12 Powerful International Women’s Day Campaigns

12-powerful-international-womens-day-campaigns

[[p]]International Women&rsquo;s Day (IWD) on March 8th is an important event in every marketer&rsquo;s [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/resources/toolkits/social-media-calendar" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank"]]calendar[[/a]]. But it&rsquo;s not just about creating a campaign that features women. IWD provides an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the achievements of women and raise awareness of the issues they face in the battle for gender equality.[[/p]]

[[p]]Plus, women&rsquo;s issues matter to consumers. research from Kantar found that while 7 in 10 people feel brands are trying to be more inclusive, advertising still lacks aspirational roles for women, with only 5% of ads featuring women in non-traditional roles and 16% showing women of diverse body sizes.[[/p]]

[[p]]To celebrate this important day, let&rsquo;s look at 12 of the most memorable and impactful IWD campaigns.[[/p]]

[[ol]]
	[[li]]See What She Sees - Beyond Equality[[/li]]
	[[li]]The Dream Gap - Mattel[[/li]]
	[[li]]Red Flags - Refuge[[/li]]
	[[li]]One day we won&rsquo;t need this day - Nike[[/li]]
	[[li]]Because she watched - Netflix[[/li]]
	[[li]]Do the Lift Thing - B&amp;Q[[/li]]
	[[li]]Dear Car Girl - Ford[[/li]]
	[[li]]Never Your Fault - L&rsquo;Oreal[[/li]]
	[[li]]Progress Feels Like - Kotex[[/li]]
	[[li]]Flip the Arches - McDonalds[[/li]]
	[[li]]She Bars - Hershey&rsquo;s[[/li]]
	[[li]]The Equal Power Flower Bouquet - Interflora[[/li]]
[[/ol]]

See What She Sees billboard/Source: Marketing Beat

[[p]]The out-of-home campaign &lsquo;See What She Sees&rsquo; created by Beyond Equality in 2025 was designed to help men understand the reality of how women experience everyday situations.[[/p]]

[[p]]This campaign was inspired by a [[a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb5kpEZ7bTA" target="_blank"]]conversation on The Graham Norton Show[[/a]] that went viral in which actors Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal highlighted the contrast in how men and women feel about public safety.[[/p]]

[[p]]It was also backed by NRG research&nbsp;that highlighted a significant difference in how men and women perceive safety in public spaces:[[/p]]

[[ul]]
	[[li]]7 in 10 women worry about being followed or harassed when alone in public (compared to 44% of men).[[/li]]
	[[li]]2 in 3 women say safety fears limit their social and professional lives (vs. just over half of men).[[/li]]
	[[li]]64% of women experience poor mental health due to safety concerns, compared to 56% of men.[[/li]]
[[/ul]]

[[p]]The aim of the campaign was to invite men into the conversation and inspire action around public safety.[[/p]]

‘The Dream Gap’ campaign featuring the female role models/Source: Venue Crew

[[p]]Barbie&rsquo;s creator, Mattel, created &lsquo;The Dream Gap&rsquo; campaign&nbsp;in 2018 for IWD by partnering with entrepreneurs and role models to inspire the next generation of female leaders and dreamers.[[/p]]

[[p]]To do this, Mattel highlighted role model best friends, introduced lifestyle products fostering friendship, worked with a friendship expert to help girls maintain lasting friendships, and teamed up with Barbie Dream Gap Project partners Girl Talk, Inc. and Inspiring Girls International to create friendship-based programming.[[/p]]

[[p]][[em]]&ldquo;One of the greatest tools that a girl can have is the support and encouragement of her peers,&rdquo; [[/em]]said Krista Berger, Senior VP of Barbie and Global Head of Dolls, Mattel. [[em]]&ldquo;As we approach International Women&rsquo;s Day, Barbie is proud to honor legendary female friendship duos across different backgrounds, professions, and parts of the world. We know firsthand that friendships formed at a young age can help fuel social and professional growth, setting girls up for limitless possibilities.&rdquo;[[/em]][[/p]]

[[p]]In 2025, [[a href="https://refuge.org.uk/news/survey-reveals-gaps-in-nations-awareness-of-red-flags-of-domestic-abuse/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank"]]Data commissioned[[/a]]&nbsp;by the domestic abuse charity Refuge found that while 80% of people would report physical abuse, only 39% would report other types such as coercive and controlling behavior, technology-facilitated, financial, and psychological abuse.[[/p]]

[[p]]To highlight this, Refuge created the &lsquo;Red Flags&rsquo; campaign &mdash; an outdoor installation featuring up to 100 red flags, each displaying a quote from a domestic abuse survivor.[[/p]]

[[p]]These visuals were accompanied by voices of well-known actors and TV personalities, including Olivia Colman, Bella Ramsay, and Adjoa Andoh to provide an immersive experience.[[/p]]

[[p]]To spread awareness, survivor stories were also shared across social media by Refuge ambassadors while actor and poet Caitlin O&rsquo;Ryan wrote the poem &ldquo;Why Did You Stay?&rdquo; as part of the campaign.[[/p]]

[[p]][[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/resources/case-studies/nike-always-ahead-of-the-curve" target="_blank"]]Nike[[/a]] is known for its powerful advertising campaigns, particularly ones that tug on the heartstrings and resonate with an audience. The brand&rsquo;s 2020 campaign, &lsquo;One Day We Won&rsquo;t Need This Day&rsquo;, is no different.[[/p]]

[[p]]The aim of the campaign was to highlight the fact that women shouldn&#39;t need a day to celebrate their achievements. Instead of just one day of recognition, it should be every day.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]In this campaign, Nike [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/brand-storytelling-in-the-digital-age" target="_blank"]]uses storytelling[[/a]] to imagine a future where gender equality is so normal it requires no special recognition at all.[[/p]]

[[p]]Streaming giant [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/the-unstoppable-success-of-netflix" target="_blank"]]Netflix[[/a]] launched a collection of series, documentaries, and films to commemorate International Women&rsquo;s Day in 2020. The aim of the campaign was &ldquo;to celebrate the stories that have inspired the women who inspire us&rdquo;.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]The collection was curated by female creators from behind and in front of the camera including Sophia Loren, Janet Mock, Salma Hayek, Yalitza Aparicio, Millie Bobby Brown, and Laurie Nunn.[[/p]]

[[p]][[em]]&ldquo;This collaboration is about taking on the challenge of telling women&rsquo;s stories and showing women in all their diversity. It&#39;s about making visible the invisible, and proving that only by fully representing and including women on screen, behind-the-camera and in our narratives overall, society will truly flourish,&rdquo;[[/em]] said Anita Bhatia, UN Women Deputy Executive Director.[[/p]]

B&Q’s ‘Do The Lift Thing’ campaign/Source: Adsoftheworld

[[p]]DIY and home improvement retailer B&amp;Q may not be the first brand that springs to mind when you think about women, but their 2025 &lsquo;Do The Lift Thing&rsquo; campaign stood out.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]The campaign featured ten women in front of a custom-built lift with the message, &ldquo;As you rise, lift others with you&rdquo;, or simply, &ldquo;Do The Lift Thing!&rdquo;[[/p]]

[[p]]The goal of the campaign was to challenge stereotypes in the trades industry, where only 2% of professionals are women. The company also pledged &pound;1 million to fund trade apprentices across a variety of sectors, including carpentry, plumbing, painting, and decorating to encourage women to work in the sector.[[/p]]

[[p]]Ford&rsquo;s &lsquo;Dear Car Girl&rsquo; campaign, launched in 2024, was created to commemorate the journey of women in the automotive sector.[[/p]]

[[p]]A letter was accompanied by a film narrated by women from diverse auto backgrounds, including professional stunt driver Dee Bryant, Ford engineer Fernanda Medina, and brand ambassadors Gabby Downing and Lauren Stoney.[[/p]]

[[p]]In addition, copies of the &ldquo;Dear Car Girl&rdquo; letter were distributed to customers, employees, and members of the public to amplify Ford&rsquo;s message of inclusivity and recognition.[[/p]]

‘Never Your Fault’ campaign by L’Oreal/Source: L’Oreal

[[p]]To highlight street harassment, an issue that many women face daily, beauty brand L&rsquo;Oreal launched &lsquo;Never Your Fault&rsquo; on IWD in 2024.[[/p]]

[[p]]The campaign was created based on data from [[a href="https://www.loreal.com/en/news/commitments/l-oreal-paris-never-your-fault-stand-against-harrassment/" target="_blank"]]an IPOS survey[[/a]] that reported:[[/p]]

[[ul]]
	[[li]]80% of women have experienced sexual harassment in a public space at least once in their lives[[/li]]
	[[li]]52% of people blame women for situations of sexual harassment in public spaces due to their attitudes, behavior, or appearance[[/li]]
	[[li]]47% of women have experienced sexually suggestive or intrusive comments or jokes about their appearance, clothing, anatomy or looks in a public space.[[/li]]
[[/ul]]

[[p]]Through its &lsquo;Stand Up&rsquo; training program, which has equipped over 2.5 million people with tools to safely intervene, the campaign aimed to challenge harmful attitudes and create safer public spaces for women.[[/p]]

[[p]]In 2024, Kotex launched its &lsquo;Progress Feels Like&rsquo; campaign to advance gender equality and break down barriers for women and girls worldwide.[[/p]]

[[p]]The brand based the campaign on the fact that nearly 60% of women believe the speed of progress for women is either stagnant or moving slowly, while half see the world as a more uncomfortable place for them than ever before, especially amongst younger generations, according to a Kotex report.[[/p]]

[[p]]Kotex encouraged women to participate in the movement using #ProgressFeelsLike in social media posts. The period care brand also organized on-the-ground activations to ignite conversation and inspire change for women within their communities by making donations or offering scholarships.[[/p]]

McDonald’s logo flipped to a ‘W’ in an outlet in California: Source: IWD

[[p]]Fast food giant [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/resources/case-studies/mcdonalds-through-the-golden-arches-to-global-dominance" target="_blank"]]McDonald&rsquo;s[[/a]] needs no introduction, especially when it comes to powerful advertising campaigns.[[/p]]

[[p]]To mark IWD in 2018, the brand made a big decision to flip its logo, inverting it&rsquo;s classic golden arcs in the shape of an &lsquo;M&rsquo; to a &lsquo;W&rsquo; for the first time ever in its history.[[/p]]

[[p]]They also created a film to introduce Patricia Williams, who told her story about becoming a McDonald&rsquo;s owner-operator 30 years ago, and encouraged her two daughters to work with her.[[/p]]

[[p]]According to McDonald&#39;s, the majority of its U.S. employees are female, accounting for 6 out of 10 restaurant managers nationwide. They also have one of the largest supplier diversity programs designed to support their global operations, according to an IWD blog.[[/p]]

[[p]]Confectionary company Hershey&rsquo;s launched a simple but effective campaign in 2021 with non-profit Girls on the Run by changing its packaging for IWD.[[/p]]

[[p]]The limited edition &ldquo;SHE&rdquo; chocolate bars were wrapped in packaging featuring more than 200 empowering words like &lsquo;creative&rsquo;, &lsquo;fearless&rsquo;, and &lsquo;dedicated&rsquo;. The brand also included a QR code on packages to prompt customers to find out more about the campaign&rsquo;s message.[[/p]]

[[p]]Hershey&rsquo;s also put their commitment into action by donating funds to support Girls on the Run programs and motivating their employees to volunteer as coaches.[[/p]]

Example of Interflora’s outdoor ad for ‘Equal Power Bouquet’ campaign/Source: MAA 

[[p]]Inspired by Bumble&rsquo;s CEO and youngest female self-made billionaire Whitney Wolfe Herd, Interflora launched a bouquet in 2021 called &lsquo;The Equal Power Flower&rsquo;.[[/p]]

[[p]]The brand used roses to highlight various statistics including the fact that only 1 in 20 CEOs heading up companies in the FTSE 100 are women. The bouquet featured 19 white roses and one red rose to show the extent of gender inequality in executive positions.[[/p]]

[[p]]Bethany Day, Content and Social Media Manager at Interflora told GirlTalk HQ: [[em]]&ldquo;Flowers are the perfect way to celebrate and show support for the women in your life and this year we&rsquo;re taking it one step further by also using them to raise awareness of the challenges we still face in dismantling gender inequality.&rdquo;[[/em]][[/p]]

[[p]]These 12 marketing International Women&rsquo;s Day campaigns show the power of clever storytelling combined with data focused on women&rsquo;s issues.[[/p]]

[[p]]When it comes to creating a campaign that resonates, it&rsquo;s about putting yourself in the shoes of the [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/the-beginners-guide-to-defining-buyer-personas" target="_blank"]]persona[[/a]] to see where the pain points are to raise awareness or prompt action that can help empower and recognize women from all walks of life.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]We hope these campaigns inspire you to think outside the box and be creative to engage and influence your audience.&nbsp;[[/p]]

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12 Powerful International Women’s Day Campaigns

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