16312: Questioning Cultural Competence Coaching From Corporate Consultants.

 

Advertising Age published a perspective from an Ipsos SVP Human Heat Shield, offering a brand playbook comprised of four questions to ask when creating performative PR and patronizing propaganda.

 

Based on viewing Ipsos leadership pictured at the corporate website, it appears the market research and consulting firm lacks a diversity playbook. Or even a cultural competence comic book.

 

All of which makes Ipsos’ instructions to authentically champion inclusivity bona fide bullshit. Sorry, but beware game plans from consultants who’ve got no game—yet feel qualified to holler canned coaching from the sidelines.

 

DEI Backlash—A Brand Playbook For Pride Month, Juneteenth And Beyond

 

4 questions marketers should ask to authentically champion inclusivity

 

By Janelle A. James

 

In recent years, June has been awash with organizations supporting the LGBTQ+ community for Pride Month and the Black community for Juneteenth, Black Music Month, and even Caribbean Heritage Month. This June, fear of a DEI backlash tempered some celebrations and made them feel superficial.

 

Central to the fluctuating support for these recognitions is how the social economic, or political context constantly changes. This raises the question: How can brands be authentic and steadfast in their commitment to advancing marginalized communities while observing holidays and heritage months? Here are 4 questions every organization should ask to ensure its commitments to inclusivity and social justice are authentic and incorporated into operations.

 

Are we leading with our values?

 

Innovation, continuous improvement, collaboration, integrity, curiosity—many organizations see at least one of these values as mission-critical, yet often do not actively connect them to DEI efforts. Diversity, equity, inclusion, empathy and sustainability are purposely excluded from this short list because they are implicit in each of these values.

 

True innovation, for example, demands diverse experiences and perspectives. Empathy lives in curiosity and is a prerequisite for collaboration and customer innovation. Those who are truly committed to integrity will foster a culture of equity and transparency. When people are curious, they are more likely to seek and embrace diversity. The benefits to leading with values include strategically sound DEI initiatives but also greater consumer trust and brand differentiation.

 

How do we ensure our teams and data are cross-cultural?

 

Affinity bias—the inclination to favor those with similar backgrounds and interests—is a natural human tendency. So, to interrupt it we must consciously integrate different perspectives into our teams and use diverse data in our decisions.

 

Do we tend to hire employees from the same schools, companies or networks? Is our market research reliant on averages or monolithic views of customers? Do we leverage cross-functional teams in our decision-making? Being cross-cultural means ensuring that we are not only avoiding singular views on race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality, but also avoiding singular views on generation, class, ability and even expertise.

 

Are we focused on changing processes, not people, to achieve DEI success?

 

In 2021, I addressed a group of Lean Six Sigma professionals—individuals skilled in removing risks, errors and defects from business processes—about DEI. Prior to the conference, a fifth of the attendees completed a survey on their organizations’ DEI efforts. This research revealed their DEI efforts overwhelmingly prioritized auditing and changing employees, not the enterprise.

 

Anti-bias training and diversifying the workforce, as examples, often fail to address systemic issues causing continued underrepresentation and marginalization. Have we examined HR policies and benefits for gender bias? Do our market research recruiting specifications reflect category behavior and societal dynamics? Are our financial models only based on traditional assumptions and historical best practices? Are the roles responsible for DEI at the firm integrated into operations? If DEI initiatives are tied to people (and not processes, systems or policies), DEI progress and commitment will exit when people do.

 

What can intersectional experiences teach us about employees and customers?

 

Are people in your organization still referring to the “general market” or “gen pop”? Today, the general market is incredibly diverse, and it’s critical to note its changing dynamics and not overrepresent the majority. Multiracial Americans are the fastest-growing racial group. Twenty-five percent of people in the U.S. have disabilities. Almost 20% are Hispanic. And roughly 30% are low-income, with incomes less than twice the poverty threshold. There is no average consumer, and if we focus only on more privileged identities in society, we miss innovation that exists in the margins.

 

A recent study on women in the workplace, showing findings by gender, race/ethnicity, LGBTQ+ or disability status, didn’t tell a full story, since people frequently belong to more than one of these demographic groups. How would the insights shift if race and gender or ethnicity and disability were combined? Examining key identity intersections does not produce statistically insignificant microsegments; such intersections provide an opportunity to incorporate valuable context and pressure test ideas with real people that reflect society today.

15917: Trustworthiness Measured By Untrustworthy Source. Honestly.

 

MediaPost reported on the 2022 Ipsos Global Trustworthiness Index, which ranked the most and least trustworthy professionals—and advertising executives landed near the bottom of the list, managing to only beat cabinet officials and politicians. Okay, except Ipsos is a market research company that provides marketing and advertising advice; and like lots of global consultancies in recent years, the place has been expanding its advertising capabilities. So how trustworthy is the 2022 Ipsos Global Trustworthiness Index?

In The Basement: Ad Execs Are Near Bottom Of Trust Index

 

By Ray Schultz

 

Despite controversies about COVID-19, doctors are seen as the most trustworthy professionals by 59% of consumers worldwide, according to the 2022 Ipsos Global Trustworthiness Index. And scientists are second.

 

Who’s near the bottom? Not government employees, cops, business executives or even journalists.

 

Rather, ad executives are third from last, beating only cabinet officials and politicians.

 

Ad people are trusted by 18% worldwide, and by 13% in the United States.

 

That presumably includes email marketers, although permission-based email is based on trust, and may be less reviled than broad-based advertising.

 

Still, it’s a miserable number, given that pollsters, lawyers and TV news/anchors all do better, although not by much in the case of pollsters in the U.S.

 

Politicians generally are trusted by 12% worldwide and 10% in the U.S.

 

Contrary to their common demonization, teachers are trusted by 58% in the U.S. and 52% globally. And 56% of Americans trust the Armed Forces, a figure that slips to 41% outside the U.S.

 

Clergy/priests have a higher level of trust in the U.S.—37%, versus 26% elsewhere. But even here, the majority seems to have little faith in them.

 

Americans are also more trusting of police—41%, versus 37% globally. But only 17% trust lawyers, versus 29% outside the country.

 

Journalists are trusted by 25% worldwide, and 24% in the U.S.

 

Ipsos surveyed 21,515 adults under the age of 75 between May 27 and June 10. The findings cover 28 countries.

15865: Delineating Data-Driven DEI…?

Advertising Age published a perspective from a trio of qualitative research experts at Ipsos, presenting “9 ways for brands to authentically connect with Black Americans.” No doubt the authors’ viewpoint was a well-intentioned effort—or maybe just an exercise to build their status as pseudo-thought leaders.

 

Regardless, the list lacks one way that trumps the other nine: Brands should hire more Black people and demand that their White advertising agencies do likewise.

 

It doesn’t take an expert to realize that.

 

Two side notes: 1) While there are a handful of articles on the topic—and the careers section includes an equal opportunity statement—the Ipsos website does not feature the standard commitment to DEI proclamation; 2) It’s hilarious that Ad Age editors illustrated a report on authentically connecting with Blacks with a royalty-free stock image (depicted above).

 

9 Ways For Brands To Authentically Connect With Black Americans

 

Best practices that can inform everything from research to content on Juneteenth and beyond

 

By Janelle James, Kim Saxon and Malinda Midkiff

 

Juneteenth-branded watermelon salad, headwraps and ice cream—we’ve been bracing ourselves as the performative product launches (and perfunctory apologies) increased in advance of Juneteenth, the newest U.S. federal holiday. A common thread connects these product failures: their lack of authentic consumer insight, their extension of harmful stereotypes and their avoidance and lack of engagement with the true meaning of the holiday. The result? These launches not only end up feeling performative but also opportunistic.

 

So, why does this matter? As more brands attempt to serve Black consumers in the U.S. and tap into their $1.4 trillion of consumer spend on Juneteenth and beyond, authentic connection becomes increasingly important.

 

How do we, as researchers, connect to and respect the individual, culture, and community as we illuminate the Black experience for brand partners? Here’s a list of best practices that can inform and inspire everything from research to content. Is the list exhaustive? No. But it’s a great start to designing more thoughtful workplace and marketplace DEI initiatives.

 

Go beyond stereotypes

 

Black Americans are acutely aware of their misrepresentation in the media. Often there is a disconnect between how they are perceived and who they are. They struggle to reconcile the two and can feel inaccurate perceptions in daily interactions. W.E.B. DuBois referred to this as ‘Double-Consciousness’ and first wrote about this theory in 1903 in his influential book, “The Souls of Black Folk.”

 

Involve Black affluents

 

Black American affluents are influencers and early adopters in many lucrative categories. Yet capturing this demographic is often missed when teams solely focus on Black ZIP codes to find Black Americans for research purposes.

 

Realize that Black immigrants are typically an unacknowledged segment

 

One in 10 Black Americans are foreign-born, and more than 20% have immigrant connections. Many strongly identify with a national heritage outside of the U.S., including Black Americans from Africa, the Caribbean and Central and South America. For this reason, Black is typically deemed to be a more inclusive term. Remember that African American is an ethnic term, not a racial one.

 

Create empathy through cultural immersion

 

Go beyond asking Black friends or colleagues for perspective. For informal opportunities, curate perspective from social media and secondary research to get a feel for top trends on race/culture and your topic. Leverage streaming services to learn from stories focused on the Black experience. And for more formal initiatives, hire an expert to inform, inspire and guide choices. Qualitative research can be an essential first line of defense for DEI initiatives. It can be creatively incorporated to this end to interrupt bias in product or communications development for everything from packaged goods to algorithms.

 

Avoid triggers

 

Anything that approximates stereotypes can be a trigger. Today, these triggers are often called microaggressions. For example, references to Black people being “articulate” can be received as a back-handed compliment, suggesting that they are not typically well-spoken.

 

Be mindful of Black trauma

 

Intergenerational trauma still impacts the Black community, frequently causing lower self-esteem, lower health outcomes and internalized oppression (such as ascribing to colorism and believing that lighter skin tones are more acceptable). Intergenerational trauma is not unique to African Americans. Formerly oppressed or colonized people often experience lasting effects. ‘Han,’ for instance, is a Korean term describing an internalized and collective response to Korea’s long history of suffering from being invaded by foreign powers.

 

Understand systemic racism

 

Even without racist people, systemic racism means that the laws, processes or routines in institutions contribute to unfavorable outcomes for a race of people. Discriminatory lending practices that created barriers to homeownership and wealth accumulation for Black Americans offer an important example of systemic racism at play. Being aware of how U.S. institutions are not centered on Black experiences and can cause harm are critical to connecting.

 

Anticipate key intersectional experiences

 

While race is a primary lens through which many Black Americans experience the world, no group is a monolith and race is only one part of identity. Although Black Americans share a racial identity, their incomes, religions, nationalities, abilities and many other factors make them exceptionally diverse. Intersectionality acknowledges that identities are not independent. They converge to generate varying levels of privilege and discrimination. Anticipating how a Black woman might react or experience a new product means examining it for both racist and sexist implications. Gender is not the only intersecting identity to consider. Ability, sexuality, age, citizenship and income are all valuable perspectives to have, along with race.

 

Remember, they’re not just consumers

 

Like all races, Black people are multifaceted. However, they are disproportionately portrayed as servants, entertainers, criminals or as one-dimensional characters. Moreover, while many brands and research agencies will prioritize diverse respondents for B2C initiatives, often that practice is not extended to B2B initiatives. Diverse groups of employees, leaders, investors, doctors, influencers, technologists, engineers, etc., should all be included in research that informs brand work.