Diversity: Moving Forward from a Failed Past

One percent in 40amp160years At that rate Blacks will have to wait until the year 2300 to be represented in advertising in proportion to their percentage of the population No wonder Steve Stoute is so impatient with CEOs promising to do better and hold themselves accountableI39ve been researching advertising39s diversity problem for over a decade and after witnessing summer39s quotantiracist awakeningquot and attending diversity conferences it39s clear to me that advertising39s internal reforms have failed Here39s three reasons whyDEI Livesamp160andamp160Dies inamp160HRBack in 2010 a group of HR practitioners working on DEI diversity equityamp160and inclusion in advertising helped me conduct fieldwork at their agencies They were a tight and charismatic group sharing programming ideas appearing on panels together and affectionately referring to themselves as the quotHR mafiaquot I liked them and was grateful for their help and insight but their impotence within their own agencies soon became apparentIn hushed tones they described how an entrenched and pervasive system of white nepotism and opportunity hoarding allowed white executives both agency and clientside to place their friends and family in highly coveted internship slots Even when these quotmusthiresquot were quotunderwhelmingquot quotdidn39t know anythingquot quotweren39t right for the businessquot or were quotjerksquot that sent quotreally graphic and nastyquot obscene messages over company email they got hired at twice the rate of minority internsBeyond tolerating cronyism and protecting mediocre rude and wellconnected whites the HR managers in my study reported being marginalized within their agencies by information restrictions and unfunded mandates They repeatedly warned me against requesting diversity data since doing so would jeopardize my access So incendiary were these numbers in fact that even some HR managers weren39t allowed to see them Nor did the 4A39s dare request this information despite the fact that large agencies regularly report it to the EEOCGoodamp160PR Isamp160aamp160Badamp160KPIIf HR is the mafia then the industry trades and awards shows have formed a diversity cartel working together to celebrate advertising39s individual achievements and deflect attention away from its collective failures Take ADCOLOR which last summer honored the founders of Black Lives Matter but inexplicably snubbed 600 ampamp Rising the activist group of hundreds of Black advertising professionals that publicly shamed dozens of agencies and all the major holding companies into finally releasing their dismal diversity numbers Perhaps 600 ampamp Rising disqualified itself when one of their cofounders publiclyamp160criticized Omnicom a 300000 ADCOLOR sponsor and still listed as ADCOLOR39s mailing address for dragging its feet And don39t look to Adweek to cover this angle they39re also an ADCOLOR sponsor and sell ads against it to those same holding companiesInstead ADCOLOR gave a plum speaking spot to Adweek39s quotBrand Geniusquot Marc Pritchard chief brand officer at Procter ampamp Gamble a man and company that have preached antiracism with highprofile campaigns and eloquent speeches and a 100000 ADCOLOR sponsorship But as it turns out PampampG39s own house was not in order Two weeks after ADCOLOR Ad Age reported that shareholder activists had forced PampampG to admit that despite the company39s external PR efforts their internal Black employment numbers have remained virtually flat since 2015 only creeping up 1 in one category Sound familiarThe appointment of chief diversity officers is an increasingly common response to Black underrepresentation in the workplace But as Shante Bacon points out many fail to be assigned much less meet any measurable KPIs key performance indicators and yet still manage to retain their roles and perpetuate the status quoThe ADCOLOR Conference is a great way for minorities in advertising to meet network and have important and sometimes difficult conversations in a positive and supportive environment The ADCOLOR Awards Show creates a platform to increase the visibility of these groups and thereby challenge the industry39s quotpipelinequot excuse For these reasons I support both events and even participated in the conference as a panelist last fall But I39m also troubled that ADCOLOR provides such good PR for an industry than continues to resist change while also making claims that their quotcalling inquot approach is successfully quottransforming the industryquot without any measurable data So what would a KPI for ADCOLOR look like And how might we hold both the organization and its sponsors accountableTheamp160Clients are MIADespite many brands39 professed commitment to diversity and newfound solidarity with BLM there has not been a single publicized case of a client firing their agency of record for failing to hit diversity targets Indeed such a precedent would change the advertising industry overnight In 2009 the NAACP implored the 25 top spending brands including Procter ampamp Gamble to use their combined client value of 52 billion to pressure their agencies to diversify But as an HR manager told me such client inquiries are understood as disingenuous and easily assuaged by symbolic gestures such as the appointment of a CDOOne percent in forty yearsBy ensconcing diversity roles within the conservative remit of HR prioritizing public relations over measurable outcomes and ducking quotconcernedquot clients advertising has failed Black talent But don39t take my word for it A group of diversity officers in my study those who would know best told me that only outside pressure will create real structural change in the US advertising industry And when one wished aloud that a big agency or holding company would finally get sued for race discrimination the rest murmured their agreement After all if litigation can transform one of the world39s most recognized brands then why not the agencies that help sell itClick 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 MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Diversity: Moving Forward from a Failed Past

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Christopher Boulton

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