Advertising Age Editor Jeanine Poggi spoke with Translation CEO Steve Stoute, recording and posting a video of the conversation.
The final 3-4 minutes are definitely worth viewing, as Poggi probes Stoute for his thoughts on diversity in Adland. When asked what he thinks it will take to make progress, Stoute replied:
“Real accountability. Real, real accountability. Not convenient accountability. Not having [or] hiring a Black person that’s the DEI person and then saying the DEI person is there to police it.
“Diversity and inclusion starts with the CEO. And if a company needs to hire a DEI officer, it’s because they need to police themselves—and that’s a problem.
“The CEO’s job is to hire and bring forth a culture in which diversity is par for the course. It’s how we hire… it’s how we build the organization… it’s what you demand. And if you have to bring in someone to police that, I don’t believe that’s gonna necessarily change anything because they’re policing you. And holding you accountable for what you should be doing anyway. It should be in your heart. It should be part of your fabric. I just believe that.
“So, unless the brands again hold their partners accountable for this, I don’t think anything changes in any seismic way. Having one or two Black people or woman that you can bring to a meeting to say, “Look, we’re diverse…” I mean, that trick is old. And I still see it happening in meetings that I go to. It’s diversity to say that you’re diverse—not diversity because you believe in it as a value within your organization.”
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