{"id":114202,"date":"2017-09-18T14:05:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T19:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/gender-neutral-branding-future\/"},"modified":"2024-12-23T00:36:05","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T05:36:05","slug":"gender-neutral-branding-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/insights\/blog\/strategy\/gender-neutral-branding-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Is gender-neutral branding the future?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The gender-neutral branding debate resurged this summer when shoe manufacturer Clarks received a barrage of complaints\u00a0over its \u201csexist\u201d school shoes, and in particular a girls\u2019 range named the “Dolly Babe” (which compared with its \u201cLeaders\u201d boys\u2019 range). Parents were also appalled by the difference in quality between the two ranges, with the boys\u2019 shoes being far more robust and suitable for running and climbing. Unsurprisingly, Clarks was forced to pull these ranges from its website and said they would be discontinued in-store, and apologised for any offence caused. Yesterday it announced that its Spring\/Summer 2018 line is set to be \u201centirely unisex\u201d, in an obvious move to distance itself from the gender bias debate.<\/p>\n

Of course Clarks isn\u2019t the first brand to come under fire for its gender stereotyping, which has pervaded branding and advertising for many years. Gap, for example, was criticised recently for referring to girls as \u201csocial butterflies\u201d and boys as \u201clittle scholars\u201d in an advert promoting its new clothing range. To add further fuel to the fire, women pay a premium for what is termed \u201cgender pricing\u201d, the impact of which is estimated by Forbes to cost the average female consumer a\u00a0whopping $1,400 a year!<\/a> Personal care and hygiene products are the worst offenders…have you ever noticed how much more expensive women\u2019s razors are compared with men\u2019s?<\/p>\n

But times are changing, and brands need to keep afoot. A survey\u00a0conducted by JWT Intelligence<\/a>, the trend-forecasting arm of J. Walter Thompson, found that Generation Z strongly prefer gender neutrality over \u201chis versus hers\u201d messaging. Only 44% of the 13- to 20-year-olds questioned said they always bought clothes designed for their own gender, compared with 54% of millennials. Gender neutrality is rapidly gaining traction, and brands such as John Lewis are taking note, with it becoming the first UK retailer to remove gender labels from its children\u2019s clothing, at the start of September. In addition it has also launched a new unisex clothing line for children, featuring dinosaur print dresses and spaceship tops.<\/p>\n

Caroline Bettis, the head of childrenswear at John Lewis, said: \u201cWe do not want to reinforce gender stereotypes within our John Lewis collections and instead want to provide greater choice and variety to our customers, so that the parent or child can choose what they would like to wear.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the US, discount store chain Target made headlines last year by removing signs that were labelled “boys” and “girls\u201d from its toy and children\u2019s bedding aisle signs, saying it believed that products should no longer be categorised by gender. Make-up brand CoverGirl by Coty also took the bold step of using a male model within its recent advertising campaign, or a \u2018CoverBoy\u2019, transitioning its brand towards a more fluid gender space.<\/p>\n

Redefining the target audience<\/strong><\/p>\n

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