See It, Be It 2024: Diana Moldagulova
Small steps can make a huge difference, and ever since she was a student, Diana Moldagulova has been keenly aware that seemingly small creative decisions can have a massive impact on how different people are perceived and treated in society. It’s a mindset that Diana has brought over into her own work - one of the campaigns that she’s proudest of involved adding a small changed to a supermarket website in order to reinvigorate the native language of Kazakhstan.
As part of this year’s Cannes Lions See It, Be It cohort, Diana feels a great sense of responsibility to represent and inspire female creativity in Central Asia. Here she shares her own journey and words of encouragement.
See it
Tell us about a woman who has inspired you in your career?
The first time I heard the name Jean Kilbourne was when I was doing my bachelor of Graphic Communication Design. Her critical studies about the objectification and visualization of women in advertising are very impactful. She highlighted how incorrect mass media trends can violently hurt normal women everyday. Some aspects of her ideas can be questioned but she is definitely one of the pioneers. Her studies inspired me to choose ‘skinny female images in advertising’ for my final paper. Since then I promised myself to change the perception of women in advertising from inside of the creative industry and normalize real women in mass media.
Be it
How have you incorporated the lessons and insights you gained from women in your life and in creative/professional fields into how you approach life and your career?
With a ton of information, opinions and events going on, it is very easy to lose yourself. In order to keep your identity together you need to know who you are. Allow yourself to be true, and learn and understand your needs and motivations. It’s no good to chase society's standards. Uniqueness is a super power. My authenticity is my tool. The same characteristic could be your advantage or disadvantage in different fields or situations. It keeps you flexible. Those insights help me to stay focused and do what I find important.
Do It
How does that translate into the work? Tell us about some of the campaigns you've been involved in that you're really proud of. What challenges did you overcome to bring them to life?
My very favorite campaign so far that I am proud of is ‘Magnum buy-book’. This campaign helps people to learn the Kazakh language. Due to the USSR background in Kazakhstan, a lot of people don’t speak the native Kazakh language. Commonly we use Russian. For this campaign, we collaborated with the biggest Kazakhstan grocery store chain ‘Magnum’ to use their Russian version of the site and add a Kazakh translation. For example, if you were buying apples on the site, a Kazakh translation would appear on top of the image of apples. Reminding us of those books for toddlers, this campaign aimed to help people learn Kazakh while doing their routine shopping.
The hardest thing about this campaign was to find a client who was brave enough to support the idea about such a sensitive topic. After agreement we had about two weeks before the deadline to successfully launch the campaign. After the launch, some other brands followed the trend and incorporated the same approach on their websites. This is an example of how small steps can change the market.
Share it
What messages or words of advice do you have for the next generation of women Coming into the industry? And tell us about anything that you do to support and lift up women in the industry
Our society seems to treat women like they’re helpless. It is important to understand that we can choose to be strong, self-reliant and independent.
We can’t wait for somebody to come and make changes for us. This is our responsibility to communicate. If something doesn’t work right for us, we should talk about it. Don't be quiet, clearly express your position.
Scary? Yes! And that's okay.
We think we are small,but we are amazing on our own, and simply incredible together.
Now I am trying to create a local creative community for women, where everyone can feel safe, find support and learn. I want to become an inspiration for those who don’t believe women can take a decision making role in local advertising and make it easier for future generations. The SIBI program is an incredible step to make it happen and a huge contribution to Central Asia’s creative market.
See It Be It is a LIONS initiative aiming to achieve equal gender representation among creative directors and leaders across the global industry. The programme is open to all women, trans-identifying and non-binary people. For any enquiries, please get in touch at seeitbeit@canneslions.com.
Further information on applying for See It Be It 2025 can be found here.
