This Newspaper is Female

Scan any daily newspaper’s pages and you’ll see that, on average, only one out of four names mentioned in its pages are female. “She’s Newsworthy,” a new initiative from BMO, created in partnership with the National Post’s content works department and FCB Canada, is aiming to bring about media equality, if just for one day.

On October 30, BMO is taking over a large portion of the national daily that will, by its very existence, create media equality by bringing the stories of unseen female leaders into its pages. The paper will call out the problem with a bold BMO blue cover wrap stating, “This paper is female,” bringing attention to the fact that women are chronically underrepresented in the media. 

“At BMO, we see female leaders everywhere, and have the honour of working with and awarding them through our BMO Celebrating Women program,” says Lisa Milburn, Executive Sponsor, BMO for Women and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, BMO Wealth Management. “By accurately representing female leadership in the ‘She’s Newsworthy’ issue, we can show the next generation of women that female leaders are here, and they are powerful.”

Developed by an all-female creative team at FCB Canada, “She’s Newsworthy” is built around taking over an entire section of the National Post dedicated to women who deserve to be seen in the news. The eight-page spread contains 14 pieces of sponsored content about BMO Celebrating Women Honourees and other exceptional female leaders in Canada, including:

·       Paige Alms: Surfer, first female Big Wave champion, and a founding member of the Committee for Equity in Women’s Surfing.

·       Zanana Akande: The first black woman elected as a Member of Provincial Parliament of Ontario.

·       Alia Youssef: Photographer and blogger working to dispel common stereotypes about Muslim women.

·       Giovanna Minenna: A 20-something entrepreneur whose company, Brows by G, specializes in microblading – restoring eyebrows for the elderly and cancer patients.

·       Komal Singh: Google program manager and engineer whose first book Ara the Star Engineer, tackles discrimination in the engineering space.

·       Jarita Greyeyes: An indigenous woman and PhD student at California’s famed Stanford University, where fewer than 1% of students identify as Native American.

·       Sharon Gallant: Founder of Fit Active Beautiful Foundation (FAB), a charity dedicated to empowering young girls, particularly from low-income communities.

“We’re proud to have this section by BMO included in our paper,” said Anne Marie Owens, Editor-in-Chief of the National Post and the first female editor of a national Canadian newspaper. “It’s symbolically important as a way of highlighting the stories and experiences of successful women."

The campaign also includes print and digital ads featuring newsworthy women and encourages readers to  increase the visibility of women of female leaders who’ve inspired them by sharing why they are newsworthy using the hashtag #BMOforWomen. FCB Canada and BMO are also partnering with leading female influencers, including Christine Margaret Sinclair, captain of the Canadian women’s national soccer team, to further spread the message of empowerment.

“Bold female leaders are present across every industry, including the media, but often don’t receive the credit they deserve because of an unconscious male bias. Girls can’t be the leaders of tomorrow if they can’t see it today,” says Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, Chief Creative Officer at FCB Canada. “We’re hoping to create systemic change, one visible female leader at a time.”

The National Post section is a continuation of BMO’s ongoing program, BMO Celebrating Women , which is dedicated to making female leadership more visible. The program annually honours women who have contributed to local communities among various industries including Innovation and Global Growth, Community and Charitable Giving, and Expansion and Growth in Small Businesses. Since 2012, BMO has honoured more than 100 women in communities across Canada and the U.S.

She’s Newsworthy comes on the heels of BMO’s June 2018 announcement that it would be releasing $3 Billion in capital to women-owned businesses across Canada over the next three years, and its 2014 commitment of $2 billion in credit for female business owners. These efforts follow last year’s BMO for Women campaign that used social video and Google search to highlight female leaders.

For more information, please visit: bmoforwomen.com and join the conversation with #BMOforWomen.

Campaign Title: She’s Newsworthy

Client: BMO 

Client Supervision Name & Title: 

Head, Brand and Enterprise Content: Jennifer Carli 

Senior Advertising Manager: Shelley Johnsen

Marketing Manager: Kaleigh MacMaster

Creative Agency: FCB Canada

Chief Creative Officer: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna

Copywriter: Shannon McCarroll

Art Director: Tayler-Lee Resar-Teese

VP, Managing Director: Tracy Little

VP, Group Account Director: Erin Howes

Account Director: Allison Lochhead

Account Executive: Emily Kinney

Project Manager: Elizabeth Lane

Chief Strategy Officer: Shelley Brown

Planning Director: Eryn LeMesurier

Media Agency: Wavemaker 

Group Director: Tim Davies

Director of Strategy: Alexandra Wolch 

Senior Planner/Buyer: Chris Ashton