BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – While many U.S. corporations and industry leaders espouse the virtues and benefits of bona fide diversity, inclusion in the advertising industry continues to move at a glacial pace. In fact, there are fewer African Americans in managerial positions in mainstream advertising firms than 20 and 30 years ago.
Or, as one prominent, award-winning ad exec summed up: “We all know what the problem is and have for quite some time.” But, “how do we change our industry? How do we change the dispositions that exists and influence the way business is done today,” asked Laurence Boschetto, the President and CEO of Draftfbc and a 2011 AdColor Advocate award winner. “How do we impact them so that the industry associations become owners of this and really drive this into a reality?”
Esther “E.T.” Franklin, the executive vice president of Starcom MediaVest Group, one of the largest media agencies in the world and an AdColor Legend award recipient, had a very interesting beginning point to Boschetto’s question: Exposing the Grand Canyon-sized gap between what ad executives and CEO’s say and what their current reality is.
“We have all the data. We have all the numbers, studies and paperwork. We don’t need to discuss that. But I think it would be interesting for every [advertising, marketing and media organization] to take a photograph at every level of their organization,” she said, as a soft murmur of acknowledgment spread across the Beverly Hilton ballroom. “What would that picture look like? When you look at that photograph of your senior management team does it reflect that diversity? When you take a picture of your director levels does it reflect that diversity?”
“And then, take a picture of your administrative staff and your mailroom staff,” Franklin added, driving home her point with force. “And compare those pictures with the leadership team pictures. That’s a great place to start.”
Steve Stoute, the legendary former music label president who revolutionized the advertising industry, said real change will only come through one ingredient: pain. Consumers have to make mainstream ad agencies hurt through their bottom lines over a sustained period of time in order for them to finally act on what they say.
“Really poor results have to happen for a very long time,” he proffered somberly. “That boys club…I got to see it. I got a chance to [interact] with it up close. That’s going to be tough to break. They will hold on until the very last second before they let go. You can have the exact same idea as the [white, male execs]. But they want to hear it from a [white] friend.”
Boschetto suggested that fighters of real change in the advertising world develop messages and strategies so that minorities and other proponents of equality are seen as advocates who can improve mainstream ad agencies’ bottom lines as opposed to coming from an adversarial standpoint. He also said that minorities need to continue to leverage the social media and online space as the great equalizer similar to what’s being done in the music and movie industries.
