Ad Black Sea International Festival of Creativity fights against stereotypes

With the support of UN Women, the Ad Black Sea International Festival of Creativity continues to share interesting experiences on women’s issues for professionals in the advertising and creative industries. Since 2022, after the first steps of the partnership between the festival and UN Women were made, while drawing up the event programme, the organizers have tried to provide marketers and advertising specialists with relevant information in this direction and invite speakers who will both inspire them and give them some useful recommendations.

The tradition continued at this year’s Ad Black Sea Festival, which was held in Batumi from 12 to 14 September, and the stage was offered to two leading professionals of the advertising industry: Tanja Grubner, Head of Marketing of the brand Essity; and Henrietta Corley, Board Account Director at AMV BBDO. Both speakers are known for impressive and resonant campaigns created on the themes of menstruation and the female body, including the campaigns BloodNormal, Viva La Vulva, WombStories and Never Just a Period. Along with the presentation of the campaigns, the guests shared their own experiences with the audience, telling them how to plan communication strategies on one of the most taboo topics.

“It was amazing and gratifying to see how openly and creatively brands are running marketing campaigns on issues that are inconvenient to society,” says Meli Bagdavadze, the executive producer of the creative agency Leavingstone. “This conversation is important and necessary, especially in our industry, because brands are not empathetic. Such powerful presentations can stimulate the creative sphere so that we can be more open and talk about our bodies and women’s health. For many who were present, it was not easy to listen to this speech; however, I believe that the session triggered great changes among many of the listeners.”

The International Festival of Creativity is the largest marketing event in the Black Sea region. The exhibitions, masterclasses and other initiatives held within its framework bring together representatives of the creative industry from different countries. Advertising and creative content are powerful tools for shaping public opinion, breaking gender stereotypes and creating positive change. That is why UN Women works closely with professionals in this field. Ad Black Sea’s official partnership is part of this cooperation, and it serves to promote healthy values in the Georgian creative industry and to support the industry’s progressive development. And, this was just one of the motives behind inviting Tanja Grubner and Henrietta Corley.

“The delegates of the festival also had the opportunity to personally communicate with the speakers in an informal setting,” explains Tamar Tsintsadze, the executive director of the Ad Black Sea Festival. “They had the chance to ask Tanja Grubner a lot of questions, and I am greatly optimistic that it inspired them with the motivation and courage to create similar campaigns.”

The partnership between UN Women and Ad Black Sea is part of the Women’s Economic Empowerment component of the “Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia” project, which is being implemented by UN Women with the support of the Government of Norway.