Advertising has traditionally illustrated men and women in fairly stereotypical roles. Think back to typically macho beer ads or cleaning products that try to appeal to women. However, for a surprising number of both Gen Z and millennials, gender doesn’t define them, according to research conducted by The Innovation Group and JWT Intelligence. Gender-neutral marketing is not a trend but a societal shift, according to Dali Tembo and Jess Jorgensen, both from Instant Grass International. Speaking at the recent Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) conference in Midrand, they said it was important for marketers to keep abreast of this shift. Even a term such as “trans” is not just last year but a couple of years behind, said Jorgensen. Instead, marketers should be considering using terms such as “gender queer”, “nonconforming”, “nonbinary” and “gender neutral”. It’s no longer acceptable to be stuck in old gender stereotypes, explained Jorgensen, adding that many forward-thinking bra...
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