Today (Sept. 18) marks the UN’s International Equal Pay Day, which spotlights the organization’s efforts to realize “equal pay for work of equal value.” According to UN figures, the gender pay gap is estimated at around 20% across industries globally.
In the marketing and advertising sector specifically, a 2024 survey in the UK-based Marketing Week found that, on average, female marketers’ full-time pay was 16% less than that of men working full-time in the sector. In 2023, the pay gap stood at 16.5%.
SmartBrief spoke with Maureen Maldari, an advertising veteran who rose through the ranks in the rough-and-tumble agency world of the 1980s. She described experiencing firsthand gender discrimination and how, as the leader of her agency, The BAM Connection, with partner Rob Baiocco, Maureen is doing things differently.
SmartBrief: I was surprised to learn that your dad was a professional boxer and manager. Did growing up in this world help you in your advertising career?
Maldari: Oh yes, I learned early on how to take a punch, both literally and figuratively, when to duck, when to go on offense, and the importance of always anticipating what’s coming next. All of that was instilled in my brain early on and proved to be important skills to have in this business. It’s a tough business, and you need the ability to dust yourself off and take another shot, whatever the situation.
SmartBrief: Today marks International Equal Pay Day. Many may assume that the advertising industry is more progressive when it comes to solving the gender pay gap, but the stats don’t actually bear that out. What do you think?
Maldari: You’re right, people assume because advertising is, at least in part, a creative industry, that it’s more progressive on gender pay issues, but that hasn’t been my experience when I was with big corporate agencies. I had one experience, at an agency that no longer exists, in which I had been there for three years when someone I had hired only 6 months earlier as an assistant told me he was expecting a raise. He told me how much he was currently making, and it was the same as me. And now he was expecting a raise. When I took the issue to HR, I was told, ‘He has an MBA,’ which I also did, but they didn’t seem to know that or care. I landed another job within a week. I always knew these issues existed, I wasn’t naive, but to see it out there so blatantly was a surprise.
SmartBrief: Is that experience what led you to start your agency, The BAM Connection?
Maldari: Yes, but it was more about the way the ad world was, and still is in many ways. It was disheartening to see the lack of empathy that existed then at big agencies. There was this expectation that you would work till you dropped basically. I would bring in an $8 million dollar account and then next week we’d have to fire people. That’s what inspired me to create my agency. I just knew I had to change it up and do things differently. To me, it was incredibly liberating and I would encourage young people to take their shot whenever they can.
SmartBrief: Mentorship is another thing you feel strongly about. Talk about what’s happened to formal mentorship in the marketing industry.
Maldari: Mentorship is something that overall has been lost in our industry. There are few formal mentorship programs at many large agencies. For them, mentorship is like a college elective for C-suite level agency staff: You can mentor if you choose, but you won’t be rewarded for it come bonus time. Within big agencies, you are more likely to find employee resource groups. The formal mentorship seems to be a lost art and that’s a shame because I know when I spend time with our millennial and Generation Z staff, they appreciate different perspectives. They want to learn and stretch thinking and proper mentorship can be a catalyst for new ideas.
SmartBrief: So how are you doing things differently at The BAM Connection?
Maldari: One of the best ways is via our in-house social media channels. Rather than just promote our work or senior-level talent, we’re spotlighting our young creative talent on our TikTok channel. One series “GenZ Workplace Translations,” which features many of our younger employees, has over 4 million views. Also, on Instagram “Gossip” has over 6 million views and “When You Get Too Honest With Your Manager” has over 2 million views. All of this content features puts our younger team members in the spotlight. By empowering them to use the platform creatively and giving them the opportunity to be featured, is one way we let them shine and learn skills they can take with them their whole career.
SmartBrief: What’s been the net benefit of your TikTok channel? Is it generating any ROI?
Maldari: Without question, it has energized culture across our employees, both young and older. Everyone can participate and contribute, which is a great asset. The heightened level of creativity is contagious when an idea is discussed or a camera starts rolling. It has also strengthened our video concepting, shooting and editing capabilities across the entire staff – a key advantage in developing more efficient ideas and executions for our clients.
SmartBrief: Any final thoughts?
Maldari: Gender should not guide pay benchmarks; performance should be the only gauge, full stop. And women need to own their accomplishments. Men are trained early on to list out everything they have contributed when they sit down for their annual reviews. Women tend to spread the credit and never fully own their performance. I think women in general need to take a more assertive stance when it comes to their worth in the professional arena. We have made too many excuses for why disparity still exists. Now that more women are moving into key roles I would hope there is a massive correction so we don’t continue to perpetuate this unfortunate reality.
I’d also like to see advertising trade organizations take a more proactive role and set the standards for equitable programs for women. They often write powerful commentary essays in the trades about why this is an important issue, but at this point, we need more tangible results. Agencies pay these organizations to represent them. They should do more to represent the interests of not just women, but all of those marginalized in the workplace.