Vice President of Marketing for Mars, Michele Oliver joined us on Thursday 18 October for PIE at lunchtime with a fascinating look at whether “advertising can change the world”.

We learnt how marketing and advertising campaigns have the power to change established viewpoints e.g. the “Share the load” campaign in India – aimed at addressing the typical gender roles in the home by printing on garment washing tags “can be washed by men as well”.

Speaking about the recent Ariel washing powder campaign, Ms Oliver said,

“Are we going to change gender equality on the back of a washing detergent ad campaign? No – but is the campaign going to nudge cultures towards gender equality? Yes!”

Referring to the “Buy a packet of Pampers – buy a vaccine” campaign, she left us with an inspirational thought,

“Marketing can literally eradicate a disease. You just need to be passionate and bring imagination to all that you do.”