Sunday, October 17, 2010

8073: Upholding The Marketers’ Constitution…?


At Advertising Age, ANA President-CEO Bob Liodice concluded his Top Ten series with a column titled, “10 Heroes of ‘Marketers Constitution’ Uphold Tenets of Successful Marketing.” According to the column, “At ANA’s annual Masters of Marketing conference, we underscored the enduring importance of these principles by honoring 10 companies and their marketing leaders that have effectively embraced one of the tenets of the Marketers’ Constitution.” The following excerpt is worth examining:

7. Marketing professionals must become better, highly skilled, diverse leaders.
At Johnson & Johnson, diversity and inclusion are more than just company values—they’re competitive advantages. As one of America’s most enlightened and diverse companies, Johnson & Johnson deserves our utmost respect, and we are delighted to honor its CMO, Brian Perkins, and its chief diversity officer, Anthony Carter, as the heroes of this Marketers’ Constitution tenet.

Okey-doke. But at some point, if clients are going to embrace diversity, shouldn’t they also apply the same standards of excellence to their partners—namely, their advertising agencies? How can advertisers continue to practice the hypocrisy of conspiring with White agencies where inclusion is invisible and exclusion thrives?

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