As learned following the recent Presidential election, girls looking for inspiration these days don’t have nearly as many publicly acknowledged role models as they should. Considering women’s voices grow stronger every year, now is the time to help inspire the next generation and if a new new campaign from BBDO New York called 'Put Her on the Map' is a success, girls might get that spark they need to do great things.

The new public awareness campaign encourages cities and corporations to name streets, statues, buildings and other public spaces after influential female figures. Andrew Robertson, president and chief executive officer of BBDO Worldwide, unveiled the Put Her on the Map campaign at the Makers Conference, one of the leading gatherings for trailblazing women of today and tomorrow. The announcement was made in tandem with Amy Elaine Wakeland, the First Lady of Los Angeles.

The statistic that launched the movement was one that found that women make up 50% of the population, but most streets, landmarks and monuments are named after men. Put Her on the Map challenges cities and corporations with influential ecosystems to disrupt this cycle.

“Gender equality is really important to BBDO,” said Kirsten Flanik, president at BBDO New York. “We do well when it comes to parity in the agency, but we have more of a deficiency in the creative end.” She added that Robertson has committed to BBDO doubling the number of its senior female creative leaders, saying that in order to make change you have to announce an action, and that it’s not always just about the numbers but how you behave - the way you hire, show up in meetings, and the like.

When the agency heard the aforementioned statistic, they knew they wanted to address it in a positive way.

“We’re storytellers and this is a story that needed to be told more broadly,” said Flanik.

Utilizing the agency’s creatives and resources, BBDO set out to make a short film featuring a series of vignettes where young girls are asked to describe things named after women and then asked what they want to be when they grow up. Their answers reference superficial items such as the “Lazy Susan,” a “Bloody Mary,” “Daisy Dukes” and “Mary Jane” shoes. The film ends with a call to action repeating the stat: “Women make up 50% of the population, but most streets, monuments and landmarks are named after men. We should change that. Let’s inspire girls by honoring great women.”

Said Lauren Connolly, executive creative director at BBDO New York: "Who better to help magnify this point than young girls? Once you hear it directly from their mouths, you can understand the immediate reason why we need to honor women around our cities."

The Put Her on the Map campaign will be hosted on a website, www.putheronthemap.com, where viewers can learn more about the mission and take action by contacting their local state representatives. The campaign is also promoting the #putheronthemap hashtag to encourage people to share the video and spread the word.

Finding a theme and support

BBDO is a key sponsor of the Makers conference, and they took this year’s theme, Be Bold, and ran with it.

“We wanted to come out with a bold statement to make a movement,” said Flanik, adding that they wanted to reach the biggest and most influential leaders in the world, starting at the company level and a local level, which included getting in touch with the Los Angeles mayor’s office and getting the ear of Wakeland, who championed the movement.

Megan Smith, the former chief technology officer for the US under the Obama administration, former Google VP, and co-founder of the Malala Fund, an organization dedicated to impacting girls education and empowerment around the world, is also a big supporter, and Flanik praised her “incredible connected ecosystem” for helping get the word out.

Niantic, Inc., creators of mobile apps Ingress and Pokémon Go, has also expressed its support for this initiative. Commenting on its decision, Niantic, Inc. noted that: “Storytelling has the power to positively impact and inspire the community. Putting women on the map and highlighting the stories and history of locations is something that Niantic cares about. We will work with the Makers and BBDO teams to help put on a walk that highlights the history, art and culture behind impactful women, using our apps to guide people to unique, real-life locations.”

Flanik said that now was an important time to make a bold statement for the next generation of women.

“It’s a difficult time, an emotional time. There’s been so much progress, but some women are feeling scared and nervous. If girls can’t see it they can’t be it,” she said.

The video uses some humor to push its message, because through a smile you can get as much accomplished as with more blatant devices, said Flanik.

The BBDO crew was further inspired by speakers at the Makers conference, including Gloria Steinem and Octavia Spencer talking about the story behind the movie “Hidden Figures” which chronicles a team of African-American women mathematicians who served a vital role during the early years of the space program. Unearthing these stories, and paying tribute through the Put Her on the Map movement, is a way that girls can continue to be inspired. Flanik quoted Steinem, saying that “women have always been a part of the past, but we haven’t always been a part of history.”

With Put Her on the Map, the lack of visibility of successful women may be changing, just as they hopefully change the map.

“When successful women are not visible in our world, there is no precedent for female potential,” said Mr. Robertson. “By changing the map, cities and companies can change the face of our communities and inspire future female leaders.”