“All our stores are safe spaces. So if you ever feel unsafe, please use our stores to wait for a taxi, a bus or a friend for as long as you need to. Our colleagues will be more than happy to help.”

While the industry talks a great deal about bravery in marketing, the truth is as women across society grapple with their collective grief at the murder of Sarah Everard and the devestating scale of violence against girls and women in the UK, for many brands it was as if half the world didn’t exist.

Of course, it's a complex and sensitive topic, so, while a moment for contemplation and action, it most definitely isn’t a marketing moment. But is it not also a watershed moment for brands and businesses alike to take action and take notice of the female lens? To ensure that they are truly a ‘safe space’ for employees and consumers alike? 

The past few days have shone a sharp yet brutal light on the weight of the collective mental load carried by women simply attempting to exist in the world. Those daily acts of self-policing, the text me when you get home, the taxi that junior copywriter can’t really afford not to take, the keys in between the fingers, the telephone calls when no-one is on the other side of the line. 

It is a moment in which marketers could easily decide to simply do nothing, to choose not to act, business as usual. A moment in which the collective grief, the anger, the sheer exhaustion of women goes without mention, unacknowledged, unseen. 

As a well-recognised physical space on the high street Tesco has instead chosen to step up and remind its customers that its stores are safe spaces. The kindness of the store’s familiar light on a dark high street as a place to wait for a taxi or a friend, whoever you are. A tone is set across a business. The reality of women’s lived experience is both reflected and respected, without any reference to gender. 

It’s a simple, understated act of communications and a commitment with kindness and authenticity at its core. A move which effortly reveals that ‘Every little helps’ is so much more than an empty marketing slogan.