12536: BHM 2015—Howard University.

The New York Times reported Howard University students and faculty are celebrating Black History Month by adding Black history content to Wikipedia. No word if the entries will include commentary showing Black advertising and Black advertising agencies are becoming history. And whatever happened to the professional development and research center that Howard University launched to help diversify the advertising industry?

Howard University Fills in Wikipedia’s Gaps in Black History

By Jada F. Smith

WASHINGTON — Wikipedia is a vast ocean of erudition, with entries on virtually every subject, obscure to earth-shattering, and, it may seem, every human being of even vague renown. It is also, its leaders concede, very white.

“The stereotype of a Wikipedia editor is a 30-year-old white man, and so most of the articles written are about stuff that interests 30-year-old white men,” said James Hare, president of Wikimedia D.C., the local branch of the foundation that runs Wikipedia. “So a lot of black history is left out.”

Students and faculty members at Howard University, one of the nation’s pre-eminent historically black higher education institutions, set out Thursday to fill in the gaps. With Black History Month upon them, they camped out at a Howard research center that houses one of the world’s largest repositories of Africana and African diaspora information and, over coffee and pizza, worked to add some tint to Wikipedia’s white.

“You’d think that, ‘Oh, Wikipedia has articles on everything,’ but for anything having to do with a marginalized community, there’s a lot of gaps,” Mr. Hare said.

Both academics and researchers working with the foundation agree that the online encyclopedia suffers from a dearth of information about black history, too often petering out when the topics extend past the well-known names and events of slavery and the civil rights movement. In the Internet age, this is no trivial matter: To many people, a topic does not exist if it does not have a Wikipedia page.

The foundation is hoping to fill in the blanks by hosting events like the one on Thursday throughout February, soliciting expertise and institutional knowledge from places like Howard; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in New York; and National Public Radio.

The organizing team came up with a list of entries that needed to be expanded, like those about Myra Adele Logan, the first woman to perform open-heart surgery, and Mildred Blount, a fashion designer who dressed celebrities in the 1940s and designed the hats worn in “Gone With the Wind.” They also began creating entries for topics that were completely absent from the Wikipedia database, like Beth A. Brown, a former astrophysicist at NASA, and Farish Street, a hub for black businesses in Jackson, Miss., that thrived until the 1970s.

Meta DuEwa Jones, an English professor at Howard who participated in the editing event, often teaches the poems of the Dark Room Collective, a group of poets that scholars have called as significant to the writing world as the New York School and the Black Arts Movement. There are pages on Wikipedia for more than 50 artist collectives, including lengthy entries for the New York School and the Black Arts Movement. The Dark Room Collective is not there, “even though they specifically changed the face of African-American literature and contemporary literature in the ’80s and ’90s,” Ms. Jones said.

“It’s not just a problem that it’s not on Wikipedia — it’s also a possibility,” she added hopefully as the team set out to craft an entry.

She and students from disciplines ranging from fine arts to biology expanded pages about authors, scholars and even the research center they were working in, called Moorland-Spingarn.

Of course, Wikipedia is not always a welcomed presence in a scholarly community tired of research papers crafted more by Google searches than by hard slogs through primary sources. Some professors remain skeptical about the site’s community editing process and criteria for sourcing.

Still, some of those professors, like Joshua Myers, acknowledge that Wikipedia has become an almost inevitable research tool for undergraduate students. He said he had come on Thursday to help make it a good starting point, at least, for more in-depth research.

“They’re using these articles as the beginning and the end,” Mr. Myers said, shaking his head. “If it can be a point of departure, then it can become useful.”

11719: HBCU WTF.

From DiversityInc…

A ‘Giant’ Fail

By Albert Lin

Imagine the surprise of Howard University students when the circular for the local branch of Giant grocery store welcomed them back to school following the winter break with an image of a white woman.

One of the nation’s best known Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)—U.S. News ranks it the No. 3 HBCU in the country—Howard has a student body is overwhelmingly Black. Of the 1,089 graduating seniors who responded to the school’s undergraduate exit survey in 2013, 84.6 percent identified themselves as African-American and another 6.1 percent identified as African. The number of white students in the class? Four—not 4 percent, just four (0.37 percent). (Although the number of white students is increasing at HBCUs across the country.)

The circular was for the chain’s City Market at O location near the Howard campus, which is the city’s largest supermarket. A spokesperson for the chain told Washington Business Journal, “Unfortunately an incorrect stock photo was used in the ad and we apologize for this oversight. We wish all Howard University students a successful semester.”

Reaction on Twitter appeared more bemused than angry, with users pointing out the error but not leveling charges of racism.

Confusing matters is that the subsidiary that owns the D.C. Giant (Giant Food) is not on Twitter, and the complaints instead were going to a Pennsylvania unit (Giant Food Stores) that had nothing to do with the ad.

10485: Imparting Wisdom On I’mpart.

Wanted to briefly comment on the I’mpart initiative. While the Advertising Club of New York deserves kudos for “raising the issue of diversity in our business,” it’s always amazing to see yet another industry entity delivering the same clichéd solution. That is, everyone winds up tossing a seemingly large wad of money primarily at inner-city youth. This phenomenon has been repeatedly discussed here here here here here here before.

Granted, $700,000 is a decent chunk of change. But it helps to put things in financial perspective. First, the New York Times indicated the loot would be divided among at least five diversity-friendly efforts. Second, when the Center for Advertising Excellence at Howard University’s John H. Johnson School of Communications launched in 2009, program officials estimated success would require $1 million annually. Third, $700,000 translates to roughly 2-3 creative director salaries on Madison Avenue.

The following suggestion has also been repeatedly discussed here here here before. Specifically, exclusive enterprises like the Advertising Club of New York should create and fund educational courses targeting the over-served White advertising agency veterans. Recruiting minority youngsters won’t reap long-term benefits unless work environments undergo intellectual and spiritual enlightenment, becoming more inviting to non-Whites. In short, today’s Mad Men must replace their cultural cluelessness with cultural competence.

9464: Seeking Advertising Talent In China.

Advertising Age reported on the apparent dearth of qualified advertising talent in China. WPP is responding with the launch of a 3-year college program designed to create a fresh crop of skilled Chinese adpeople. Gee, what an original idea. Perhaps students will be inspired to write a thesis on the classic Calgon commercial. BTW, is WPP also scouring the low-income sections of Shanghai for prospective employees? The holding company should integrate a student exchange program with Howard University. Maybe The One Club will stage a “Where Are All The Chinese People?” event. Or TORCH could introduce TORCHINA—Together Our Resources Can Help In Nations Abroad. Expect the 4As to jump on the bandwagon with a new MAIP—Mandarin Advertising Intern Program. Meanwhile, look for Tiffany R. Warren to hand an ADCOLOR® Award to Jackie Chan. And somebody better bring in a Chinese interpreter to translate when Dan Wieden declares, “Now that’s fucked up!”

7596: Diversity Dollars Or Dimes?

From Advertising Age…

Too Few Diversity Dollars on Madison Avenue

Progress Is Being Made, but ‘Shoestring’ Budgets Spread Out Over Uncoordinated Efforts Hold Back Improvement

By Kunur Patel

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The ad industry has grown a little more comfortable talking about a diversity problem as old as the industry itself, but is it putting its money where its mouth is? The good news: Money is flowing into diversity efforts. The bad news: Critics describe it more as a trickle—and one so spread out it dissipates before it can make a long-lasting impact.

The efforts look like a lot on paper and include roundtables with clients on the intricacies of minority markets, executive councils, training, recruitment, partnerships with minority universities and programs from most of the leading trade organizations.

“I’m happy you’re interested in what we’re doing, not what we’re not doing,” said Sandra Sims-Williams, chair for Publicis Groupe’s diversity council. Publicis Groupe sends dozens of employee women of color, as well as some clients, to a conference to develop leadership skills. Add to those commitments executives’ time and providing space for diversity programs.

But recruiting programs and professional-development courses have been around since the 1960s. And still, civil-rights lawyer Cyrus Mehri has rustled up enough instances of discrimination to file charges with U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a step toward a class-action suit against the ad industry.

So why are the programs falling? It might have to do with money.

Coming up short
In December, Howard University, in partnership with the 4A’s, launched a program to train midlevel minority managers to make lateral moves into agencies. The program is under way with 27 students—the second class was held at Grey, New York, last week and another class is slated at JWT. But all this is happening on almost half the planned budget.

The 4A’s made a commitment to contribute $250,000 annually for five years to Howard’s Center for Excellence in Advertising, which the university and trade organization co-founded to increase the number of African-Americans at agencies, as long as Howard could raise $750,000. Last year, the program came up short of that goal with $300,000, of which Dan Wieden alone gave $100,000. The remainder doesn’t seem like too much for the Big Four holding companies to pony up, although their 4A’s membership fees make up some of the 4A’s contribution.

That’s not to ignore that 2009 was an undeniably tough year for agencies and trade organizations. One example: The One Club ended its relationship with Julius Dunn’s Adversity program designed to educate minority youth about careers in creative departments. One Club President Kevin Swanepoel attributes that split to tough economic times, though says other diversity programs are under way.

The Marcus Graham Project launched a pilot boot camp last summer for seven black men between the ages of 18 and 34 to build skills in advertising and is also gearing up to raise money for a second boot camp, social networks aimed at mentorships and various other initiatives. Funding meetings with the Big Four holding companies haven’t happened yet, but they’ll need to soon.

“All these programs have been done on a shoestring budget,” said Lincoln Stephens, founder of the Marcus Graham Project. “Right now we’re in a crucial phase. We have interest from the audience we serve, but in order to grow, we need the right sponsorships from agencies and corporations that see a value in what we’re doing.”

Penalties
One reason Mr. Stephens has faith he’ll find funding for his effort is he’s gone out and proved his approach before seeking money from the majors. “I’ve done amazing things with no money,” said Mr. Stephens. “I’d like to demonstrate to people what we can do if we had a budget.”

Funding such groups isn’t the only way holding companies and agencies are using money to tackle the diversity problem. At Interpublic, failure to meet diversity objectives on hiring, promotions and retention means cuts in executive incentive pay—and that’s meant real money lost for a number of execs.

And the holding company, while it supports other causes, sees more value in fighting the battle on its own turf. “Our agencies and IPG support the industry’s many worthwhile initiatives, especially the long-term pipeline programs, but this is a fight that will be won on the agency level, where the actual hiring, retention and promotion opportunities exist. We invest substantially in our internal programs, because they make a real difference in the day-to-day lives of our people,” said Heide Gardner, chief diversity and inclusion officer at IPG.

At Omnicom, BBDO’s minority-education fund has meant 220 internship and scholarships totaling $885,000 since 2000, and DDB’s diversity scholarship fund granted $250,000 to 50 students.

But scholarships can only go so far, especially when split up over time and large numbers of students. Consider: One quarter at Miami Ad School for art director or copywriting is $4,350 in tuition—or $34,800 in total tuition for the two-year diploma program. Of course, there are cheaper programs to be had at city and state universities, many of which have solid undergraduate programs.

Not enough change
“People genuinely want a program like ours to succeed. Build it, and we’ll come,” said Adrianne C. Smith, executive director, Center for Excellence in Advertising at Howard University. “The more successful we are, the more the agencies want to help,” she added. “We have support, but they don’t want to do the heavy lifting alone.”

Yet between the scholarships and mentoring and award shows, agency C-suites and the upper levels of creative departments don’t reflect anything but the good old (white) boys club.

Can money be the only thing to blame?

“We are short on the money,” said Publicis Groupe’s Ms. Sims-Williams. “But even when I look at our clients that have much more money flowing into diversity, it doesn’t always work.”

What Ms. Sims-Williams—and many others—see a need for is some sort of cohesion—or at least a comprehensive approach to the various programs available. “A solution is bringing these collective groups together to develop a full strategy,” she said.

“I don’t think throwing more money at [diversity] is the solution,” said Nancy Hill, CEO of the 4A’s. “I think it takes coordinated efforts, so that anyone that raises their hand and is talented gets mentored all the way through into agencies.”

Ultimately, the money “doesn’t matter unless somebody knows how to put the pieces together,” said Ms. Hill.

7145: Advertising Week Tweak Five.

Earlier in the week, Ad Age editor Ken Wheaton posted a perspective on creating a Mad Men knock-off starring minority cast members to attract people of color to the industry. The idea came up during a meeting at Advertising Week. Although MultiCultClassics and others submitted comments at AdAge.com, it seemed appropriate to embellish on the thoughts here as well.

As Wheaton pointed out, the notion is not original. Marc Brownstein suggested something similar back in 2006—before Mad Men even aired—and MultiCultClassics blasted him for his cultural cluelessness.

There are plenty of reasons to question the concept. Despite the popularity of Mad Men, the advertising industry has rarely been a successful vehicle for a series. It’s not like medical dramas, courtroom proceedings or detective adventures. Contrary to the insistence of self-absorbed adfolks, as a TV subject matter, we just ain’t that interesting.

The people making the proposal also cite the career-influencing power of Darrin Stephens in Bewitched. They are usually completely oblivious to characters like Marcus Graham in the iconic Boomerang, thinking no colored people—besides Putney Swope—have ever been depicted in an ad agency.

Additionally, a colored version of Mad Men would ironically pale in comparison to the real deal—almost similar to the way minority shops are viewed as wannabes versus the general market agencies.

Besides, aren’t there already enough efforts designed to lure minority youth? From internships to Adversity, the kids are covered. Can we please stop focusing all our energy on wooing students from the inner city? And if you really believe a Mad Men knock-off would also lure minority mid- to senior-level executives, well, that is Pollyannaish.

Stocking up on seasoned minorities continues to be a conveniently forgotten issue. Plus, it’s pretty sad that anyone would think of financing an entertainment vehicle while the Howard University initiative struggles to collect necessary funding.

Finally, these types of pipe dreams ignore the true problem. Madison Avenue doesn’t need a fantasy program to charm minorities. Rather, Whites in our industry need to be reprogrammed in order to establish an environment where minorities feel welcome. Of course, Whites will overreact to that statement, believing they’re being labeled as racist. That’s not the case at all. But they have repeatedly demonstrated—and openly admitted—that they are clueless about cultures outside of their own. It’s not minorities who must change; instead, it’s the ruling majority.

Madison Avenue must stop emulating Mad Men.

6751: CEA Needs CashCall.com…?

Just wanted to quickly comment about the Advertising Age story on the Center for Advertising Excellence at Howard University’s John H. Johnson School of Communications.

The CEA requires a $1 million annual budget to execute its goals. The 4As pledged financial support to the tune of $250,000 per year—and emotional support in the efforts to raise the additional $750,000 annually. However, the 4As payments are contingent upon the CEA’s success in collecting $750k yearly. To date, the CEA has netted over $270,000, spiked by a $100,000 donation from Wieden + Kennedy.

As always, any contribution made toward creating a more inclusive industry is commendable. Yet we can’t help but think the scenario is another symbol of Madison Avenue’s penchant for delegating diversity—and displaying a lack of true commitment to progress.

For starters, the CEA appears to be a collaborative initiative between the 4As and Howard University, but it really isn’t. Sources claim officials from the historically-Black institution hatched the idea and sold it to former 4As honcho O. Burtch Drake. So it sorta looks like outsiders developed a solution and must also act as fundraisers to make it happen.

That aside, the struggle to acquire $750,000 is disturbing, even in these lousy economic times. Indeed, it’s pretty outrageous when considering the following factoids:

• Omnicom leader John Wren—who allegedly demanded his agencies come into compliance with the pacts signed with New York City’s Commission on Human Rights—recently nabbed a bonus of $25 million. Incidentally, Wren’s agencies failed to meet his mandate, and the shops boast the worst hiring records of the bunch.

• IPG leader Michael Roth enjoyed a 21 percent increase in his over $11 million annual salary. And his cronies grabbed wads of loot too.

• Doner in Detroit supposedly owes ex-employee John DeCerchio $55 million.

• Leo Burnett paid $15.5 million to settle a lawsuit charging the shop overbilled the U.S. Army.

Meanwhile, the industry pours money into spectacles such as the irrelevant CLIO Awards, handing trophies to Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner and NBA bad boy Mark Cuban. And how much cash will be burned at the Cannes International Advertising Festival?

Agencies nationwide allocate serious resources to boost digital capabilities, while offering mere shillings to boost diversity. Why?

Hell, Dan Wieden coughed up $100,000, and he’s neither a 4As cardholder or among the 16 agencies working with the NYCCHR.

Madison Avenue recruits other people to fix its exclusivity problems, then ducks out when the freelancers’ bill arrives. Expect the next player in this continuing drama to be Gary Coleman.

6748: Center For Advertising Excellence Hype.

From AdAge.com…

Howard, 4A’s Kick Off Fundraising Efforts for New Center
Center for Excellence in Advertising Launches First Classes This Fall

By Marissa Miley

Diversifying the agency world is the common goal, but what the Madison Avenue Project is doing with legal threats, the Center for Advertising Excellence at Howard University’s John H. Johnson School of Communications is doing by collaboration. As the CEA celebrated its inaugural major fundraising event yesterday in Manhattan, it demonstrated its focus on building partnerships with advertising execs, not bulldozing ahead with potential lawsuits.

“I hope the CEA is the last diversity initiative to be created,” said newly appointed executive director Adrianne Smith, a 15-year veteran of the industry. “This should be the last stop.”

The CEA was co-founded last year by Howard University and the 4A’s to increase the numbers of African-Americans at advertising agencies, particularly in middle- and high-ranking roles. It was a vision years in the making, said Jannette L. Dates, dean of the Johnson School of Communications. The 4A’s approved its funding for the CEA in February 2008, and the program officially launched last September.

The 4A’s pledged $250,000 to the CEA for the next five years to get the program off the ground and vowed to work with the organization to raise an additional $750,000 each year. (The 4A’s continued support is contingent upon the CEA’s ability to meet the rest of its $1 million annual budget.) So far this year, the CEA has reached over $270,000 of this fundraising goal, said Ms. Smith, thanks to a $100,000 donation made by Wieden & Kennedy announced yesterday, and additional support from over 20 agencies and companies.

In its first year in operation, the CEA fleshed out its professional education program and hired Ms. Smith, who came on board in March. It plans to kick off its first academic modules this fall. Among the pilot programs: “Moving up in Advertising,” “Building Diverse Management Teams,” and “Making a Lateral Move in Advertising.” While the program is based on Howard’s campus in Washington, modules will be held around the country from Los Angeles to New York, depending on “what makes sense,” Ms. Dates said.

“This year we want to get more legs under us, get the modules up and running, and bring on more partners,” she said.

With those goals in mind, the CEA is taking cues from Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” presidential campaign—quite literally. At yesterday’s fundraising event, Mr. Obama’s 2008 chief campaign manager, David Plouffe, shared how he relied on a diverse team to lead an unprecedented political effort.

The crowd—a blend of folks from general agencies, multicultural agencies and Howard University—seemed optimistic and lively.

David Prince, VP-talent management at the 4A’s, said the CEA was not out to point fingers about past discrimination but to “hold up those who are doing things right” and work with these agents of change to “push diversification forward.”

6526: Outliers And Out-And-Out Liars.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell is a complex book that doesn’t always appear comfortable with its topic of exploration. Comprised of nine chapters spread across two parts, along with an introduction and epilogue, Gladwell’s bestseller bounces through a series of observations and musings about the things that make certain people extraordinarily successful.

What leads to success? Gladwell believes it’s a combination of opportunity, culture, practice, access, family, class, geography and more. “It’s not enough to ask what successful people are like,” says Gladwell. “It is only by asking where they are from that we can unravel the logic behind who succeeds and who doesn’t.”

This is not an easy book to describe. So we won’t bother trying. For a general overview, check out what Time published. To contrast all the gushing, read the New York Times critique. A taped presentation can be viewed via CNN with Anderson Cooper. And Rochelle Newman-Carrasco delivered a brilliant perspective with relevance to multicultural marketing at The Big Tent.

MultiCultClassics will merely touch on a few advertising-related points inspired by the book.

Gladwell introduced the 10,000-Hour Rule, claiming studies show the key to success in most fields is not rooted in talent. It’s merely practice—10,000 hours over a 10-year stretch. This poses challenges for those seeking to jump-start diversity in our industry. For example, part of the Howard University initiative hopes to train Black executives in other professions for transitions to Madison Avenue. Now the skeptics and realists alike have reason to doubt the quick success of the endeavor. Gladwell almost supports the Bendick and Egan Economic Consultants, Inc. report, which stated the current pace of progress means “eliminating today’s Black under-utilization will require 71 years, or until the year 2079.”

Gladwell contends that one’s background and culture definitely influence victory. This likely explains the exclusivity on Madison Avenue. If you’re a member of the privileged elite, and you’re a White male, a rewarding career awaits. The alternative cultures get shipped to thriving roles in the mailroom.

MultiCultClassics proposes a sequel to Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.

6522: Culturally Clueless FAQs—Number 11.

Question: OK, I confess. I’m culturally clueless. So how can I become less clueless—where can I get a clue or two?

Answer: Congratulations. You’ve taken the biggest step by admitting you have a problem. Most adpeople afflicted by cultural cluelessness go through their entire professional lives denying the symptoms, or remaining completely oblivious to the infirmities.

Alas, there’s no easy answer to this query. You can begin by reviewing the previous Culturally Clueless FAQs. Then consider the following brainstorm of suggestions.

Lots of folks believe the solution to the global dilemma involves educating minorities. So they’ll launch programs to school schoolkids, college students and mid-level executives. This is all good and fine and necessary. But maybe it’s time to create curriculum for the culturally clueless. This audience clearly needs education and enlightenment. Let’s bus the Whites to Morehouse and Howard University for some serious immersion.

For those more inclined to study at home, regularly check out these online tutorials:

The Big Tent
The Franklin Blog
The Future Is Bright
Kiss My Black Ads
Knock The Hustle
Madison Ave New
The Marcus Graham Project
Mi Blog Es Tu Blog
Prostituted Thoughts
Racialicious
The Root
Sociological Images: Seeing Is Believing

(The sources noted above are only a sampling. Apologies to everyone not mentioned.)

There are endless educational opportunities. Catch the latest Tyler Perry movie. Attend a diversity job fair. Peruse Essence or Latina. Read Michael Eric Dyson or Cornel West. Support a minority-owned business. Nearly every major newspaper features cultural columnists—start scanning their perspectives. Examine multicultural marketing projects. Listen to recording artists beyond Josh Groban.

While many of these recommendations are Black-focused, don’t limit your training. Be diverse. The idea is to step outside of your cultural comfort zone. Get a clue.

Change has come to America. But it took a detour around Madison Avenue. While citizens have adopted phrases like “post-racial,” the advertising industry operates in a pre-Civil Rights time warp. Whenever the topics of diversity and inclusion appear, ad executives consistently display stunning ignorance. MultiCultClassics has sought to address the issues in the past. However, the matters have evolved along with society, despite Madison Avenue’s retarded development. As a public service, this blog will answer a series of Frequently Asked Questions to enlighten the asses… er, masses.

5581: Executive Education 101.

Q. How do you get Adweek to publish news about diversity?

A. Seed the info into a special advertising section.

Not sure who bankrolled the insert, as it covers executive education—which is almost an oxymoron in our learning-resistant industry. The piece highlights the partnership between the 4As and Howard University.

“It’s become increasingly difficult to identify, recruit and nurture talented people with a bent toward creativity,” said 4As President and CEO Nancy Hill. “And I think the advertising industry needs to start fishing in a different pond. We need to cast a wider net to make sure we, as an industry, represent the diversity in our society. This partnership isn’t going to be solely about what people look like. It will be about their points of view and the skill sets they can bring to the table.” Of course, Hill failed to note the increased difficulty is rooted in a tradition of executives ignoring, rejecting and dissuading talented people.

4As Washington representative Adonis Hoffman, who played a leading role in orchestrating the initiative, said success demands full support from agency honchos. “Ultimately, what it will come down to is having CEOs out there issuing the mandate to their staffs and to their boards and to their recruiting firms that if the appropriate African American or Hispanic or Asian comes along and possesses all the right skills for leadership, that person must be hired,” declared Hoffman. “Otherwise, we’re just talking about it, and it’s all academic.” Um, somebody tell Hoffman that possessing all the right skills has never been a prerequisite for landing a job on Madison Avenue.

Finally, check out the advertisement hyping the Howard University program. Yes, you too can climb from your cubicle to a corner office. Ironically, the depicted figure is White.

5466: Adweek Continues Diversity-Free Streak.

Adweek.com published Lowe CCO Mark Wnek’s mindless musings on the recent 4As Leadership Conference. True to form, there were zero mentions of the new diversity initiative from the 4As and Howard University. Technically, Lowe is not among the agencies that signed a pact with New York City’s Commission on Human Rights, so perhaps Wnek is representing his company’s ignorance on the issue too (it should also be noted that Lowe is a former employer of 4As President-CEO Nancy Hill). The story was titled, “There Are No Rock Stars Here.” There probably were no minorities too.

5463: How Howard Helps.

From AdAge.com…

How Howard Will Help Agencies Diversify
4A’s Pledges Money and Manpower to New Center at Historically Black School

By Megan McIlroy

NEW YORK -- Late last month, Nancy Hill, the new president-CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, stood in a conference room in a hotel in Laguna Niguel, Calif., and made what could go down as an important announcement in industry race relations. That the makeup of the 300 or so ad execs in the audience was just about completely white was the long and the short of the problem.

Madison Avenue has made some progress dealing with a much-criticized deficiency by finding more entry-level minority recruits to fill its cubicles. But things are no different when it comes to the question of who’s occupying the corner offices.

“The advertising industry has been very good at getting junior-level people of color into the industry, but the problem has been keeping them there,” said Adonis Hoffman, senior VP-legal counsel for the 4A’s.

The 4A’s is now grappling with that problem through a partnership with historically black Howard University. It aims to end the shortage of African-American executives in the ad business with a professional-development and research center at the university’s John H. Johnson School of Communications.

The 4A’s is contributing $250,000 and has pledged to help raise $750,000 annually for the center, in addition to providing leadership and financial support to develop its curriculum, research and programming. The 4A’s also will help staff a board of directors for the center with senior-level representatives from its membership.

Progress reports
“It’s a start,” said Carol Watson, president of minority-recruitment firm Tangerine Watson, adding that agencies also have a role in this partnership. “It will be up to Howard to not only show that they are providing the right resources but also up to the individual agencies to step up.”

The announcement comes weeks after the New York City Commission on Human Rights gave yearly progress reports on 15 New York advertising agencies that were subpoenaed about hiring and diversity practices. Though the majority of agencies being investigated met the minority goals they set for themselves, some didn’t. And what’s more, African-American and Hispanic hires lagged behind Asian-Americans, and some agencies seemed to lose minority hires almost as soon as they got them.

Some diversity advocates have criticized agencies and the commission for not setting specific goals for African-American hires and promotions, since the lack of African-Americans was what prompted the commission’s investigation in the first place. Though the new center is not just attempting to resolve diversity issues in New York City agencies, it will certainly be an ally in this fight.

“There is a lot of churn in the industry because there is not a feeling of being welcomed,” said Jannette Dates, dean of Howard’s school of communications. “[People of color] do not see people who look like them at senior or middle levels.

“On a lot of levels, this is one of the first times that the 4A’s has stepped up to say, ‘We believe in diversity, and we want to put some money behind our thinking,’” she said. “This is going to be transformative for the industry.”

Potential students
The goals of the center are to provide professional development and leadership training to people of color in middle ranks and above; to develop research and policy; to increase retention and create promotion opportunities; and to develop and measure best practices and solutions to increase diversity.

Potential students could be C-suite executives looking to diversify their agencies; African-American ad professionals looking to further develop their careers; managers looking to increase productivity; mid- to senior-level African-American professionals transitioning into advertising; and other historically black colleges looking to assist in strengthening the diversity of the work force.

The center will be based on Howard’s campus in Washington, but the aim is to provide professional development for agencies, both big networks and small independents, around the country. Though the details of the curriculum have yet to be determined, it is possible the program will include some kind of digital component that will allow people to get training online, a 4A’s spokesman said.

The joint venture has been in the works for more than a year, since April 2007, when a 4A’s task force chaired by Eugene Faison, chairman-CEO of Equals Three Communications, began considering the proposal for the center from Howard.

Top priority
So far, the partnership has been well-received by the industry. “This initiative is desperately needed,” said recruiter Sharon Spielman, managing director at Jerry Fields and Associates. “We are desperately missing [diversity] at that middle- to upper-level management.”

However, not everyone thinks it goes far enough. The blog MultiCultClassics said the initial monetary contribution should be bigger, though it need not all come out of 4A’s coffers. Agencies could peg their levels of contribution to their size, a “diversity tax.” The blog also said diversity is something Ms. Hill has to take on as a top priority, becoming something of a “chief diversity officer.”

“Resist the temptation to pass the buck, dodge the drama or delegate the authority to a friendly minority. Immerse yourself in the complex, emotional, maddening mess our industry has allowed to fester for generations -- and strive to solve it.”

Just a few months into her tenure, it’s clear Ms. Hill is making diversity a front-and-center issue. The Howard partnership was her first big announcement, and for the most part it’s getting good initial marks.

Well-regarded school
One of the most promising components of this 4A’s initiative is that it brings a university with a good reputation in the ad business into the fight for more minorities in the ad business. While the first place agencies might go to recruit talent might be Virginia Commonwealth University’s AdCenter or the University of Texas at Austin, Howard University’s communications school is well-regarded in the industry. The university is known to have a big database of professionals that are working in the industry, and among the 103 historically black colleges and universities in the country, Howard’s advertising program is the best-known, according to recruiters.

“They have probably the largest percentage of people in the business,” Ms. Watson said.

What’s more, Howard’s communications school has had success with this type of professional-development partnership in the past. For almost 10 years, the school has partnered with the National Association of Broadcasters to develop an annual media-sales institute, a 10-day workshop designed to introduce graduates to media-sales careers. According to Howard, more than 90% of media-sales-institute graduates wind up in the field.

“It’s commendable that [agencies] are hiring more people of color, but you still have to look at the challenge of African-American,” said the 4A’s Mr. Hoffman. “That’s what the Howard University initiative addresses in very straightforward way.”

5453: Yo Comment.

A few spirited comments appeared at AdAge.com’s The Big Tent in response to news of the initiative involving Howard University and the 4As. After noting the Open Letter To Nancy Hill, here’s what one person had to say…

When the City of New York handed out subpoenas to more than a dozen agency CEO’s to appear before the Human Rights Commission, the public face of the 4A’s found it more fitting to talk about the upcoming Advertising Week festivities. Behind the scenes, however, the industry retained a powerful City Hall lobbyist to try to sweep the entire unsightly spectacle under the rug, so as not to mar those upcoming festivities. This is the leadership legacy of the advertising industry 40 years after the government first held their feet to the fire. Yet when that same government threatened to levy an advertising tax, the 4A’s moved Heaven and Earth to defeat it. This is the legacy of putting first things first in advertising. Diversity is not a priority in advertising. When L. Ross Love, Vice President of Worldwide Advertising for P&G, demanded that his agencies embrace diversity, he was suddenly forced into an early retirement. It appears that what is a priority in the agency business is to hold strong at the status quo. Which is Minorities Need Not Apply. The one thing that Ms. Hill could do to show that her heart is in the right place would be to publish a yearly headcount of minority employees at the member agencies ranked by salary. But she won’t. Another thing she could do would be to require that member agencies register as Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employers with the Feds. But she won’t. Or maybe she could insist that the search firms that supply the bulk of mid-to-upper echelon job candidates submit a minority headcount similar to those used in commercial casting. But she won’t. As for her seizing the position of Chief Diversity Officer, she won’t be doing that either. It seems the only thing Ms. Hill has done in that area in the past is create a Hispanic agency at Lowe to keep that business from going to minority owned shops and be a “voice” for the need for more diversity. However, I challenge anyone to find a minority Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director, Management Supervisor, EVP Media or any other high-ranking minority employee at Lowe, Doner, Baltimore, Goldberg Moser O’Neill and Hill Holliday, San Francisco and New York, and TBWA\Chiat\Day, St. Louis and Los Angeles (her former agencies). Of course, there is Doug Alligood at BBDO. Perhaps she can claim him. No, I would not look to Ms. Hill for anything more than business as usual at the 4A’s. Which is as it should be. With the mess this business is in with outdated business models and outmoded compensation standards, the last thing she should be focused on is a non-starter like diversity. — Harry Webber, Los Angeles, CA

Additionally, in response to early reporting on the new initiative, here’s what others had to say…

Howard University? Great school. Certainly the first place Razorfish, Chiat Day or Anomaly will be going to get candidates for their summer intern programs. A million bucks to do what nobody really wants done. Good one. And who will they get to head up their Center of Excellence In Advertising? Certainly nobody from our industry. Few award-winning creatives have a Masters Degree. That leaves academians and account guys. Lots of expertise in excellence in that talent pool. The truth is that there are only a handful of institutions that our industry looks to for first pick draft choices. On the management side, you have Harvard B-School, Wharton, U of I Champaign, Kellogg and that’s it. On the creative side, you have SVA, Art Center, Miami Portfolio and RSD maybe. I didn’t see Howard or any other traditionally black college on any gotta see lists I’ve ever seen. I have nothing against Howard. Hell, I got married there. I certainly have nothing against Black Universities. Vince Daddiego, Forrest Long, Joan Blaish and I taught America that “A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste” centuries ago at Y&R. But this is not a viable solution. This is a low budget publicity stunt. A minority scholarship to Harvard or Wharton would have been more in line. But then they would have to hire the graduates. And that would have defeated the purpose. Now they can pawn them off to Burrell or Uniworld. Way to go, Ms. Hill. Keep up the good work. The 4A’s is living up to its name. “Always Against Any Advancement.” —Harry Webber, Los Angeles, CA

This is great and I definitely support the 4A’s supporting a great school like Howard University, but it is the typical old school answer to solving the real issue of racism and hoping to have some defense when the real facts about the lack of executives (or even medium- to high-level middle managers) of color in the advertising industry is called out by others.

If you get thousands of talented people of color excited about advertising while they are in school at Howard and then, in turn, get them to choose this field as their “dream career,” how long will it be once they are in it that they realize that the support and advancement system available to their general market counterparts just does not exist for people of color in advertising?

Even when this talent goes to a “urban focused” agency to get the experience and work in an environment that they are allowed to excel in, when they try to move beyond that into the world of larger agencies, that experience is typically dismissed and not valued by both high-level hiring executives at those agencies and top recruiters that work for them. Moving from one of the traditionally urban agencies into a general market agency typically means a step down or backwards in the career of viable candidates.

The vast majority of truly talented people of color in this biz have either gone on to industries where they are embraced and nurtured or have developed ventures that they own to try to write their own ticket.

The issue is bigger than a donation that (on a yearly basis) doesn’t even amount to the salary of one high-ranking executive at any of the top general market agencies. The feet of the large agencies needs to be held to the fire on this issue on a constant and public basis by the 4A’s, the government and the clients that pay for their existence if this situation is ever really going to change in a positive way. —David Watkins, New York, NY

As an HBCU alum and PR professional I think this is terrific news. My hope is that it draws still greater attention to the glaring lack of minority advertising and PR practitioners in the general market space. —Christopher Brown IV, Chicago, IL

5451: Hill On Diversity, Talent And Inclusion.

In recent essays, MultiCultClassics has discussed the new initiative from the 4As and Howard University that was unveiled at the 4As Leadership Conference. In addition to trying to figure out the specifics of the program, MultiCultClassics has wondered about 4As President-CEO Nancy Hill’s true position on the diversity issue. MultiCultClassics reached out and Hill graciously responded by forwarding the complete statements she made on the topic during the conference…

Diversity, Talent & Inclusion:

Like many of you, I’ve thought a lot about diversity and the ad industry, and I’ve come to realize that part of the problem is the word itself. For many of you in this room—and the corporate world in general—the word diversity has unfortunately become a loaded term. That’s because the way that businesses frequently view diversity is often—if not always—a mathematical equation to be solved with numbers alone.

Yes, increasing the number of ethnically and racially diverse employees in agencies—particularly African-Americans in the senior ranks—is a critical business imperative for us all. The solution, however, isn’t simply tapping into the same pool of like-minded, like-experienced, like-educated talent, who happen to be ethnically and racially different from the (generally) white establishment.

I believe that in order for us to get past considering only the mathematical equation of diversity, we need to add to the definition of the word to include talent and inclusion.

Diversity of gender, race and ethnicity—the ad industry needs to put these at the top of the list, of course, but we must also embrace diversity of experience, point-of-view, and knowledge. I’d like to go one step further: True, genuine diversity recognizes the business value of respecting, celebrating and rewarding all of the differences that unique individuals bring to their work, because of and regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability or life experience.

When—and only when—we have truly embraced these ideals can we ensure that our industry is one that leads in diversity, and not merely follows. Tomorrow I will announce a major AAAA initiative that will specifically address the dearth of African-American executives in our ranks, and how the AAAA will back our talk with funds to support this initiative.

Recruitment:

By casting a wider, more inclusive net for talent, we’ll tackle two of the greatest challenges our industry faces today—attracting talent and building awareness among the next generation about the rewards and opportunities in advertising.

The students that we should attract to the business are those who—on one end of the spectrum—are considering positions at the McKinseys of the world, and—on the other end—those who are taking jobs at Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!

Just twenty years ago, images of advertising careers played a greater role in the American zeitgeist, and tech and consulting career options weren’t as readily available as they are today.

I’ve heard several agency leaders, some of you in this audience, say they would discourage young people from joining our ranks, and that makes me very sad. Yes, the business has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. And yes, the skill sets that are required are different than they were in the past. But that’s what I think is so exciting about the business today. For those of you running agencies, it’s your job to make advertising the career path of choice for the brightest and most talented people out there.

We are the standard bearers, the main cheerleaders for our great business. And not only because advertising is simply fun or about “ideas,” which of course it is, but because advertising and marketing communications is at the core of all business, because it makes a fundamental impact on the quality of our lives and our economy. And because smart, creative, ambitious people are those who will thrive in this industry.

5442: An Open Letter To Nancy Hill.

Dear 4As President-CEO Nancy Hill,

Upon reviewing the limited press releases and considering the “major new initiative that will specifically address the dearth of African-American executives,” we feel compelled to share initial thoughts.

First, we believe any effort to improve the advertising industry’s lousy record on diversity is a sign of progress. Additionally, Howard University and the John H. Johnson School of Communications are respected enterprises with extraordinary people, outstanding resources and noble intentions. But the scenario thus far sparks a lot of questions and criticism.

Based on the PR, it almost looks like Howard University conceived and sold the concept. On the one hand, our industry always boasts that we only want the best ideas, and we don’t care who comes up with them. Yet there’s a disturbing pattern with diversity-related “solutions” on Madison Avenue and beyond. Specifically, outsiders—from Sanford Moore to Jesse Jackson to New York City’s Commission on Human Rights—tend to orchestrate and execute the mini-revolutions. Ms. Hill, why isn’t anyone directly tied to the 4As ever proactively and officially leading the charge?

Outsiders’ success to date has been debatable, including the work of New York City’s Commission on Human Rights, which holds strong political powers. Omnicom launched the Diversity Development Advisory Committee with plenty of revered outsiders—and when Mad Ave shops presented first-year report cards per the pact with New York City’s Commission on Human Rights, Omnicom companies had the worst grades. Unfortunately, outsiders lack two imperative ingredients: real-life industry experience and the influence to dictate change.

Insider groups haven’t fared much better, probably because these collectives are often comprised of appointed minorities. While they have the requisite industry smarts, they’re missing the coercive muscle. Hey, if minorities could make it happen, wouldn’t they have fixed everything countless decades ago?

In the past, the 4As and AAF awarded fancy titles to minority representatives who rarely elevated above lame duck/puppet status. It’s possible, Ms. Hill, that you’ve contemplated this route. Oh, it would be extremely easy to crown Heide Gardner or Tiffany R. Warren as the 4As Celestial Goddess of Divine Diversity and insist they do the heavy lifting. Been there, done that.

There are grass-roots projects making inroads too. But they’re typically small, localized endeavors run by minorities.

So what’s our point? Minorities have consistently played big roles in the movement. And they will be integral partners in the global attempt to reach the Promised Land.

To realize the dream, however, we’ll need to integrate the front line offensive with honchos from the ruling majority—i.e., White folks. That means you, Ms. Hill. We can’t permit Whites to hide under their desks and grumble the dilemma is the sole property of colored people.

Diversity demands diversity. Exclusive behavior fueled the problem. Inclusive behavior will reverse it.

Bear with us for a minute as we wind toward the heart of our recommendation. As blog visitors know, MultiCultClassics routinely posts diversity recruitment ads from various corporations. About 99.99 percent of these messages are clichéd, contrived crap. But we recently discovered a semi-fresh example. Here it is (click on the image to enlarge):


In this company, the President and CEO elected himself Chief Diversity Officer. As you can see, Ms. Hill, he’s a White guy. Now, we can’t verify if it’s just a patronizing smokescreen. Who cares? It’s damned gutsy. And the headline nails the notion: Accountability starts at the top.

Take our simple advice: Seize the position of 4As Chief Diversity Officer. Resist the temptation to pass the buck, dodge the drama or delegate the authority to a friendly minority. Immerse yourself in the complex, emotional, maddening mess our industry has allowed to fester for generations—and strive to solve it.

Albert Einstein declared, “Insanity [is] doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Ms. Hill, here’s your opportunity to stop the insanity.

Cordially yours,

HighJive @ MultiCultClassics

P.S. The $250,000 contribution, while arguably generous, appears to be well short of the actual needs. The university has already identified requiring $750,000 annually to achieve its goals. In many respects, the John H. Johnson School of Communications is about to experience the types of budgetary obstacles traditionally faced by minority advertising agencies. That is, folks are asked to deliver ideal results with substandard finances. Surely an organization that still holds its conventions at swanky locales like Laguna Niguel can find proper funding. We’re not suggesting the loot be withdrawn from the 4As’ coffers. Perhaps the whole industry should foot the bill, as the initiative will benefit us all. Impose a diversity tax for 4As member agencies. Have the accountants at IPG formulate a fair and effective payment scheme, where the individual amounts are percentages based on agency size versus a flat fee for everyone. Do the right thing.

5422: The New Initiative.

Stuart Elliott of The New York Times reported on the alleged “major new initiative that will specifically address the dearth of African-American executives” that 4As President-CEO Nancy Hill alluded to earlier at the 4As Leadership Conference. Here’s the big whoop dee damn doo (immediately followed by a MultiCultClassics comment):

INCLUDING INCLUSION A last-minute addition to the agenda of the conference was an announcement of a partnership between the sponsor association and Howard University in Washington to address a persistent problem for advertising agencies: attracting and keeping a more diverse staff of middle and senior managers.

The Four A’s has committed $250,000 to begin the founding of a Center for Excellence in Advertising at the John H. Johnson School of Communications at Howard, a historically black college, which will seek an additional $750,000 a year to support the center.

“It’s not enough to say diversity is important,” said Jannette L. Dates, dean of the Johnson School, who addressed a general session of the conference. “It must be a part of the business goals of the advertising industry.”

On the one hand, any diversity effort from Madison Avenue is a sign of progress. But throwing money at the problems seems like an easy out that separates leaders from active involvement. And the “new idea” was apparently hatched by previous 4As President-CEO O. Burtch Drake. Then again, it would be cool if the agencies that fail to live up to the pact signed with New York City’s Commission on Human Rights were forced to forward their fines directly to the initiative—plus even prepare and deliver a seminar at the university. Read more about it here.