AnalogFolk turns male creative leaders into women in provocative campaign

AnalogFolk has used AI to depict some of adland's high-profile male creative leaders as women in a new campaign aimed at tackling the lack of representation and visibility of female creative leaders.

"Changing the face of creative leadership" invites the industry to create an open-source pool of outstanding diverse and female creative talent that agencies can use to help meet their diversity, equity and inclusion targets. Recommendations can be made through the agency's site and social media.

To highlight the huge disparity between male and female leaders in the industry, the campaign uses AI technology to reimagine renowned male leaders in advertising as women. 

This includes images of John Hegarty as "Jane Hegarty" and Dave Droga as "Davina Droga", each paired with provocative headlines to spark conversation, such as "Would Jane Hegarty have been allowed to zag?" or "Would Davina Droga ever get her name above the door?"

The campaign was devised by creative directors Dani Arkless and Alex Wood, with design by head of design Dan Saxton, supported by designer William Bjorklund and junior designer Minna Leatham.

AnalogFolk said that despite the 2023 IPA Agency Census finding that women comprised 54.7% of the creative industry, the pool of diverse and female creative talent remains "strikingly small." Only 17% of executive creative directors and creative leaders are women, according to the latest figures from the D&AD Festival 2024. 

Anna-Louise Gladwell, managing director of AnalogFolk, said: “Our goal is to kick the door open wider for societal success by ensuring diverse leadership in the creative industry. We’re pushing this campaign to help drive a solution to the lack of visibility and representation of female creative leaders in advertising." 

AnalogFolk is on the hunt for a head of creative as part of its shift away from what it describes as a "traditional agency model into a dynamic, inclusive space driven by a diverse mix of creatives, creators and makers".

While female and diverse creatives are being encouraged to apply for the role, Gladwell added: "We’re not specifically looking to hire a woman for this role, but right now the pool of talent we’re seeing is neither diverse nor balanced. Where are all the women?”

In a separate diversity initiative, last year AnalogFolk launched a satirical guide to class-based workplace discrimination, in partnership with charity Creative Mentor Network.