5068: Views From The Hill.

Advertising Age interviewed new 4As CEO Nancy Hill. In the discussion, Hill made a few interesting remarks. Here are two excerpts:

Ad Age: What might you be able to bring to the role as a woman that perhaps your predecessors could not?

Ms. Hill: Honestly, I don’t think it’s a gender issue. What I probably bring that my predecessors do not is my experience at a variety of different agencies. I’ve worked in digital, I’ve worked in every type of media. It’s less about what I bring from a gender standpoint than what I bring from a background standpoint.

Ad Age: One big issue that comes to mind is minority hiring. Any thoughts on how the 4A’s can help to improve the industry’s track record?

Ms. Hill: The 4A’s has done a lot already, like the minority internship program I was talking about that we not only fund but make sure the agencies are involved in, and also the scholarships at the portfolio schools. There are many other things that we are looking at, including mentorship programs and partnerships at universities.

The last answer sounds like Hill was reading from one of O. Burtch Drake’s old cue cards. It’s still too early to tell exactly what Hill might bring to the party in the area of industry diversity. As mentioned previously, the solutions have to cover more than recruiting students. Hill boasts having a résumé that goes beyond traditional advertising to include digital and new media. Let’s hope she can move beyond the traditional clichéd tactics to eliminate the exclusivity on Madison Avenue.