State of the Industry: An assessment of progress in diversity, equity and inclusion across the global advertising industry

This report explores the progress made to date and identifies the gaps and opportunities to drive transformative change in the advertising industry. It finds that while some progress has been made, there is still a long way to go in terms of achieving true diversity and inclusion within the industry.

Key findings and recommendations

• Measurement —including the collection of disaggregated data— is needed to identify gaps in the representation of under-represented groups along the corporate and creative supply chain and in leadership positions.
• Pay parity initiatives should be established and Employee Resource Groups (ERG) and line manager training should be introduced to develop an inclusive culture across a diverse workforce.
• Progressive portrayals in advertising must extend beyond gender alone. • Benchmarking, continuous tracking and reporting is critical to hold all parties involved in the creative development accountable.
• Companies must ensure casting and creative teams are diverse and foster partnerships with diverse organisations to seek guidance and feedback on the depictions of under-represented individuals.
• When standing in solidarity with social justice movements, move beyond pledges and adopt concrete actions for change including donations, awareness raising and transparent reporting of all initiatives.
• Remove harmful branding in a timely manner, acknowledge mistakes and shortfalls at a senior level, and document the actions taken.

Contents

• Executive Summary
  • Fostering workplace equality
  • Achieving unstereotyped advertising
  • Empowering public action against stereotypes
• Introduction
  • The business case
• Fostering workplace equality
• Achieving unstereotyped advertising
  • Representation and Progressive Portrayals
  • Inclusive casting
  • Sourcing diverse suppliers
  • Media Spend and Placements
  • Guidelines and Tools
• Empowering public action against stereotypes
  • Consumer attitudes and trends
• Conclusion

This report was originally published on the Unstereotype Alliance website.