On a mission with WOMEN Inc.
Women still earn less than men. Women still spend much more time on caring tasks than men. Despite the fact that more than half of couples would like to share caregiving responsibilities equally, only 10% do so. Women run more health risks, because medical science is largely based on the male body. In short, emancipation in the Netherlands is not yet complete. WOMEN Inc. wants equal opportunities for everyone. That is why they develop campaigns, do research, give workshops, and share their knowledge to draw attention to these issues. There is enough to communicate about. But that is perhaps also the pitfall. How do you make sure that all the research and campaigns land with the target group and WOMEN Inc. doesn’t cannibalize on its own news?
Approach: strategic media approach
There are few organizations as media-genious as WOMEN Inc. Not only because ’emancipation’ is a hot topic, but also because of the knowledge that the organization has in house. There is no shortage of media attention. Still, within a club where so much is going on, you have to work strategically to make sure all the research, campaigns and milestones land with the target group. Because even though the media love you, they are very careful in dosing messages from one sender. The strategy was therefore to determine which news was most interesting for which target groups. This also means that we did not approach the media broadly for each press trajectory. Careful consideration was given to which news was best suited to which medium. One-on-one contact with journalists was indispensable in these processes.
Results: from trade media to national news media
The introduction of partner leave, entitling partners to 70% paid leave for 6 weeks, can only be a success if employers also embrace the new law. Entrepreneurial and HR media were approached to bring this news to the attention of the public. Dozens of media paid attention to the subject and interviewed specialists of WOMEN Inc. about it. Not only trade media but also a number of national media were included, such as NPO radio 1, Stax & Toine and RTL Nieuws. For the 15th anniversary of WOMEN Inc. there was a need to look back on milestones and to look ahead in a broader article. This resulted in interviews with founder Jannet Vaessen in NRC Handelsblad, Opzij and Parool. The new campaign ‘Dit Werkt Niet’ (Not working) received attention on among others nu.nl, Quote, Kek Mama, Nieuws bv. and FD.nl.
"The more you learn about the mission of WOMEN Inc. the crazier you find it that there is still a wage gap and stereotyping in the media. This makes you want to do even more to bring the message of WOMEN Inc. to people's attention. Fortunately, the media also see the importance of this topic, which has resulted in some nice publications. It was therefore very rewarding to work for WOMEN Inc."
Marre de Visser, PR-advisor
