Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC (GGBPLC), has held an expert panel discussion on women representation in the media, advertising, and entertainment industry that seeks to drive advocacy on women’s progressive portrayal.
The maiden discussion forms part of the progressive portrayal initiative by Guinness Ghana aimed at working with its key partners to be a driving force in its effort to accelerate and transform the advertising industry to be more representative and progressive.
Prominent leaders and industry experts in the media, advertising, and entertainment industry were brought together to reflect and spark conversations in the country that will avoid negative stereotypes and seek to depict women’s positive and progressive portrayal.
The 1 hour 30 minutes session centered around the theme: ‘Progressive Portrayal of women in the media, advertising and entertainment industry’, convened over 500 attendees virtually to join the stimulating discussion.
The session provided the panelists across the sectors to bring their unique viewpoints to bear as they discussed topics ranging from personal and professional experiences, perspectives on the gains made, challenges, overcoming negative women representation, weak representation of women as well as recommendation to shift the way women are portrayed.
Moderator of the discussion, Nana Aba Anamoah, General Manager of GhOne TV, said the media is a reflection of a society’s beliefs and practices. She therefore encouraged Ghanaians to unlearn beliefs and systems which contribute to gender stereotyping and diminish women’s role in society.
Ghanaian actress, Lydia Forson, encouraged women to prioritize their interests first and be strong to decline requests that go against their individual principles as well as the dignity of women.
Suzanne Butah, Legal Director of Guinness Ghana, said, “at Guinness Ghana, people are key and at the heart of our business. In our bid to promote inclusive environments and shape market leading policies, we will continue to lead such conversations that will hopefully encourage the creation of work that is truly progressive in its depiction and portrayal of women in these identified industries. This goes a long way to deepen our commitment to ensuring inclusion and diversity which is our core mandate at Guinness Ghana.”
“One of the key questions we must ask is how we can shift how women are portrayed in this industry so we can improve the outcomes for the general population.”
“I believe this is a great opportunity for advertisers, media owners and entertainment players to come together as an industry, and make a difference for the greater good. We are thrilled that today we have convened like-minded individuals who believe in the vision to shift agenda and support the progressive portrayal narrative,” she added.
She said Guinness Ghana will continue to support advocacy aimed at projecting the important role women play in society to encourage Ghanaians to lend their voices to help portray women progressively and positively.
The discussion also featured Akua Owusu-Nartey, Regional MD Ogilvy Africa, Kinorah Awini, CEO of Telande World, and Russel Eni, MD and Creative Director, Insel Communications.
