What We Have Learned About Inclusive Creativity

FOUR STRATEGIES TO DEPLOY TO MAKE YOUR BRAND MESSAGING MORE POWERFULLY EFFECTIVE WITH DIVERSITY.

- Lorraine Twohill

Like every CMO, I spend much of my day in creative reviews. That means I am on the receiving end of a lot of beautiful images. But over the years, too many have been filled with perfect young hipsters, in beautiful houses, living in cool cities. Our products are for everyone, but our images were not telling that story.

We had a problem. So we started a journey to make sure that everyone can see themselves reflected in our creative work. We definitely do not have all the answers. But I want to share what we have learned— sometimes the hard way.

The makeup of your team matters

The first step is increasing diversity on the creative teams. As of this year, less than 6 percent of the advertising industry is Black, a figure that has been on the decline since 2010. There is no shortcut here. It takes time to seek out diverse talent. Everyone knows this. But in the rush to fill an open role it can be all too easy to fall back to the usual suspects.

When we are making a hire today, we ensure a diverse range of candidates from a wide range of backgrounds are considered before making a decision. And it is not just your own teams that matter; agency partners are critical too. For example, all too often when meeting with our agencies, I found myself looking at a room full of men. So we started to ask why? And what they could do about it? It is our responsibility to make sure we’re always asking these questions.