A Few Words on the ANA Marketing Word of the Year -- Diversity

I have watched the Marketingverse struggle with the dystopian view of what would happen to it if diversity was completely absent from its work and its ranksamp160After all diversity has always existed in every aspect of American life Marketing is no different There were African American and Hispanic American target markets and Black and Hispanic agencies that had worked on McDonald39s for years before I showed up in 1986 It39s just that with each year the browning of America became more and more visible with every new census report or political business military sports music movie and dance icon influencing popular culture or shattering longheld stereotypes of who should be doing what and how they should be doing itFor 34 of my 35 years in this business the answer was simple for the Marketingverse Do just enough to not be singled out as doing nothing Put some numbers in business and DEI reports that show you have more quotdiversityquot than you did the year before to show diversity progress A few more vendors a few more dollars a few more diverse execs sprinkled throughout the organization at various levels Create separate diversity initiatives from core business initiatives set separate goals and accountabilities for them and measure them with separate set up numbers In other words quotTalk the TalkquotThe business case that draws a direct line from diversity to bottomline results that make payroll pay the bills or drive shareholder value was never quite made Nor was it universally accepted by board rooms and taught in the curriculum of leading business schools despite Herculean efforts by untold numbers of very smart accomplished and respected individuals and institutionsOver the past 35 years not many in the Marketingverse have been comfortable enough with anchoring their business or individual successes closely to diversity initiatives until recentlyOver the past year since the tragic loss of George Floyd I have seen many things change in the attitudes and actions of the Marketingverse This time it seems differentamp160The George Floyd incident seems to have been a wakeup call that caused many corporations to look inwardly at themselves and to accept and appreciate what they saw and to see the value in diversity for perhaps the first time thanks to efforts by groups like SeeHerThey saw that their workforce their customers their values andamp160their purpose emanated from a very diverse group of people That these people these valuesamp160and these communities are who and whatamp160they are and were in fact responsible for how and why they got whereamp160they are Ignoring not leveraging diversity as a business driver is becoming harder not easier to do with more and more corporations believing that diversity isn39t something that separates us but it is usamp160winning togetherFor the first time ever I believe that the Marketingverse is comfortable with the concept of diversity There appearamp160to be more tailwinds than headwinds they39re still there in the forceThis will open new avenues new opportunities new partnerships new perspectives new leadership new agency models and new faces behind the camera and in board rooms and new ways of solving problems and creating value than ever before The results will show a straightline connection to large and small business bottom lines that pay the employees pay the bills and grow shareholder valueI think the ANA got the Marketing Word of the Year right and I39m more excited than ever about what a quotDiverse Marketingversequot has in store for all of us who make our living thereLooking forward to continuing to champion DEI with all of you in 2022 and the journey beyondThis article was written by Kevin Miller pictured right Chief Marketing Officer of The Fresh MarketClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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A Few Words on the ANA Marketing Word of the Year -- Diversity

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