Women and the appeal of advertising

Our lives, how we spend our money and the decisions we make, are often guided by the advertisements we see - whether that's on the streets we walk around or on our screens. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women from Brazil and the UK who are in the business of influencing our choices.

Ana Balarin is co-executive creative director at Wieden & Kennedy Portland, US. She works with her husband, Hermeti. After training as a physiotherapist and moving to the UK from Brazil, she switched to a career in advertising. As executive creative director she oversaw work for clients such as Ikea, KFC and Stella Artois - and ran projects like #FreeTheFeed, confronting taboos around breastfeeding in public.

Imogen Tazzyman is one of only 3% of female executive creative directors in the UK. An ECD at McCann Manchester she's overseeing adverts for high street retailers like Aldi and Matalan. She's passionate about encouraging more women into the industry and supporting them to rise to the top: working on the first ever creative apprenticeship scheme, to open up the industry to those without a degree, and Represent Creative - an initiative using social media help those without experience or family links get a look-in.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Imogen Tazzyman, credit Craft, Manchester. (R) Ana Balarin credit Sofija Vujanic.)