AnalogFolk asks; would 'Jane' Hegarty have been allowed to zag?

A new campaign from AnalogFolk uses artificial intelligence to reimagine some of the industry's most famous faces... but this time as women.

Renowned names such as Sir John Hegarty, Nils Leonard and David Droga appear on posters as female versions of themselves.

Called Changing the Face of Creative Leadership, the campaign aims to address the issue of declining diversity and inclusion, and the lack of visibility of female creative leadership within the business. 

Renowned names such as Sir John Hegarty, Nils Leonard, Rory Sutherland, Graham Fink and David Droga appear on posters as female versions of themselves, with lines which specifically relate to them and the work they have done. 

Above: The campaign's genesis was in CDs Dani Arkless and Alex Wood wondering if famous creatives would have risen to the same heights had they been women.

As well as highlighting the issue of diversity, the campaign is also calling on the industry to recommend outstanding and diverse female creatives to create an open source pool of talent that all agencies can utilise to help meet their DEI targets and drive the industry forward.  

"Despite women comprising 54.7% of the creative industry, the pool of female creative talent remains strikingly small."

With AnalogFolk saying it is evolving from traditional agency model into an inclusive space, driven by a diverse mix of creatives, creators and makers, it says it requires "a fresh kind of creative leader". While the company is not limiting its search for a Head of Creative to female applications, it recognises that, "despite women comprising 54.7% of the creative industry [according to the IPA's 2023 Agency Census], the pool of female creative talent remains strikingly small". 

Below, AnalogFolk's Talent Director, Sherrif Showobi, Creative Directors, Dani Arkless and Alex Wood, and Managing Director, Anna Louise Gladwell, discuss both the campaign and the reasons for its existence. 

Above: Hegarty, Charles Saatchi, Trevor Beattie and Nils Leonard get an AI makeover; [clockwise from top left] AnalogFolk's Sherrif Showobi, Anna Louise Gladwell, Alex Wood and Dani Arkless.

What was the motivating factor behind creating this campaign?

SS: A key motivator is the state of the creative industry and our commitment to hiring responsibly and equitably. When we make hires at a senior level we generally longlist potential candidates ahead of reaching out. What we found was a candidate pool that left us wondering, 'where is all the diverse talent and why can't we find them?'. 

Before beginning your search for a new Head of Creative, how much were you already aware of the gender disparity in advertising's senior creatives?

SS: Unfortunately, very. I've worked in recruitment for the creative industry for over 10 years and diversity has been a key discussion point the whole time. 

"Progress has been slow so, across disciplines, the amount of diverse candidates diminishes as seniority rises."

However progress has been slow so, across disciplines, the amount of diverse candidates diminishes as seniority rises, but perhaps most acutely in creative departments.

Above: Ogilvy's Rory Sutherland reimagined as 'Aurora'.

It's stated that 54.7% of the creative industry are women; why do you think so few are promoted to more senior positions?

DA & AW: There are many reasons why women don’t reach the same heights as their male counterparts. For starters, women aren’t as confident as men when it comes to self promotion - this was a driver behind a previous piece of work from AnalogFolk called BigUp.AI, an award-winning AI tool that helps women describe their skills more confidently. Many women go on maternity leave, so are really out of the game for the best part of a year and then often become the main caregiver to their child. 

"Support around issues that face all women, such as the menopause, has historically been lacking, resulting in alarming numbers of women feeling the workplace doesn’t cater for them."

In addition, support around issues that face all women, such as the menopause, has historically been lacking, resulting in alarming numbers of women feeling the workplace doesn’t cater for them. Many workplaces are not flexible enough to meet the needs of these women so they leave the industry all together or look at freelance. In some places, women don't get access to the pitch table, don't get put on key assignments and briefs.

Above: Would Dave Wrigglesworth have been a 'non playable character' if he'd been 'Davina'?

How did you get to the idea of creating female versions of famous advertising figures?

DA & AW: Like most creatives who procrastinate while working on a brief, we were leafing through some old D&AD annuals. Seeing the work of some of our favourite creative leaders got us thinking... what do they all have in common? They're all men. 

"What would their stories have been like if they were women? Would they have risen to the same heights?"

What would their stories have been like if they were women? Would they have risen to the same heights? Hopefully this campaign continues the conversation and action needed to address diversity in all levels of the industry.

Above: Riffing off one of Graham Fink's most iconic ads, British Airway's Face, the campaign wonders if 'Gracie' Fink would have faced more challenges in her career. 

It's a serious issue, but the campaign tackles it from a humorous angle; was that important?

DA & AW: The first job of advertising is to get noticed. By using humour, industry knowledge and arresting images we’ll hopefully stop people in their tracks as they scroll. 

"We've seen diverse candidate pools can lead to diverse hiring."

Once people notice the ads hopefully they’ll take notice of our message and then act to help us to unearth some amazing talent; not just for us, but for the industry as a whole. 

How would an open source database of female talent aid in increasing the number of senior female talent?

SS: Diverse talent isn't always visible and talent teams are often under time/business pressure, this database, we hope will go some way to making this talent more visible and cutting the time to find them. We've seen diverse candidate pools can lead to diverse hiring. Can this work? Yes, but we all need to contribute to it and use it. 

What do you hope this campaign achieves?

AL: More action in our industry around trying to change the status quo, not just talking about it. We hope this initiative results in female creative talent being more visible and more accessible, leading to recruitment processes that include a greater number of females. 

"We hope this initiative results in female creative talent being more visible and more accessible."

Ultimately, this initiative will be successful if our entire industry has the ability to hire the most balanced creative talent and, in doing so, are building more diverse creative departments for the future.