Transport for London (TfL) and the Mayor of London have launched a joint competition to improve gender diversity in advertising.

The Women We See Competition is open to media and advertising companies and is challenging them to produce a 10-second video clip and digital display for bus shelters which represents women in “all their diversity”.

TfL said they want to see a concept that represents older women, women with disabilities, single parents, women from diverse backgrounds and from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.

Claire Beale, global editor in chief of Campaign magazine and competition judge, said: “Advertising has a tremendous power to shape society and culture.

“With that power comes responsibility and hopefully this competition will encourage the ad industry to properly up its game when it comes to the positive portrayal of women in its work.”

The winner will see their campaign appear across the TfL network as of January 2019.

The competition comes following research from City Hall which says that Londoners don’t feel the women they see in adverts are actually representative of women in the capital.

Findings from the new report, The Women We See, show that fewer than one in four Londoners thinks adverts are culturally diverse.

The report also highlights that women and girls feel pressured to achieve a specific beauty standard from adverts of women they see.

The campaign comes as part of the #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign which celebrates the centenary of women being given the right to vote.

Selma Nicholls, who is also a judge and the founder of Looks Like Me modelling agency, added: “It is critical that we continue to represent society fairly, so women and girls from all backgrounds see advertising content that authentically represents them.

It’s time to celebrate our brilliant diverse city, create inclusive content that resonates with our audiences, so women and girls proudly say she looks like me.”