Woman’s Day is launching a major new campaign aimed at helping women prioritise their own needs and wellbeing by taking some “me-time”.
A recent study conducted by Woman’s Day set out to learn what women’s concerns are, how they spend their time, and what they would change if they could. The study provided much of the rationale for Woman’s Day to introduce the ME-volution, a movement to encourage women to take some time for themselves.
“Women today are put under more pressure than ever to be all things to all people,” said editor-in-chief Sido Kitchin. “While striving to be good partners, mothers, daughters, employees and friends, women seem to struggle to find any time out. It’s important for women to find a way to take care of themselves without feeling they’re letting someone down.
“Whether they have children or not, the response to the survey was similar – women are feeling overwhelmed by the constant juggle of trying to do too much, and it seems it’s always their own needs that suffer as a result,” she says.
The ads, which include TV, radio, outdoor, mobile and online, will include a character created exclusively for the campaign. This character, Yelena, aims to show women that taking some time out will not cause their lives to suffer.
FCB ECD Tony Clewett describes the character as humorous, and while not necessarily representative of a typical New Zealand woman; her life mantras will support women to feel better about taking time out.
“It was important she wasn’t preaching to women,” he said. “We understand every woman has different influences and responsibilities demanding her time, so Yelena couldn’t come across as undermining the importance of those, but more championing the need to take time out.
“The campaign as a whole has to be cohesive, with the practical message that women need to look after themselves, so having a strong presence to lead it was vital.”
Insights from the study* revealed the tension points in the lives of New Zealand women including:
- More than half of mums working full-time say they work because they have to, not because they want to.
- Almost a third of New Zealand women feel resentful towards the amount of domestic chores they do but see them as a fundamental part of their lives.
- Despite increasing numbers of women in the workforce and working longer hours 64% of women said they were responsible for most of the household shopping.
- 63% of those with children at home agree they do most of the parenting.
- A third of mums working full-time pay for home help, mostly in the areas of child care.
- 50% of women using social media feel constantly connected and one in three say Facebook makes them feel like everyone else’s life is more exciting than theirs.
- 55% of women believed there were too many expectations of them, and that “having it all” was an unrealistic idea.
- 65% agreed they were happy with their commitments, but would like more time to themselves.
The study showed that guilt also played a role in how women feel about their lives with more than half of women listing “not exercising enough” and “being overweight” as the things that makes them feel most guilty.
ME-volution spokesperson and life coach Sarah Laurie, who is joining Woman’s Day with a 10-week course to help women find a more balanced and happy life, believes fixing the guilt factor will have a major impact.
“If we can help women to stop feeling guilty about looking after themselves, then hopefully they will be more comfortable taking time for themselves. So many of the questions I get from women are about how they can help others. We need to have this much concern for our own well-being,” she says.
The magazine has also launched a series of columns dedicated to the cause as well as a women’s panel featuring on Good Morning with a range of high profile women to weigh in on the discussion. This will also be supported by social media activity.
Kitchin believes that Woman’s Day can play a part in solving the problem. “It is very telling that the numbers of women feeling stretched are so high – more than half of women feel like too much is expected of them,” she says.
“That is a significant portion of the population who are feeling stressed. These women are our readers so we are trying to relieve some of that stress with the ME-volution,” she concludes. “And a good dose of humour with Yelena’s pearls of wisdom!”
- Two of the four 15sec TVCs in the campaign have just gone to air. That’s the first (at the top of this story); here’s the second below
- Read more about the study at www.womansday.co.nz/mevolution
CREDITS
Bauer
CEO: Paul Dykzeul
Editor-in-Chief: Sido Kitchin
Head of Marketing: Martine Skinner
Marketing Manager: Georgia Bews
OMD
Client Services Director: Chrissy Payne
Account Director: Colleen Porath
Account Manager: Rory Graham
Investment Manager: Vicki Anderson
Senior Account Manager Digital: Irene Joy Chua
Account Manager Digital: Ains Baguion
FCB
ECD: Tony Clewett
Senior Creatives: Bobbie McKay & Russell Chambers
Group Account Director: Jane Wardlaw
Head of Planning: David Thomason
PR Senior Account Director: Kimberly Kastelan
Communication Planning Director: Anne Lipsham
Head of Content: Pip Mayne
Content Producer: Casey King
Print Retouching: Scott Kelly
Plaza Films
Director: Dave Wood
Producer: Lee Thomson
DOP: John Toon
Offline Editor: Post Boy – Sam Brunette
Online VFX Artist: Blockhead – Nigel Mortimer
End frame Design: FCB Motion | Blair Walker, Jared Yearsley, Reuben Boey & Grant Nicholson
Audio Post Production: Big Pop | Andy Morton
Music Composition: Harmonic Studios – Peter Hobbs
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