Full speed ahead for Ringier’s EqualVoice: the initiative is expanding abroad and is now also available as a service for other companies – with a new logo. The main goals of EqualVoice are to give women and men equal representation and to raise awareness of how the genders are portrayed in the media. The real-time measurement of the EqualVoice factor is a tool for achieving these goals: it shifts the discussion from subjective perceptions of gender equality in publications to a factual basis. This serves as a foundation for developing solutions to the problem of equal representation in the media. «Our technological and journalistic heft enable the EqualVoice initiative to make an important and credible contribution to increasing diversity», says Marc Walder, CEO of the Ringier Group.
EqualVoice expands abroad
Since March, the EqualVoice factor has also been measured in Ringier Axel Springer Poland’s 13 publications. Ringier and Axel Springer’s joint venture portfolio includes Onet – Poland’s largest portal, which serves as an information source for millions of people every day – and other brands such as Business Insider, Newsweek and Forbes Women. The EqualVoice initiative will soon be rolled out in the other countries where Ringier Axel Springer Media AG is active: Slovakia, Hungary and Serbia.
Interest beyond Ringier: «EqualVoice as a service»
Many other companies have expressed interest in determining their own EqualVoice factors, and Ringier’s in-house developers have been working hard over the past few months to enable them to do exactly that. Companies outside the Ringier Group can now also analyse their communications using the EqualVoice factor. «I am delighted that we are now offering EqualVoice as a service, enabling us to work together on the goal of achieving equal representation of women and men», says Annabella Bassler, CFO of Ringier and founder of the initiative.
New look and feel
The EqualVoice initiative’s look and feel were updated as part of the international expansion. The renowned Swiss advertiser Frank Bodin worked pro bono to design a compact, versatile logo that reflects the initiative’s aims. «The speech bubble with the equals sign shows what EqualVoice wants: an equal voice for everyone. The logo’s versatility reflects the many projects that the initiative is involved in», says Bodin, founder and owner of the bodin.consulting agency, and president of the Art Directors Club.
EqualVoice – more than just the factor
The initiative was launched by CFO Annabella Bassler in November 2019, and is chaired by publisher Michael Ringier and CEO Marc Walder. Other projects also running as part of the EqualVoice initiative include Ringier’s internal Female Experts List; the EqualPyxx photo challenge, which aims to generate more diverse images; the launch of the expert workshop «Get Ready – Go Forward», which supports women in using their specialist knowledge as effectively as possible; the EqualVoice magazine, which will be published in autumn 2021; and a variety of workshops for the Ringier Group’s editorial offices.
The EqualVoice initiative can draw on a top-class Advisory Board made up of representatives from business, media, politics and society: Simona Scarpaleggia (Global CEO of EDGE, Board Member at Autogrill and Hornbach), David Allemann (CEO and Co-founder of On), Nicole Burth (Member of Executive Management and Head of Communication Services at Swiss Post), Ingrid Deltenre (Media Manager and member of various boards of directors), Christiane zu Salm (media entrepreneur and advisor), Franziska Tschudi Sauber (CEO of Weidmann Holding AG), Tanja Grandits (Michelin-starred chef and «Chef of the Year 2020»), Carolina Müller-Möhl (President of the Müller-Möhl Foundation), Dr Sabine Keller-Busse (President Personal and Corporate Banking and President UBS Switzerland), Pascale Baeriswyl (diplomat and Head of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in New York), Yann Borgstedt (entrepreneur and founder of the Womanity Foundation), Regula Bührer Fecker (founding partner at the Rod advertising agency), and Petra Ehmann (Global Lead for Augmented Reality Product Partnerships at Google Switzerland).
Find out more at www.equalvoice.ch
Ringier AG, Corporate Communications