may not have a clear
conceptual congruence.
As such, we implement a specific focus on target audience brand-cause fit (Barone,
Norman, and Miyazaki 2007), henceforth referred to in this paper as ‘brand-cause fit’.
It could be that femvertising messages for brands with high target audience fit (i.e.
those brand that have historically communicated and emphasized women as their
audience) use different advertising message strategies than those brands who do not
typically target women and thus have low target audience fit with the issue of female
empowerment. Thus, the following exploratory research question is proposed:
RQ: What message strategies are used by brands with high or low target audience brand-
cause fit?

Materials and methods

Advertisement sample selection process
In an effort to explore the practice of femvertising and how brand-cause fit is depicted
in real-world brand advocacy advertising, a sample of femvertisements was selected
for analysis. In 2015, SheKnows Media, a media group devoted to women’s missions
and media whose focus is to ‘empower a community of women to explore, share, and
pursue their passions’ established the first-ever #Femvertising Awards (AdWeek 2015;
SheKnows Media 2017). The advertisements receiving #Femvertising Awards were
chosen for this study because they are the most prominent celebration and support
of this type of advertising within the industry.
The focus of the awards is to ‘pay tribute to advertising campaigns that reject unattain-
able beauty standards and gender stereotypes’ (AdWeek 2015). The winners of the
#Femvertising Awards are chosen annually by a diverse group of women who are CEOs
and presidents in marketing, advertising, brands, and media. In contrast, other awards that
recognize outstanding achievement in social responsibility, broadly, do not devote this
exclusive focus on female empowerment. For example, Cannes’s Glass Lion for Change
emphasizes gender equality and thus also awards work that focuses on men and male
stereotypes. The sample for the present study was gathered to include every advertise-
ment (N ¼ 26) that received a #Femvertising Award from 2015 (the year of inception) to
8 S. CHAMPLIN ET AL.

2018. All of these advertisements were commercials (in contrast to print media or broader
initiatives).
To answer the research question, the femvertisements were split into two samples:
those for brands that are used mostly by women and those for brands that are not
used by one gender over the other or traditionally used more by men. This was deter-
mined through the use of 2017 product use statistics from GfK Mediamark Research &
Intelligence’s (MRI) Survey of the American Consumer, a well-known and highly uti-
lized database of consumer statistics. Products used by a majority of men or by equal
percentages of men and women were compiled into the low-fit category and products
used by a majority of women were included in the high-fit category. Previous litera-
ture treats brand-cause fit as a dichotomous variable, often creating ad conditions
that are wholly ‘high’ or ‘low’ fit (see Barone, Norman, and Miyazaki 2007; Cheron,
Kohlbacher, and Kusuma 2012; Melero and Montaner 2016). This previous research
guided our decision to similarly split our advertisement sample into these two catego-
ries. See Table 1 for a list of the #Femvertisements. These advertisements ranged from
15 seconds (Cover Girl) to 3 minutes and 27 seconds (John Frieda) in length and thus
represent both ‘traditional’ commercials as well as longer form storytelling ‘docu-meri-
cals’, which are growing in popularity with the increased use of video platforms such
as YouTube and Netflix.
Four advertisements were excluded because they focused on non-profit organiza-
tions and thus did not focus on selling commercial goods. Additionally, three commer-
cials (P&G, State Street Global Advisors, and Dick’s Sporting Goods) were removed
because they focused on larger (corporate) companies and initiatives, rather than a
specific product. We removed these ads from the sample because the focus of this
study, and definition of brand advocacy, is instances in which for-profit brands
attempt to align themselves with a social issue so they appear more socially respon-
sible, rather than overtly commercial. In short, all of the femvertisements included
aimed to ultimately sell a product. Thus, the final sample for the current study
included 19 commercials (N ¼ 19). This sample size is comparable to other, similar
research (e.g. Chananie 2005)

Qualitative coding and analysis procedure

An in-depth and inductive qualitative analysis was performed on the sample of com-
mercials using methods guided by Hesse-Biber and Leavy (2005) and Hesse-Biber
(2017). This methodology is appropriate for this type of research, which seeks to
examine a social phenomenon (femvertisements) and attribute meaning to patterns
observed (Hesse-Biber and Leavy 2011, 39). In this process, criteria are first imple-
mented to narrow a sample. In this case, all of the commercials for for-profit brands
that received a #Femvertising award from SheKnows Media were selected for analysis,
as described above. Then, key subtopics to guide the analysis were identified through
a review of the media. Five researchers engaged in a ‘back-and-forth’ review of the
media for initial subtopics, which were discussed within the group (Hesse-Biber 2017,
260). Hesse-Biber and Leavy (2005) and Hesse-Biber (2017) note that this process is fol-
lowed by the researchers’ documentation of elements and patterns identified in the
Table 1. Characteristics of the twenty six commercials that have received a #Femvertising award.
Year Length Brand Advertisement Commercial link Description
Brands with a majority female target audience – high target audience brand-cause fit
2015 0:47 Dove ‘Speak Beautiful’ https://www.youtube.com/ Dove collaborates with Twitter to measure
watch?v¼_NjBJjfuVFo the impact of negative self-talk on
social media.
2015 2:19 HelloFloa ‘First Moon Party’ https://www.youtube.com/ HelloFlo takes a satirical approach to a pre-
watch?v¼NEcZmT0fiNM teen faking her first period, as a mother
throws her daughter a menstruation cele-
bration party.
2015 3:18 Always ‘#LikeAGirl’ https://www.youtube.com/ Always brings awareness to the societal
watch?v¼XjJQBjWYDTs stereotype of girls as weak, frail, and inferior
to boys in a physical capacity.
2016 0:30 Pantene ‘Dad-Do’ https://www.youtube.com/ Pantene showcases professional football
watch?v¼LOHCIQHrIuU players spending time doing their daughters
hair, noting the positive impact father/
daughter relationships have.
2017 0:56 L’Oreal Paris ‘Being a Woman https://www.youtube.com/watch?- L’Oreal uses the brand as a tool to help a
Transcends the time_continue¼1&v¼f8j8FyQbY5c transgender woman prepare for her first
Body’ photo ID reflecting her feminine identity.
The central messaging is that ‘being a
woman transcends the body.’
2017 1:20 Lane Bryant ‘#ThisBody is Made https://www.youtube.com/watch?- Lane Bryant shows famous plus-sized
to Shine’ time_continue¼2&v¼Z5wpn1QwOmQ women feeling confident in their bodies as
they read body shaming comments from
social media.
2018 0:15 CoverGirl ‘#IAmWhatIMakeUp’ https://www.youtube.com/ Covergirl features an older model to combat
watch?v¼hNtt4aZWkF0 ageism in the beauty industry and sell a
product aptly named ‘Simply
Ageless Foundation.’
2018 0:30 Lane Bryant ‘#I’mNoAngel’ https://www.youtube.com/ Lane Bryant shows famous plus-sized
watch?v¼vt7fHAW2GK8 women breaking stereotypes about what it
means to be plus-sized. The actresses
embrace their femininity and sexuality.
2018 0:45 Barbiea ‘#MoreRoleModels’ https://www.youtube.com/ Barbie highlights successful female role
watch?v¼A2oXWOyG9r8 models in an effort to inspire a larger
demographic of young girls.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING

2018 3:27 John Frieda ‘Your Hair Talks. https://www.youtube.com/ John Frieda focuses on a Native American
Make a Statement.’ watch?v¼yelTcyO85b8 woman and how her hair is a symbol of
culture, community, and family.
9

(continued)
 10

Table 1. Continued.
Year Length Brand Advertisement Commercial link Description
Brands with a majority male or neutral target audience – low target audience brand-cause fit
2015 1:00 RAM Trucks ‘Courage Inside’ https://www.youtube.com/ RAM focuses on showing women in physic-
watch?v¼47LSnBQlOP0 ally tough situations, relating their adven-
turousness and strength to the brand.
2016 0:30 Bud Light ‘The Bud Light Party: https://www.ispot.tv/ad/ApLP/bud- Bud Light uses famous comedians to high-
Equal Pay’ light-bud-light-party-equal-pay-ft-amy- light the gender wage gap, humorously
schumer-seth-rogen stating that the beer costs the same
S. CHAMPLIN ET AL.

for everyone.
2016 1:32 Under Armour ‘Rule Yourself: Women’s https://www.youtube.com/ Using physically strong gymnasts, Under
Gymnastics’ watch?v¼SsovD9IlT3U Armour correlates women that work hard
with success.
2017 1:00 Audi ‘Daughter’ https://www.youtube.com/ Audi acknowledges the wage gap as a
watch?v¼1iksaFG6wqM father has internal conflict over how to tell
his daughter that she is perceived as ‘worth
less’ than any man she meets.
2017 1:02 United Colors ‘#UnitedByHalf’ https://www.youtube.com/ United Colors of Benetton sends a message
of Benettona watch?v¼mDDs7N5r2GM through a montage of women engaged in
all arenas of life, including fiscally, socially,
and professionally.
2017 1:12 Angel Soft ‘Just Dad’ https://www.youtube.com/ Angel Soft approaches the relationship of a
watch?v¼z9qdhrmt1Ws&t¼9s single father and his daughter, utilizing the
brand as a tool for the successful
relationship.
2018 0:32 Oreo ‘Oreo Dippers’ https://www.youtube.com/ Oreo presents representation of a positive
watch?v¼kJfo7qxnMcw father/daughter relationship that is bonded
through the product.
2018 2:14 Coca-Cola ‘The Wonder of Us’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=- Coca-Cola approaches their product as one
R-EEdvDrUU&t¼4s that is for everyone, featuring individuals of
all gender identities.
2018 3:12 Nissan ‘#SheDrives’ https://www.youtube.com/ Nissan showcases Saudi Arabian women
watch?v¼NtLHigLmXNo learning to drive for the first time after it
becomes legal in their country. As a symbol
of support and equality, men in their lives
show up unexpectedly as instructors.
(continued)
Table 1. Continued.
Year Length Brand Advertisement Commercial link Description
Advertisements removed from sample
2016 NA Red Elephant ‘Breaking a http://www.redelephantfoundation. This is an overall campaign that incorpo-
Foundation Gender org/p/i-am-breaking-gender-stereo- rates several iterations and concepts. In this
Stereotype’ type.html case, a series of print advertisements show-
case male and female testimonials for how
they break gender stereotypes.
2016 1:00 Girls Who ‘Why Girls https://www.youtube.com/ Girls Who Code target stereotypes of girls in
Code Can’t Code’ watch?v¼LVwOWQQ4pCw coding, humorously mocking the notion
that a woman’s physicality impedes her
ability to code.
2016 2:21 Badger & ‘#WomenNot https://www.youtube.com/ Badger & Winters highlight the objectifica-
Winters Objects’ watch?v¼5J31AT7viqo tion and hyper-sexualization of women
within advertising.
2017 1:16 State Street ‘Fearless Girl’ https://www.youtube.com/ State Street Global Advisors pushes that
Global Advisors watch?v¼G3ApQ2H6zFs companies with women in leadership per-
form better. The ad chronicles the creation
and implementation of the ‘Fearless Girl’
statue on Wall Street.
2017 1:38 P&G ‘Raising an Olympian: https://www.youtube.com/ P&G showcases the mother/daughter rela-
Simone Biles, ‘Guide watch?v¼CMNUjnZ631w tionship as being impactful to the develop-
and Trust’ ment and success of a child.
2017 2:59 Dick’s Sporting ‘What Sports https://www.youtube.com/ Dick’s Sporting Goods collaborates with
Goods for Calia Taught Me’ watch?v¼DraSae3ugYM Carrie Underwood’s workout brand Calia to
show the influence of sports on girls in
small communities and highlight their com-
mitment to donate money to this cause.
2017 4:16 Just Not Sports ‘#MoreThanMean’ https://www.youtube.com/ Just Not Sports seeks to bring awareness to
watch?v¼9tU-D-m2JY8 the harassment of women in sports by hav-
ing men read harassing tweets to two
female sports reporters.
Notes: Four advertisements were removed from the present study’s analysis because they did not feature commercial, for-profit brands (i.e. they focused on non-profits or organiza-
tions). Additionally, three others (P&G, State Street Global Advisors, Dick’s Sporting Goods) were removed because they focused on larger (corporate) companies and initiatives, rather
than a specific product. A superscript of a denotes brands not listed in the GfK MRI database. In this case, Barbie is well-known as a toy for young girls, HelloFlo is a female hygiene
kit, and United Colors of Benetton is a fashion brand that sells men’s, women’s, and kid’s clothing items.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING
11
12 S. CHAMPLIN ET AL.

Table 2. Qualitative coding document that guided the analysis of #Femvertisements.

Isolate major elements connected to women’s equality in each advertisement.
How are women represented? How is empowerment sold? Who is featured?
Describe Deconstruct the nonverbals, copy, and visuals. What are they pushing against?
Analyze Compare commercial and advertising elements. Do any patterns of representation emerge?
Interpret What do these advertisements mean in regards to selling individuality? Empowerment?
Womanhood? Liberation? Emancipation?
Evaluate What do you think about the representations in these advertisements? Do they offer
accurate representations of women?
Understand What do these advertisements tell us about our culture? Upon which cultural norms
do they rely?
Notes: The interpretation, response, and note taking process was guided by an open-ended coding guide based on
an analysis technique adapted from Cortese (2007) and Silverman (2018). The coding guide was subdivided into five
categories to analyze each advertisement.

content, through substantial qualitative note taking and reflection. Four of the
researchers viewed, interpreted, and responded to the advertisements through note
taking, with at least two coders analyzing each ad. The interpretation, response, and
note taking process was guided by an open-ended coding guide based on an analysis
technique adapted from Cortese (2007) and Silverman (2018). The coding guide was
subdivided into five categories to analyze each advertisement. Sample codes
addressed questions outlined in Table 2.
Across the coders’ individual analyses, a total of 233 pages of notes were compiled.
Once this stage of coding was completed, each individual wrote final summaries that
compared the advertisements. Summary codes included questions on patterns of rep-
resentation, repeated messages, who and what we see, and who and what we don’t
see in the ads. In accordance with qualitative media analysis, major themes were then
extracted and defined (Hesse-Biber and Leavy 2005).
Using the two sets of advertisements (high fit and low fit), two coders read the
compiled qualitative analyses for each of the two groups and extracted themes. One
coder extracted themes among the advertisements with high fit brands and the other
coder extracted themes among the ads with low fit brands. First, the researchers
became familiar with the data by reading through each coders’ analysis. While reading
and re-reading the coders’ descriptions and reflections on each commercial, the
researcher took elaborative notes and descriptive memoing, weaving the analyses
together. The researcher engaged in constant compare and contrast, clustering, and
descriptive memoing procedures across the commercials of high or low fit to develop
themes and extract key examples (Hesse-Biber 2017). To verify content validity, the
other coders then reviewed the themes and ensured that the quotes, examples, and
definitions of each theme represented what was seen in the advertisements.

Results
Brands interpreted ‘female empowerment’ in many different ways including a focus on
breaking traditional gender stereotypes, addressing body image concerns, countering
negative ‘self-talk’, and addressing taboo topics related to women such as getting
their periods.
With rare exception, no person in these award-winning femvertisements was over
30 years of age and the majority were White, able-bodied women, men, girls and
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 13

boys. Women were often featured individually rather than in groups or teams. Some
of the commercials featured parent-child relationships; however, despite these ads
receiving awards for highlighting female empowerment, mothers were almost
never shown.
The research question asked about the strategies high and low-fit brands used to
convey alignment with a social issue, in this case female empowerment. In the present
study, brands that target women conveyed them as highly feminine and needing to
fix themselves in order to achieve equality, and they often emphasized the hardships
of being a woman. Further, high-fit brands featured women removed from society,
instead featuring actors on a set and leading ‘conversations’ – talking about inequality
rather than taking action or demonstrating women succeeding at everyday life. Five
key messaging themes emerged from the advertisements for high-fit brands.
In contrast, brands that target mostly men or target men and women equally con-
veyed women in less traditionally feminine ways, focusing more on ideas of physical
and emotional strength, working hard and/or engaging in activities that are tradition-
ally thought of as male-focused such as science, sports, and high-powered business
settings. These ads reminded audiences that women engage in many of the same
actions that men do, and thus deserve equality. Low-fit brands shared messages and
imagery to help convince men to ‘get on board’ with making moves toward equality,
including breaking traditional gender stereotypes. Four messaging themes emerged
among these advertisements.

High brand-cause fit

Overt femininity
High fit brands consistently depicted women and girls as stereotypically female and
highly feminine. Many of the females featured wore makeup, jewelry, and had their
hair perfectly styled. For example, four models included in the advertisements for
Lane Bryant were shown wearing heels and lingerie. All of the women had long, flow-
ing hair and voluptuous bodies on display. Similarly, one ad in the sample (L’Oreal
Paris) told the story of a transgender woman preparing for her first International
Women’s Day celebration. The woman again appeared as highly feminine, with flow-
ing hair and perfect skin. The ad focused on her dainty and ladylike movements as
she caressed her silk shirt, blow dried her long hair, and admired her large and pouty
lips. For products that are overtly feminine or aimed at female audience, the messag-
ing conveys women, metaphorically, the same way.

Fixing the self

High fit brands heavily emphasized introspection and portrayed the challenges of
female empowerment as a woman-focused issue. They suggested that women need
to ‘solve problems’ within themselves, such as decreasing hateful talk, feeling confi-
dent, and appreciating their bodies. For example, the Dove advertisement, told
women to ‘speak beautiful’ and suggested that their harshest critics are themselves.
To echo this further, these ads featured women supporting women, with women
14 S. CHAMPLIN ET AL.

turning to each other or looking inward for support, rather than interacting or com-
municating with men. The ads conveyed female empowerment as a women’s issue,
advising that women should ‘stop doing this to themselves’ and simply ‘be confident’.
When males were present, they were not talking with women about these issues, but
rather being made to reflect on their own role as brothers or fathers. In the Always
ad, for instance, a young boy is made to think about his sister, and whether his words
impact her. The ad for Pantene featured famous football players trying to style the
hair of their very young daughters; their dialogue and actions showed that men do
not have the same problems as women.

Being a girl/woman is a hardship

In their advertisements, the brands selling women’s products focused on conveying
what they believed to be women’s current ‘reality’. This often included discussing cur-
rent struggles and barriers that women are ‘up against’ in order to achieve equality.
Brands such as Always, Dove, and Barbie pointedly told the audience that women’s
everyday truths included being perceived as insecure and weak (Always), unattractive
(Dove), and lacking leadership (Barbie). In short, the high fit between female-oriented
products and female empowerment took an informational or ‘raising awareness’
approach to communicating about women’s issues. When products designed for women
utilized messages of female empowerment in their advertising, they relied on conveying
what they perceived as women’s current reality – that being a woman is a struggle – in
an effort to appear relatable. It is important to note that many of these products – such
as beauty and haircare – are designed to profit from the realities of female insecurity.

Actors on set
Among ads created for high fit brands, most of the women are shown only against
blank backdrops, as if to be interrogated about the ‘female experience’. The women
appeared as actors on a set, removed from daily activities. For example, the well-
known Always ad plucked girls from society and had them talk about empowerment
using a ‘behind the scenes’ approach. Similarly, in the Barbie ad, rather than showing
girls engaged in empowering activities or playing with the toys, girls were set against
a dark, drab background, standing idly. The Hello Flo ad showed a girl at a ‘First
Moon Party’ thrown by her mother, but the pair excused themselves from the party to
discuss the girl’s period. This finding is consistent across the ads, with women stand-
ing around, looking at the camera and hidden away, rather than engaged in the real
world. In this sense, these brands convey that female empowerment does not happen
in everyday life, that it is something to be talked about ‘behind the scenes’ but not in
open, everyday conversations.

Let’s talk about it

Another important facet of advertisements for high fit brands is their commitment
only to ‘start a conversation’ about female empowerment or gender equality, rather
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 15

than touting a powerful or more aggressive societal changes. The brand is committed
only to discussion, rather than taking action. Many of the ads featured women
addressing negative ‘talk’ and not other inequalities such as equal pay, sexual miscon-
duct, or leadership. Brands such as Cover Girl, Lane Bryant, Dove, Always, and Pantene
all showed that women should feel empowered by dismissing negative comments
made to them, rather than advocating for greater rights, as if comments are the only
thing standing in women’s way to equality. High fit brands appear limited in the
actions they can actually take to promote gender equality.

Low brand-cause fit

Overall, all of the advertisements deemed as having low fit between the brand’s target
audience and the concept of female empowerment reflected the following themes.
There was one exception, however. The advertisement for Coca Cola did not empha-
size female empowerment, specifically, but rather championed notions of general
equality, through its use of a series of different gender pronouns. The purpose of the
Coca Cola ad was to showcase the many different representations of men, women,
and non-binary young people.

Low femininity
In contrast to the advertisements for high fit brands, among the advertisements for
low fit brands, women and girls were not overtly ‘girly’ and their femininity was not a
focus of the message. Many of the women were depicted in everyday attire or, in
other cases, depicted as rough and messy, sweaty and engaged in competitive activ-
ities that require strength. For example, a teenage girl featured in a commercial for
Oreo Cookies was shown wearing a sweater and a jean jacket (in contrast to a dress,
or lingerie). Her hair was pulled back and messy – she is conveyed as adventurous,
active, and interested in science (she is shown taking notes and reading books about
stars and constellations). Audi took a similar approach by showing a grungy and tough
young girl racing a homemade box car against boys. Likewise, an ad for Ram Trucks
featured a montage of women engaged in active sports and everyday strength activ-
ities such as working outside. These women were depicted as muscular and focused.
For many of the products that are not traditionally feminine, women were comparably
portrayed as expressing little to no traditional female gender stereotypes, and instead
were portrayed as either ‘unconventional’ or everyday women.

Breaking stereotypes
Rather than increasing awareness of the current disparities faced by women, brands
that do not sell products exclusively to this audience took a different approach in their
discussion of empowerment. These ads depicted female empowerment and gender
equality as unusual and aspirational. The visuals and storylines of the ads essentially
modeled what a man or woman breaking the stereotype of their gender looks like.
This is the overall focus for the United Colors of Benetton ad. The commercial opened
16 S. CHAMPLIN ET AL.

with an image of a married couple, which was followed by a fast-paced montage of

empowered and tough women doing things traditionally completed by a man, such
as fixing a tire, paying the bill at a restaurant, initiating sex or relaxing while the father
helps a child with homework. In contrast to high fit brands’ advertisements, these low
fit brands’ ads showed women engaged in powerful activities, often in traditional
male domains. The Saudi women in the Nissan commercial drive cars, the daughter in
the Audi commercial engages in (and wins) a rough go-kart race against all the boys,
and the father in the Angel Soft commercial is shown doing many tasks traditionally
left to the mom as he raises a daughter on his own.

Reminders that women and men do the same activities

In addition to conveying women as more masculine and outside the traditional female
stereotypes, many of the advertisements created for low fit brands made a point to
convey that women engage in many of the same activities as men, and thus should
be treated equally. The ads serve as a reminder of what real life looks like, as if to
model or reflect women as they are in society. Almost every ad used a number of vis-
ual representations, and narratives to help educate viewers about gender equality and
to provide reminders that women and men do many of the same things such as drive
cars (Nissan, Audi), pay the bill at a restaurant (United Colors of Benetton), drink at
bars (Bud Light), and engage in physical challenges (Under Armour, Ram Trucks). In
line with this, the Angel Soft advertisement shows that men can do many of the
actions that women are typically conveyed doing such as caring for a daughter after
she experiences a breakup or gets her period. While the scenario is reversed, the ad
continues to remind viewers of the equality that already exists in so many differ-
ent roles.

Getting men on board

In many of the ads made for low fit brands, men were shown supporting women and
girls. Oftentimes partnerships between men and women were featured, rather than
individual women fighting for or demanding equality on their own terms. For
example, the focus of the Nissan ad was to convey how brothers, husbands, and
fathers in Saudi Arabia came to terms with the idea that their sisters, wives, and
daughters were learning to drive. In the ad, the women and men both spoke about
their initial reactions to the new ruling, which permitted women to drive vehicles for
the first time in the country’s history. Likewise, the Bud Light ad included a male, com-
edian/actor Seth Rogan, learning from a peer, comedian/actress Amy Schumer that
women often pay more than men for various goods and services, known as the ‘pink
tax’. Rogan gets upset by the inequality and his over-the-top reaction is the focus of
the ad. In many cases, men were shown struggling to comprehend these issues. In the
Audi advertisement, the viewer was meant to empathize with the male narrator, who
grapples with the fact that he may one day have to tell his daughter about the dispar-
ities of gender equality.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 17

Discussion
The purpose of this study was to extend the research on brand-cause fit by exploring
the messaging strategies implemented in real world brand responsibility advertise-
ments. Using qualitative methods, we sought to elucidate the message strategies in
advertisements that celebrate female empowerment, also known as femvertising. The
process used in the present study could easily be applied to other social issues such
as environmental conservation, LGBTQ rights, and racial equality to further explore fit
in these contexts. The findings from the present study have a number of implications
for research and practice.
Previous research has explored brand-cause fit only in terms of the impact of this
congruence (high or low) on consumer evaluations (Zdravkovic, Magnusson, and
Stanley 2010) through experimental studies, often involving fictitious brands. Findings
from this study suggest that, in practice, real world brands that have a high or low tar-
get audience fit with a given social issue utilize different messaging strategies in their
advocacy advertisements. These strategies have not been explored in previous
research but may contribute to the inconsistent findings seen in consumer evalu-
ation studies.
In the case of femvertising, females in advertisements of high fit were portrayed as
highly feminine, told to fix their ‘female’ problems such as body image perceptions
and confidence, and featured in static situations set against a backdrop, as if they
were on set. Brands that traditionally speak to a female audience recognized existing
female hardships but only wanted to lead a charge on ‘changing the conversation’
about these issues. In contrast, low fit brands suggested females must work toward
becoming rugged and strong, and need male allies, to solve the issues of gender
equality. Brands that traditionally target men or men and women equally fought to
break stereotypes and showed women in active, everyday roles. It is clear that fit
shapes advertising messages in ways beyond simple congruence. High and low fit
brands did not address the social issue of female empowerment in the same way;
they relied on their existing target audience to guide the messaging strategies imple-
mented in their femvertisements.
Given that high fit brands and products are designed exclusively for women, prac-
titioners may believe that they must play into traditional stereotypes of women,
such as being highly feminine (Cortese 2007), rather than deviating or attempting to
break these ‘norms’. Indeed, previous research with advertising practitioners found
that, ‘the potential that gender portrayals in advertising can be problematic for audi-
ences is not on the day-to-day radar of silent professionals … even when probed
specifically about how men and women are portrayed in ads, they do not highlight
ethical considerations’ (Zayer and Coleman 2015, 268). This is a shame, especially
given that three out of four women in the SheKnows survey indicated that they ‘like
ads that feature everyday women’ (Castillo 2014). Additional interviews with advertis-
ing practitioners could further elucidate the development of these depictions, which
may be a function of brand-cause fit level, given the results of this study.
While findings from this study suggest that a fit between a brand and a social issue
shapes advertising messages, it may be that more training of professionals is needed
when it comes to how gender expression, female imagery, and empowerment could
18 S. CHAMPLIN ET AL.

be depicted in advertisements. Indeed, advertising professionals see themselves as

responsible for communicating about social issues (Sheehan and Morrison 2018), so it
is likely that professionals would be receptive to exploring additional strategies for
femvertisements, as well as other types of brand responsibility campaigns. Moreover,
while millennials lead in celebration for socially-minded brands, they also lead in skep-
ticism regarding authenticity in marketing initiatives (Bazilian 2017). Simultaneously,
this group appreciates representation of gender fluidity (Timke and O’Barr 2017).
Advertisers should be prepared to respond.
Most of the high fit brands in the current study advertised products related to
body image and appearance, such as cosmetics and haircare products (e.g. John
Frieda, CoverGirl, Lane Bryant, Dove, Always, etc.), so it is not surprising that they
would focus on ideas of ‘fixing’ one’s self-esteem and depict highly feminine women
who convey interest in wearing makeup and admiring themselves. However, this prac-
tice may soon come under fire with young female consumers, who increasingly seek
greater authenticity in advertising. From a high fit brand, messages of female
empowerment may be too obvious in their ultimate strive for bottom-line sales
(Zeisler, 2016). In other words, high fit brands want women to feel good about them-
selves, but only the purchase of the brand’s product will achieve this goal. Indeed,
previous analysis of beauty advertising notes that, ‘beauty brands and products are
represented as empowering agents, which help women achieve their unrealized
beauty potential’ (Lazar, 2006, 506). Additionally, the concept of self-love present
within these messages suggests that women are responsible for ‘fixing’ confidence
and empowerment issues themselves – that buying a product or wearing makeup is
the key to empowerment. This principle continues to propagate long-standing and
harmful stereotypes for women.
In cases of low target audience fit, brands may be trying to increase their numbers
of female consumers specifically and thus may start by adapting their existing, and
more traditionally masculine, messaging. Olivier Francois, the CMO of one of the
brands included in the sample for the current study, Ram Trucks, announced this in a
press release, ‘Women are emerging as leaders and influencers in traditional male-
dominated fields, including horse racing. They also make up more than 11% of the
truck buying market and influence an even greater number of purchases. For these
reasons, instead of focusing on women and their trucks in our ad, we chose to
proudly celebrate the achievements of those committed to giving everything they’ve
got to all they do’ (PR Newswire 2015). Given these important differences, findings
from the current study support the inclusion of participant-focused variables such as
personality, as well as gender expression and gender identity, in future research as
these may impact the relationship between brand-cause fit and important advertis-
ing outcomes.
It is important to consider why high and low fit brands so reliably depict women
using these themes. We believe these findings align with the previous literature on
product extension and event sponsorship (Aaker and Keller 1990; Nan and Heo 2007),
wherein viewers perhaps expect a conceptual ‘match’ between a product and a
spokesperson or event. Still, given the emphasis on creativity in the advertising indus-
try, the growing trend of brand advocacy, and the known value millennials place on
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 19

authenticity in advertising, it is surprising that high and low fit brands designed adver-
tisements that are so consistent in the messaging strategies used. Brands of high and
low fit both implemented time-tested, formulaic advertising messages, deviating very
little from how they typically market their products. They stayed in their pre-estab-
lished target audience lanes. High fit brands rarely asked men to help in meaningful
ways and instead simply encouraged women to change their own reactions to nega-
tive stereotypes. Similarly, low fit brands rarely featured only women. High fit brands
tell women to ‘fix themselves’, yet the present analysis conveys that no similar coun-
terpoint exists for brands that talk to men. Indeed, a recent advertisement for Gillette,
which encouraged men to re-examine how they communicate and behave with
women and their sons, was largely hated by men (Wolf 2019).
Through findings in the current study, high and low fit brands used messaging
strategies that conveyed empathy with the existing target audience. This suggests
that practitioners may engage in minimal exploration of social issues prior to con-
structing brand responsibility messages. Unfortunately, this over-simplifies the complex
issue of gender equality and female empowerment. However, it is clear through this
analysis that brands who do not traditionally target female audiences are also looking
to champion women’s issues. Ultimately, effectiveness of brand responsibility cam-
paigns may not depend on whether brand-cause fit is high or low, but the ways in
which the social issue is discussed by the brand. Findings from this study begin to
shed light on this important notion.

Limitations and future research

While this study offers innovative and insightful contributions regarding the role of
brand-cause fit in brand advocacy advertising, it is not without limitations. First, this pro-
ject focuses on the themes utilized in real-world, award-winning femvertisements
judged by executives in advertising and media. Thus, it is skewed toward their preferen-
ces and this may not represent the values of larger audiences. This study did not solicit
consumers’ perspectives. Future research could explore consumer responses, especially
across different countries, to femvertisements. Measuring consumer response to the dif-
ferences outlined in the present study (e.g. gender expression, varying levels of match
between different products and female empowerment) could add clarity to the brand-
cause fit literature. Given the growth in brand advocacy advertising initiatives (Champlin
and Sterbenk, 2018), this warrants additional investigation as does the exploration of
this practice across other product categories not yet included in femvertisements. Also,
authenticity plays a known role in consumers’ responses to other, similar initiatives such
as CSR and cause-related marketing, thus additional studies that involve consumer per-
spectives and the role of authenticity are needed. This might help to clarify the question
of whether and under what conditions a more salient match produces more positive
responses (e.g. Aaker and Keller 1990) or comes across as disingenuous to consumers
(e.g. Barone, Norman, and Miyazaki 2007). Future research that assesses male and female
consumer response to these themes would provide further evidence regarding which of
these should be considered ‘best practices’.
20 S. CHAMPLIN ET AL.

This study is limited in its small overall sample size. However, the depth of analysis
allowed for an understanding of how brands with high fit differed from those with
low fit, when it comes to femvertising messages. This suggests there is some correl-
ation between brand-cause fit and the strategy employed by advertisers. Future
research might examine whether a similar trend is examined for other social issues,
such as LGBTQ rights. It is also important to note that the data were discussed and
coded by five women involved with the study. Two were faculty members with a
Ph.D., one was an instructor, one was a doctoral candidate, and one was a master’s
student. The doctoral candidate and master’s student were both graduate assistants of
two of the faculty members.
Finally, the delineation between a company’s overall social responsibility initiatives
versus the messages delivered at a product level via advertising is receiving greater
attention in research (Grohmann and Onur Bodur 2015). Future research should
explore how deeply companies commit to the causes they promote in femvertise-
ments and other socially responsible ads, and how this might impact overall corporate
image. Moreover, the concept and potential for viral marketing opportunities afforded
by powerful alignment with social issues can produce notable outcomes for brands.

Conclusion
In the era of brand responsibility as well as the potential for explosive viral marketing
responses, many brands are using advocacy efforts to improve their consumer rela-
tionships and their bottom lines. Brand-cause fit has been explored in many areas and
with mixed results. By focusing in on one specific social issue, gender equality (via
female empowerment), and on the advertisements awarded by industry experts for
their exemplary efforts to promote this social issue, this study was able to provide an
in-depth analysis of how brands with high versus low brand-cause fit used different
messaging strategies to align with female empowerment. We found that ads with
high brand-cause fit tended to depict highly feminine women and focus on women’s
struggles, while those with low brand-cause fit depicted more active and adventurous
women and focused on an empowered future for women. These findings suggest that
advertising practitioners must make critical decisions about how to communicate
female empowerment to their current target audiences. Importantly, we find evidence
that both high fit and low fit brands can successfully empower women in their mar-
keting efforts. This gives license to professionals to push to empower women through
advertising, regardless of the brand’s core audience.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Summer Shelton for her contributions to this project.

Disclosure statement
The authors have no conflicts of interest.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING 21

Notes on contributors
Sara Champlin (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is an assistant professor in the Mayborn
School of Journalism at the University of North Texas. Dr. Champlin studies how brand responsi-
bility intersects with social issues. Specifically, she is interested in how brands decide on issues
they want to support as well as the evaluation of varying levels of fit between brands and
issues. She uses her background in community and health program planning, as well as health
literacy, to systematically explore social issues pertaining to health, wellness, and equality. Dr.
Champlin utilizes an account planning perspective to encourage brands and advertising practi-
tioners to understand the emergence and multi-faceted nature of social issues.
Yvette Sterbenk is an assistant professor at the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca
College. Sterbenk approaches brand activism from a corporate communications perspective. She
studies corporate decision-making processes for engagement in corporate activism, and explores
how brand activism fits into overall corporate communication strategy. She uses her 20 years of
experience in communication strategy development and management to inform classes in social
media, event planning, public relations and corporate communications. She is active in leader-
ship roles in the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) where she has presented on
this topic.
Kasey Windels (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is an assistant professor in the College of
Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. Windels’ research interests focus
on the advertising agency, with emphasis on organizational creativity, the environmental and
social influences on creativity, and the underrepresentation of women in creative advertising.
Her work has been published in Journal of Advertising Research, Creativity Research Journal, and
Gender in Management.
Maddison Poteet graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 2018 with a bach-
elor’s degree in public relations and advertising. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in
journalism at the University of North Texas. Her primary academic interest is on public relations
in the music industry, focused on women and fandom.

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