Many of us have been taught since we were kids that certain things are for girls and certain things are for boys. But it hasn’t always been that way.

• Boys wearing blue and girls wearing pink weren’t gender signifiers until just before World War I.
• Elizabeth V. Sweet, an assistant professor at San José State University, wrote in The Atlantic that toys have become more gendered in recent years than they were in the 1950s.

Now, it can seem like everything is gendered—from pens (Bic for Her: gone, but never forgotten) to bathroom wipes. But that seems to be changing.

Last year, creative agency Bigeye conducted a study of 2,000 adult consumers, which showed that the majority of millennial respondents believe that traditional gender roles and binary labels are outdated. Half of Gen Z respondents said the same.

• “Among the younger consumers, the idea of gender is fluid. It’s seen as a spectrum and not seen as a binary,” Adrian Tennant, Bigeye’s CSO, who led the study, told Marketing Brew. “How you represent your brand, particularly in fashion or beauty, I think there’s increasingly an expectation that you don’t want to be too binary in those executions.”

Experts say that brands that do could risk being left behind.

Do your research: Abe Blackburn, director of technical solutions at The Social Element, who identifies as nonbinary, called gender segmentation a “convenient shortcut” for marketers. “That’s just not how communities thrive anymore,” they told us. “You should be looking at what are [customers’] passions, what are their interests, where are they, how do they engage with brands? All of this data now is available to us.”

Read more about the cost of product gendering and the companies leading the way here. —KH

Each Tuesday, we spotlight Marketing Brew’s readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Alie McArdle is a digital content producer at circle S studio, a marketing agency based in Richmond, Virginia.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in marketing? I write the stories behind videos, social media captions, and other content in a way that resonates with your beliefs.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? I had fun with a freelance gig where I wrote some copy for Sabra hummus.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile? I’m an outdoor enthusiast and adrenaline junkie.

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? Most excited about TikTok in a way that everyday people can reach millions of users just by putting out content others find useful or funny. Not stoked about the metaverse trend.

What’s a marketing-related podcast, social account, or series you’d recommend? I enjoy Martin Agency’s Instagram feed.

Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, businesses are forced to choose whether to withdraw from Russia or to continue operating in the country. For some, like Meta, the decision was made for them.

On Friday, Russia officially banned Instagram after also banning Facebook and Twitter. As reported by Reuters, the decision came after Meta said it would not censor users in some countries calling “for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion.” Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg said it was about protecting “people’s rights to speech as an expression of self-defense” in response to the invasion. For now, Meta’s other messaging platform, WhatsApp, remains in service in the country.

In a tweet, Instagram head Adam Mosseri called the app’s ban “wrong,” noting that of the 80 million Instagram users in Russia, 80% follow at least one account from outside of the country. In addition to cutting Russian citizens off from information resources, some fear the Instagram ban could also impact people’s livelihoods—particularly local business owners who rely on the app.

Not so fast: While some companies are fighting to stay in service in Russia, others are trying to get out. So far, more than 300 companies have “withdrawn” from the country in some capacity, according to research from the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute. Now, Russian prosecutors are threatening to sue or seize assets from companies that have left or plan to leave, including Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Procter & Gamble, according to the Wall Street Journal. The prosecutors also threatened to arrest corporate leaders critical of the Russian government.

Zoom out: As Russia and corporate executives determine if—and to what extent—companies will continue to operate in the country, Russian citizens are bearing the brunt of the decisions:

• In addition to social media access, Apple Pay and Google Pay services were also restricted, causing issues for some in Moscow’s Metro system, as a result of sanctions.
• Big Macs are selling for $36 online after McDonald’s shut its doors, while consumer prices in the country continue to rise.
• And the ruble has lost one-third of its value since the invasion, creating additional financial strain.—KH

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There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Alt: Twitter is testing out new alt text options to improve accessibility. Brush up on how to add image descriptions to your tweets.

R/creators: Check out Reddit’s updated Creator Stats dashboard, which gives moderators and OPs data to better understand how posts perform.

Shop ’til you drop: This handy guide breaks down how to migrate an e-commerce business to Shopify without compromising SEO.

Go for marketing gold. Check out Contentsquare’s on-demand interviews on how marketing innovators at Nespresso, Microsoft, Walmart, and more win with digital CX. Get their expert insights and best practices in designing a customer-centric digital experience here.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

Quarterback Tom Brady, whose career the beer brand Sam Adams is commemorating with a limited-edition double IPA, is unretiring and will return to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for another season. Which other brand has Brady NOT had an endorsement deal with?

1. Dunkin’ Donuts
2. Ugg
3. Aston Martin
4. Rolex

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Here’s what we know so far about CNN+
• Why more agencies are investing in social impact roles and practices
• What happens when a brand’s name is synonymous with a sport