Direct > Excellence in Direct
MOTHER USA, New York / THE PREGNANCY PAUSE / 2018
Overview
Credits
CampaignDescription
“The Pregnancy Pause”
We knew we couldn’t fix American public policy overnight, but there’s one simple truth that can help women right now: according to a study from the University of Pennsylvania Law Review [Something to Talk About: Information Exchange Under Employment Law. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol. 165, 2017], working moms who openly acknowledge time spent on leave have a greater chance of being hired. Since these resume gaps have historically been so hard to talk about, we created a company women can simply list on LinkedIn for the duration of their leave: “Mom” at “The Pregnancy Pause.”
Execution
To get people talking, our execution had to ensure the work was as useful and accessible as possible. This began with its home. We chose LinkedIn, the world’s largest platform for career-building, so that we could reach, and assist, a wide swath of working moms on their home turf. This made the Pregnancy Pause, for all intents and purposes, a real company for moms to cite.
But just making a company wasn’t enough. We also created a toolkit for people to build their own resumes, a dedicated phone line for potential employers to call, and an educational video to raise awareness and incite action.
Outcome
Success for us has two parts: 1) creating a conversation in culture around this issue, and 2) ensuring women have a helpful tool at their disposal.
Culturally, we successfully started a conversation online that spread into the real world. Our online readership stands at 6 billion people, and companies as diverse as Morgan Stanley and Lifetime have contacted us to make the Pregnancy Pause a bigger educational platform. The desire for change is only growing.
As far as creating a usable tool, parenting, news and business sites alike, from Scary Mommy, Bravo, The Huffington Post, PopSugar, The Mother List, Market Watch, and Romper, to even cultural leaders like Cindy Gallop, all agreed: we were providing both a real tool and stopgap for the problem. So much so that we now have 1600 followers from 33 states and 20 countries.
Relevancy
By directly linking a pressing cultural issue to a widespread social platform, we were able to inspire an entire community of mothers to speak up and take action.
Specifically, we used LinkedIn as a tool for mothers to proudly take ownership of their maternity leave, igniting a bigger cultural conversation in the process.
Strategy
Given the societal pressure to stay silent on working moms’ resume gaps, we couldn't just celebrate motherhood with a stereotypically stirring thirty-second commercial and hope it got people talking. We had to generate conversation through utility, not empty words, making working moms feel both empowered and part of a bigger, more visible community.
The need for a blend of inspiration and utility is what made us choose LinkedIn as our focal point. As the world’s largest platform for career-building, it was the ideal media vehicle to both rally and educate the working moms that needed a voice and a path forward.
Ultimately, the easier it is for moms, employers and the nation to talk about maternity leave, the sooner we can combat discrimination.
Synopsis
Situation
America is one of only two industrialized nations worldwide that doesn’t provide paid maternity leave. It’s up to individual employers to decide what’s “fair” compensation, which inevitably leads to lack of financial support, forcing women out of work once they give birth. And when moms return to the workforce after being pressured out? They apply with “gaps” in their resumes that prospective employers can’t legally ask about. American moms are ultimately far less likely to find jobs than their male peers - including those who took paternity leave.
Brief
Legitimize maternity leave as the demanding full-time employment that it is.
Objectives
1. Ignite cultural conversation around an overlooked issue in American society: the difficulty new moms face in returning to the workforce after being forced out.
2. Give new moms a real and practical tool to assist in the above, while concretely helping their careers at the same time.
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