MAM
LinkedIn says #WeCanDoIt on Women’s Day
MUMBAI: Online professional network LinkedIn has launched its first global integrated campaign for International Women’s Day 2021 with creators, content and community at its heart. The campaign sees LinkedIn bring together influencers and its community to share content that helps and supports women, creating global engagement across the platform.
The launch comes at a time when Linkedin’s data shows Covid2019 has disproportionately impacted women’s careers. It’s latest Opportunity Index findings show that 85 per cent of women in India have missed out on a raise, promotion because of their gender. In fact, women’s careers are observed to have been more adversely affected despite increasing flexibility at work, as 68 per cent of women and 74 per cent of working mothers in India say it is difficult to balance career and familial responsibilities today. More than seven in 10 women and working mothers in India also say that household responsibilities often come in their way of career progress.
Created with lead creative agency VCCP, the campaign will publish advice, insights and inspirational stories to celebrate women’s voices on and off the LinkedIn platform and encourage conversations that help and empower them. The campaign leads with an emotive film showcasing inspirational real-life stories of seven women from around the world. The film, directed by Jessie Ayles, a filmmaker with a focus on socially conscious issues, takes viewers across the world to meet real women telling us their emotive accounts of the doubts, fears and vulnerabilities they have experienced during the pandemic. The campaign features stories of seven women professionals from seven countries from varied industries, who share their pandemic story and talk about a woman in their network who supported and inspired them throughout the crisis. Each story narrates the power of ‘community’, highlighting how women allies come together to help other women shelter their professions from the pandemic and smoothly transition into the new, evolving, normal.
From India, the campaign features pastry chef and entrepreneur Pooja Dhingra and her struggles as a business owner in the pandemic. In the video, she shares how she was forced to shut down a large part of her pastry business and let go of her staff due to the pandemic. She also credits the unrelenting support from her mother and mentor that helped her survive and pivot a decade-long business effort by reimagining her outlook towards progress and life in the ‘new normal’.
LinkedIn’s senior director of brand & communications, EMEA, LATAM & APAC Ngaire Moyes, said: “Women have faced greater economic hardship through the Covid2019 pandemic, disproportionately losing jobs and income. Decades of progress in gender equality has been undone in a matter of months. This shift has impacted how our female members interact on the platform and we have seen countless examples of the LinkedIn community sharing their stories and supporting each other in whatever way they can.
Seeing the way our community pulled together in this crisis was the inspiration for our first international integrated campaign to mark International Women’s Day. Through the #WeCanDoIt campaign, we hope to elevate the voices of our female members across the platform and encourage others to share their personal stories in a bid to help and empower working women around the world.”
The campaign will go live across PR, social, above the line and through influencer activity, as well as LinkedIn’s owned channels. Besides India, the campaign launches across the UK, France, Germany, Australia and Japan where members will be encouraged to join the conversation on LinkedIn to help and empower others by using #WeCanDoIt.
To help people and businesses take steps to improve gender equality in the workplace, LinkedIn is also making free online learning courses available to everyone: Leadership Strategies for Women, Planning Your Family Leave and Return, Proven Success Strategies for Women at Work, Own It: The Power of Women at Work, and Becoming a Male Ally at Work (available till 31 March).
Brands
Buffett bets on The New York Times, cuts Amazon stake
Berkshire invests $352 million in NYT, trims tech, and backs insurance, energy and consumer stocks.
OMAHA: Warren Buffett is famously a creature of habit, but his latest portfolio shake-up suggests even the world’s most patient investor knows when to change the channel. In a move that has sent the media world into a frenzy, Berkshire Hathaway has officially checked into The New York Times while largely checking out of Amazon.
Buffett’s firm snapped up roughly 5.1 million shares in The New York Times Company, a stake valued at a cool $352 million. The Buffett effect was immediate: shares in the publishing giant jumped more than 10 per cent as investors scrambled to follow the leader.
While Buffett offloaded his traditional local newspapers back in 2020, this isn’t a nostalgic trip to the printing press. The New York Times is now a digital powerhouse, fueled by a buffet of subscriptions covering everything from breaking news to Wordle and recipes. It seems the sage of Omaha still has an appetite for businesses with pricing power and a loyal following.
Berkshire slashed its holdings in Amazon by nearly 75 per cent during the final quarter of the year. Once a rare foray into the world of big tech for Buffett, the firm now holds a relatively modest 2.3 million shares. The pruning did not stop there, as other household names also saw a haircut. Apple was reduced to a 1.5 per cent position, while Bank of America was trimmed to 7.1 per cent, signalling a broader pullback from some of its large financial and technology bets.
So, where is the money going? It appears Buffett is heading back to basics, favoring sectors that can weather a storm. Berkshire boosted its positions in Chubb, doubling down on the steady world of insurance; Chevron, fueling up on energy; and Domino’s Pizza, a classic consumer bet that delivers even when the economy doesn’t.
By pivoting toward resilient industries and subscription-heavy media, Berkshire is returning to its roots: finding companies that people simply cannot live without, whether they are hungry for a slice of pepperoni or the morning headlines.
