In the wake of the brutal murder of George Floyd, maintaining a sense of urgency and turning good intentions into meaningful action were a major theme of the Black History Month panel hosted by the Meta.
While Ukraine's housing crisis and escalating war have taken racial inequality out of the headlines in recent months, Black History Month (BHM) is a timely reminder of the need to seek real systemic change.
Fick Woldegiorgis, Meta's Director of Local Commerce Marketing for EMEA, opened the discussion, highlighting recent research from Media For All (MEFA) that found 47% of respondents of color said Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in their organization (DE&I). But not yet implemented [Media for All, MEFA Mass Survey, 300+ responses (MEFA members, UK), April 2022].
Julian Douglas, IPA President and CEO, VCCP International, noted that we have come a long way as an industry in the past two years, but acknowledged that initiatives like BRiM (Black Representation in Marketing) will put us on the right track. . They brought it up and encouraged everyone involved in marketing to speed up its pace.
perception gap
He was joined by Douglas Barber Shop founder Dino Myers Lamptey, who highlighted the "perception gap" uncovered by the MEFA study, which found a marked difference in how much progress people of different races, genders and ages accept.
This perception gap means that individuals who are not directly affected by underrepresentation in their organization are more positive about progress in human development and integration efforts than individuals from minority backgrounds, especially women and non-professional walkers.
For example, the MEFA survey found that while older white men believe that the most progress has been made since Floyd's death, young black women differ more in their life experiences.
VCCP member Kenny Dada, who was recently nominated by the IPA Pioneer, reiterated that finding, saying he thinks some of the urgency has faded in recent months and that more needs to be done.
He stressed that marginalized communities were still called upon to do most of the work, and called on the rest of the industry to "take responsibility rather than take it."
As Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Publicis Groupe UK, Kate Williams noted that there is no "silver bullet" to make this happen. He noted that we need a range of initiatives to achieve meaningful change.
Accelerate your career with sponsors
Sponsorship has been highlighted as one of the biggest ways to accelerate change.
Unlike mentoring, which Dada says "can be negative," sponsorship, according to Douglas, "is to be someone's hero [and] share opportunities to accelerate their career."
Sponsorship requires a significant influencer who provides leadership and leadership opportunities for a younger team member.
To this end, BRIM has developed a pilot intercompany sponsorship program that will begin this month. As part of the BRiM Sponsorship Program, companies from the advertising, media and marketing industries have selected one or more black market sponsors to participate, but anyone can download the BriM Sponsorship Kit to begin the journey.
Black talent in the spotlight
Myers-Lamptee also stressed the importance of telling black workers "there is a path forward", and Williams urged the industry to challenge some of the dominant narratives about "hard-to-reach communities".
BRIM also wants to challenge the notion that there is a shortage of black talent in the industry and highlight the abundance of black market professionals who are doing a great job.
BRIM developed The Changemakers: Black and Unboxed Awards 2022 in partnership with the Black and Brilliant Advocacy Network. The Changemakers Forum aims to highlight young leaders and senior leaders to advance their careers, encourage others to follow them, and show hiring managers that these people exist. Nominations are now open and Douglas urged the industry to participate.
It's time for general activity
As Myers Lamptey points out, as a leader in storytelling, our industry has the opportunity to lead the way in increasing black representation on and off camera. However, as Williams points out, "D&I is everyone's business": "There is no negativity, you are part of the solution or happen to be part of the problem."
After all, as Douglas pointed out, “Talent is shared equally, but opportunity is not,” and we all need to recognize that we have a role to play in correcting this imbalance.
To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway, how can you increase black representation in marketing? In two ways. Gradually then suddenly.
Now is the time for everyone in the industry to turn our good intentions into purposeful action and deliver the promised changes.
