BMO's New Campaign Challenges Canadians to Celebrate Their Female Leaders

We often hear about the lack of female leadership in business, whether in corporate boardrooms or entrepreneurial startups. While it’s true that the face of leadership is predominantly male, that isn’t the complete picture.

BMO is challenging Canadians to rethink ingrained biases with a new campaign that shines the light on successful women who are already excelling in their respective fields. The two new spots begin by outlining the successes and achievements of business owners like “Sam” or “Jamie”. The assumption is that these leaders are powerful men; at the end of each spot, “Sam” and “Jamie” are revealed to be women. Created by FCB Canada, the campaign creative was led by, created and produced by a predominantly female team, including the director and editor. 

“It’s not that female leaders don’t exist, it’s that sometimes they don’t get the credit they deserve, and don’t get their fair share of the spotlight,” says Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, Chief Creative Officer, FCB Toronto.”

That attention extends beyond online videos and into the real world, as well. Launched in 2012, BMO’s ongoing Celebrating Women platform is a grassroots recognition program that brings attention to successful women in business and in the community across Canada. This year, to support the initiative, a Google Search campaign was launched to disrupt the male-dominated search results that come up for common leadership words like CEO, Boss, Entrepreneur, Chair or President. Instead of the usual results, honourees of the Celebrating Women initiative are brought to the top of the search page as a way to bring attention to their accomplishments. 

"BMO Celebrating Women is more than just a recognition program. It's a chance for us to give local female entrepreneurs and community leaders the missing ingredient for bigger success – a platform for exposure,” said Lisa Milburn, Executive Sponsor, BMO for Women. "We're proud to be here to help our clients access more opportunities to inspire each other by sharing their stories.”

BMO’s efforts to see women rise hasn’t gone unnoticed: this year it won its second Catalyst Award, an award that recognizes companies who accelerate diversity and inclusion in its workplace. This work is yet another example of “The BMO Effect,” BMO’s year-old creative platform that highlights the bank’s efforts to offer customers a more human experience – whether via outstanding customer service or products and services that help them get the most out of their banking relationship. 

The BMO Celebrating Women program recognising women in the community is part of the greater BMO effort focused on supporting women business owners and women investors. For more information, please visit: bmoforwomen.com and join the conversation.