Essay 722

More comments in response to the AdAge.com article appearing in Essay 708…

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>Shame on Don Richards of the Four A’s for saying, “There are more pressing issues (than diversity at agencies): profit margins, compensation, and an overall talent drain from the industry. I don’t believe that agencies shy away from trying to get minority employees. But it is more in the middle of things that keep agencies awake at night than a top priority.” (Ad Age, June 19, 2006) It is just that type of backwards logic that has resulted in the current state of affairs in the industry. If agencies do not seriously embrace diversity there will be no replacements for those exiting the industry, therefore resulting in decreased profits and ultimately lower compensation for those remaining. Wake up! Within the next 10 to 20 years nearly half of the population will be black and brown. How can you purport to create messages that speak to diverse populations if management and the majority of your employees come from a homogenous pool? If the agencies and media properties that they advertise in do not quickly begin to reflect the population outside of their offices these organizations will have more to worry about more than profit margins and compensation. The issue will then be their ultimate survival. Mariama Todd Meredith Corporation — NY, NY

>Well, hope this trend changes in the future. This is quite disheartening for students in MBA programs who do not care about the pay package, but who enter advertising for the love of the profession. I’ve worked as a Senior Account Manager in advertising firms in India for 3 years, working for the likes of Mediaedge and Universal McCann and have just moved into the Temple MBA Program last year, and my hope was to get into the advertising industry as soon as I graduated. I hope this trend changes a bit. This is the 1st article I’ve read today morning and I feel really down:( — Philadelphia, PA

>I’m a 55-year-old Latino marketing executive with 30 years of in house positions under my belt. The few times during my career when I did interview with agencies (admittedly I stopped interviewing with agencies in the mid-80’s) the response I got was perfunctory and dismissive. There were never any other minorities in the agencies ostensibly interviewing me, and I wondered why they had bothered to talk to me at all — then I remembered I probably helped their EEO/AA reporting. Sounds like the industry has not changed much. kenpodo@aol.com — GARDEN CITY, NY

>Great article and something that I have been complaining about to my peers for quite some time. It’s not like multicultural employees cannot contribute to a general market audience. I actually wrote a short rant about this very topic on my blog a while back and got engaged in some intense discussion with a handful of creative folk on Adrants. The following is a copy of the article: So ... here I am going through my daily Adrants email when I came upon the headline: “White” agencies are biased, greedy, stupid. Of course in order for this to be the first non-agency post on my site it must have been something that really burns my ass. Firstly, why are there multicultural agencies in the first place? If there is ever going to be racial equality or one America, shouldn’t we first be able to hire multicultural people to do general market advertising? Let’s think about this for a minute, would agency A (white agency) have to hire agency B (multicultural agency) to do a promotion for a hispanic market product if we had the same multicultural people in creative and planning positions in agency A? Which at that point would just be called an “ad agency” — go figure. Does this continued polarization of the American public have to be aided by the so called ad agencies and media of the country? Although done innocently. And it’s not only the “white” agencies’ fault, I know I couldn’t get a job at one of the multinational agencies in Miami if I didn’t speak spanish, now what am I to do if I wanted the multinational agency experience, and the multicultural agencies don’t want to hire me because I don’t fit into that exact multicultural target. And multinationals just don’t hire the multicultural staff (some less than others). Be it because of available talent or necessity. I love when people rant on about all the issues but continue to proliferate the issues, by further segmenting the problem, why can’t we just come up with a possible and optimistic solution. Its like religion (I know I shouldn’t go there, but I am), how many new churches open up every day by someone who says I know a better way, my translation of the word of God in whatever denomination is right and a bunch of people go off and follow. Is that really spreading the good news or further segmenting that particular religion? Can’t we just try to fix the problem inside whatever place of worship or agency we are involved in, instead of forcing people to go off and create their “own” thing to target their “own” people. Isn’t “own” a pretty selfish word? (own — adj. Of or belonging to oneself or itself). Let’s take for instance Trinidad, the country is made pretty much up of 39.6% African and 40.3% East Indian. But yet there is not a separate advertisement for East Indians and Africans. Hmmmm, why is that? Should they now have an East Indian Ad agency and an African agency as well? When can we as a people learn that people are people, we have different backgrounds and cultures but we all exist on the same planet and have to interact with each other daily, we all eat very similar foods (although we try to say we don’t), and listen to very similar music (although we try to say we don’t). I heard a “white” guy blaring “Laffy Taffy” in his chrome rimmed car. And I love Gretchen Wilson’s “All jacked up” and I am black. Can we all just get along? Can there be an agency that does just as targeted work for the hispanic as they do for the caucasian? Can an agency have a multicultural ECD and a caucasian CD? Can a multicultural agency wrap itself into an already established multinational (which should equal to multicultural)? Don’t we all have the same cable companies that offer pretty much the same shows — so the hispanic and the african american is watching the same Desperate Housewives episode (I know I tune in for Eva, and Nicollette) Does an african american show always have to be a comedy? Don’t get me wrong the shows are good, but come on ... every show! Does COPS always have to show “poor” black, white and hispanic people? Common denominator here “poor.” At least here it’s not a race thing! o.k. I’m done for now. Got that off my chest ... thanks, Hadji. So here is my solution, as I believe firmly in the saying if you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem. Can we get one multinational agency to hire multicultural staff and offer the client (remember the people you are trying to do the best work for) a multicultural creative offering that appeals to everyone all in house? Sorry, had to look up multicultural because I forgot what it really meant: mul·ti·cul·tur·al Pronunciation Key (mlt-klchr-l, -t-) adj. — Of, relating to, or including several cultures. Since when did culture mean only hispanic/african american and asian? Regards, chief creative altruist — Fort Lauderdale, FL

>There may be some continuing truth to Harold Levine’s experience in the ‘60s -- shops further afield from the historical center of the industry, either psychologically or geographically, seem to be more open environments. Our agency of 30-some people in Cleveland, Ohio has hired African Americans, Indians and Pakistanis in recent years, simply because they were talented people who we believed could help us do better work. And that, after all, is the real issue every agency should be concerned with. By the way, I also agree with Jack Lindgren -- of more than 100 advertising students I have taught at a large public university in the last three years, only three have been minority students. Incidentally, two of those three were among the most talented students I’ve had the pleasure to know. — Cleveland, OH

>This is a sad, but sobering article. My personal experience as a minority seeking employment in the advertising industry has been full of challenges and some questionable situations. Unfortunately, this is the state we are in and I feel many talented persons have been lost to other industries because of racism. Another great source on this topic is a discussion on NPR.org. Ed Gordon’s News and Notes June 13th show “Black Voices missing on Madison Avenue” examines the issue deeply and references Allen Pugh, Vice President of GlobalHue. Continue to encourage open dialogue and God Bless. — Cincinnati, OH