Sports Illustrated, the venerable magazine and multimedia platform, today announced the launch of Pay with Change, a new advertising model for its SI Swimsuit franchise. Brands that want to be a part of the upcoming annual Swimsuit Issue and/or the companion digital juggernaut “will have to advertise progress, not a product,” in the words of SI’s announcement—with, specifically, advertising creative that’s focused on “driving gender equality forward.”

“In building and launching this initiative today with our creative partners at Edelman,” Hillary Drezner, general manager, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, told Ad Age, “we took a long hard look at ourselves and decided to overhaul our publishing model and surround ourselves with like-minded brands that champion and empower all women. This initiative builds on years of work that we’ve been working towards at Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.” (Hear more from Drezner in our Q&A below.)

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It’s an attention-getting move that connects to the growing “purpose-driven marketing” movement among publishers and brands—and it’s also a risk, in that SI Swimsuit is Sports Illustrated’s most profitable and iconic franchise. Leading up to the announcement, the SI team has been in conversation with its largest advertisers, though participating brands have yet to be announced.

That said, SI has given itself plenty of runway; the upcoming 58th annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition will hit newsstands in May. Drezner and her team are offering eligible marketers a special “Changemaker” designation, defined as a brand that is invested in making progress for women.

For those who might wonder how pro-women ad creative might play in juxtaposition with the editorial content, MJ Day, editor-in-chief of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, told Ad Age, “The perception that Sports Illustrated Swimsuit is a magazine that objectifies women to cater to the male gaze is an outdated concept. Our magazine and content today caters to the holistic wellbeing and interests of the modern woman—from mental health and body positivity, to fitness and nutrition, to travel and fashion.”

Day and Drezner both note that SI’s readership in print and online has increasingly been skewing female (more on that below).

Through SI Swimsuit, Day added, “We partner with strong and confident women who are unapologetic when it comes to how they appear and what they stand for. Now, we plan to use our issue as a launchpad for not only models, but for all women.”

As part of the Pay with Change initiative, SI also announced that it’s putting some of its own money where its mouth is: A portion of  SI Swimsuit ad revenue will go to the newly launched Sports Illustrated Gender Equity Fund, in support of a yet-to-be-designated non-profit organization “on the frontlines of helping create an equitable future for all women.” 

Ad Age interviewed SI’s Drezner for additional details about Pay with Change.

(This Q&A has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity and space.)

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Why now for “Pay with Change”?

Since our founding, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit has been a brand empowering women. We’ve been laying the groundwork for initiatives like Pay with Change for years and, as the ongoing pandemic continues to exacerbate the challenges women face each day, we know that now is the time to make a bold move and an even bigger impact. 

When you say advertisers “will have to advertise progress, not a product,” how do you define “progress”?

To participate in Pay with Change and become a certified Changemaker, brands will need to prove progress in the form of a commitment to being advocates for women. This might take the form of an internal commitment to pay equity for female employees or an external commitment to challenging the status quo of what it means to be a woman by representing a more diverse range of women in marketing and advertising initiatives.

When launching this initiative, we wanted to ensure that we were celebrating all of the changes brands are making in all the varied ways women need it. We know that women are not a monolith and that problems come in all shapes and sizes, so we truly admire brands that take the initiative and choose to support women across all walks of life.

Will SI offer custom-publishing or ad-creative support to help brands craft their messages?

Yes, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit will offer support for ad creation for Changemakers in the issue, as well as an official logo lockup for each partner.

It might surprise some people to realize that SI has been shifting its audience gender mix. Got any details on that to share?

We have struggled for years, fighting against the many misconceptions associated with our brand, but we’ve kept pushing forward. We’ve witnessed an increase in engagement among women in recent years, to the tune of a 29% increase in female readership in 2021 alone. Additionally, on our digital platforms, 50% of our audience is female.

What kind of initial response are you getting to Pay with Change from advertisers?

We’ve gotten early and positive support for this program, as many of our existing partners’ organizational missions align with our own when it comes to women’s rights and gender equity.

What’s your target for brand participation?

It is our hope and goal to celebrate at least 20 Changemakers in the May 2022 issue, but if we cannot fill advertising space because of the new mandate, we will leave the pages blank as proof that there is so much more work to be done. We are committed to doing that work if it comes to it. In launching Pay with Change today, we’re calling on brands and others in the industry to join us, leveraging our collective platforms to empower women.

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