Gender bias continues to be a huge issue in the 21st century. Nowhere is this more true than in Silicon Valley. Often seen as cutting edge and progressive, the tech industry has fallen far short in the area of gender equality. We see plenty of examples in culture and media that focus on female competition, judgement and emotional weakness. As a leader within the tech industry, Facebook has always felt a responsibility to help shift this dynamic.

In early 2015, Facebook launched its first ever integrated brand campaign. This was a unique opportunity to express Facebook’s core values in a way that had never been done before. One of those values was a celebration of strong female relationships. Our campaign ran on paid media channels in the UK and Canada, and online globally. At the heart of the campaign was a film dedicated to female relationships - entitled “Girl Friends” - that ran on television, with additional support in print, outdoor, OOH, paid online media and on the Facebook and Instagram platforms natively.

The campaign ran internationally, primarily in the United Kingdom and Canada. But it also ran globally on the Facebook platform itself with no barrier to countries that are more sensitive or traditional in its portrayal of women. The online and film components of the campaign effectively ran in every country where Facebook exists.

The campaign itself was shot in six cities around the world - Bangkok, Los Angeles, London, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco. This helped create a diversity and authenticity because of the breadth portrayed in its content.

The campaign was designed to increase brand sentiment and positivity towards Facebook. From launch, it delivered a significant increase in the primary markets where the campaign ran. The campaign delivered over 797 million impressions, with over 90 million views, 1.2 million likes and over 180,000 shares. Most importantly, brand sentiment shifted positively by 10, demonstrating that people valued the friendships that are at the core of Facebook as a brand and business.

Silicon Valley has come under criticism in recent years for its gender bias against women. The issues include low employee staff counts, few women in leadership roles, unequal pay and discrimination lawsuits involving prominent companies. In many ways, Silicon Valley has become a symbol of dysfunction when it comes to valuing female relationships.

When it came time for Facebook to create its first ever integrated brand campaign, we chose to create a campaign that highlights the importance of strong female relationships. Emboldened by the vision and passion of key leaders such as Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook could help change the narrative around female empowerment, not only in Silicon Valley but also all around the world.

This brand promise is core to the technology behind Facebook itself. It is a platform that enriches and strengthens relationships between women everyday. In fact, over 53% of its 1.3 billion audience is female.

The campaign itself celebrates the sisterhood, strength, intellectual richness and joy that women share together. We chose to show real, imperfect, honest friendships throughout life. We also chose to represent all people who self-identify as female. Because for us, the lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender (LGBT) community of girlfriends are part of the story too. The women highlighted in our campaign were real people, real friends and even sisters. The women highlighted in our campaign were real people and friends, showing a diversity in age, ethnicity and body types.

Facebook has always felt the responsibility to be a positive voice on female empowerment. More so, Facebook is one of the few brands in the world with the reach and scale to help change gender relationships on a global level.

In addition, Facebook’s leadership team have personally been strong advocates of gender equality. Both Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg are prominent figures that have helped create significant strides in the wider community. As such, Facebook is a company where these values are inherently woven into the culture of the business.

This campaign was designed to express Facebook’s identity for the next decade of existence. We set out to remind people of the value of all the different friends in their lives - including those between women of all ages, genders and ethnicities.