17026: TfL Account Review Accounts For DEIBA+ Review.

 

Marketing Beat reported Accenture Song/Droga5 was derailed from the Transport for London (TfL) pitch after failing to meet DEIBA+ requirements imposed by the transportation network.

 

Earlier this year, Accenture Song/Droga5 officially dumped its DEIBA+ goals allegedly set in 2017.

 

Here’s a sketchy timeline of the White advertising agency’s DEIDICATION:

 

2016: Proceeds to generate contrived performative PR and heat shields under the guidance of its first-ever Director of Engagement and Inclusion.

 

2020: Names its first-ever Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion by promoting the aforementioned first-ever Director of Engagement and Inclusion.

 

2021: Named White AOR for ADCOLOR®.

 

2025: Aforementioned first-ever Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion bails to assume role of Publicis Groupe US Chief Impact and Equity Officer.

 

2025: Announces “sunsetting” its DEIBA+ goals (which were likely never publicly defined).

 

Explaining the decision to eliminate Accenture Song/Droga5 from competing for its business, a TfL spokesperson stated, “We are proud to hold our suppliers to account, making sure they are aligned with our commitments on diversity and inclusivity to help expand opportunities across our supply chain and create equal opportunities for all.”

 

Looks like TfL saw through the performative PR and heat shields fabricated by Accenture Song/Droga5.

 

The remaining firms vying for the account should be closely examined to determine if their DEIBA+ initiatives are legitimate—or box-checking bullshit delegated to Chief Diversity Officers, ERGs, and resident representatives of the underrepresented.

 

TfL removes Accenture Song from creative review after it scraps DEI initiatives

 

By Tom West

 

Transport for London (TfL) has taken Accenture Song out of its creative review process following on from the global agency network’s decision to scrap its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals.

 

Although headquartered in Dublin, Accenture Song has strong ties to the US market and announced earlier this year in a memo sent by CEO Julie Sweet that it would be “sunsetting” its DEI goals set out in 2017.

 

The move follows the election of Donald Trump as US president, and is in-line with his government’s phasing out of DEI initiatives across the American state machine.

 

A TfL spokesperson said: “Following our evaluation of Accenture Song/Droga5’s submission, we recently informed them we were unable to continue with their bid for our creative tender contract, as aspects of it no longer met the required criteria.”

 

“We are proud to hold our suppliers to account, making sure they are aligned with our commitments on diversity and inclusivity to help expand opportunities across our supply chain and create equal opportunities for all,” they added.

 

“Unfortunately, due to changes in Accenture Song/Droga 5’s priorities in recent months, we were unable to continue with their bid for our creative tender contract as they no longer met the criteria for diversity that we expect from all suppliers.”

 

According to Campaign, the transport network – which is chaired by London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan – is currently in the process of finalising the results of its creative review.

Accenture Song has so far declined to comment on the news.

 

However, Shaheen Sayed, head of Accenture UK, Ireland and Africa, said: “I want to be clear that Accenture is fully committed to being a workplace of choice for anyone, across all the countries we operate in, including the UK, Ireland and Africa, free from bias and discrimination. I will ensure we continue to hold ourselves to the highest standards that we have come to expect.”

16884: Dreaming Of A White Advertising Agency Christmas.

 

Isobel in London created its annual Christmas card with an NHL hockey team theme—displaying all the diversity of, well, an NHL hockey team.

16458: Too Much Audible To Read…

 

White advertising agency Fold7 in London is responsible for this Audible OOH campaign. For people trying to read the billboards, screeching tires, breaking glass, crunching metal, and the sounds of death will be audible as their distraction leads to car crashes.

 

16452: Super Flexible, Super So-So.

White branding agency WMH&I in London is responsible for this EDS awareness campaign for a client identified as TEM-PLE. Turns out the work is a pro bono effort that arguably bends the boundaries of scam advertising.

 

Can’t help but think that the stretched-out explanation for the concept displays a lot of selfishness and award-seeking motives.

 

Forget that the acronym for Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes—EDS—will probably be mistaken for some twisted form of erectile dysfunction.

 

The end result demonstrates once more that even self-proclaimed premier design studios ultimately create healthcare advertising that sucks. Sorry, but WMH&I is not qualified to pull off rare disease communications. After all, the average designer is barely capable of spelling EDS, let alone translating the scientific data into comprehensible copy and content.

 

People with EDS surely deserve compassion. They also deserve a better campaign than this.

15960: Papa Johns Spot Among The Worst In The World.

 

The latest Papa Johns campaign from Atomic London shows Planet Chorizo, where people sport branded fronts. How on earth does shit like this get produced? The bizarro world of John Schnatter is a preferable place to visit.

 

 

15748: Shit For Tat.

 

Grey London is responsible for this sensationalistic shit. Is former McCann Health CCO Jeremy Perrott freelancing?

 

14780: Ted Royer Rises Like A Phoenix From The Asses.

AgencySpy posted on a London International Awards event for young creatives featuring ex-Droga5 CCO Ted Royer as a speaker. Hey, Royer could have schooled the youngsters on the hazards of sexual harassment. According to AgencySpy, attendees were not too thrilled to see Royer and even took refuge in the restroom to allegedly cower and cry. DDB Global President and CEO Wendy Clark would likely scoff at the whimpering weenies. While AgencySpy didn’t provide details, an accompanying photograph (depicted above) showed Royer with a news image headlining his termination projected behind him. Was the man making light of his own scandal? Gee, such a role model for the kids.

Ousted Droga5 CCO Ted Royer Resurfaces to Give Unannounced Talk at LIA

By Doug Zanger

At a London International Awards (LIA) session for young creatives, Ted Royer, the former CCO of Droga5, was a surprise guest. His inclusion during the LIAisons was, according to posts on Twitter and Fishbowl, met with disbelief.

Per the LIA site, Royer was not listed among several creative leaders, including Ogilvy global CCO, Piyush Pandey, Prettybird co-founder and president Kerstin Emhoff and Mark Tutssel, who recently retired from his role as Leo Burnett’s executive chairman.

LIAisons is an annual program, held by LIA, that gives 100 young creatives between the ages of 21 and 30 a chance to meet and learn from, according to the site, “the creatives they look up to most in the industry.” LIAisons run concurrently with LIA judging in Las Vegas, and airfare and accommodation are provided by the festival.

At issue, according to accounts on social media, was the appropriateness of having Royer, who was fired by Droga5, as a speaker.

One post on Fishbowl noted that attendees were “crying and shaking in the bathroom” and that LIA implied that if people missed any session that they “wouldn’t be reimbursed.”

LIA and attendees have not responded to requests for comment on Royer’s inclusion in the program. We will update the story upon any response.

Royer was dismissed from the agency in Feb. 2018. While the cause of the dismissal was not revealed, a representative at the agency said, at the time, that “We are committed to maintaining a safe and inclusive environment for all our employees. We are unable to comment further on personnel matters.” CEO Sarah Thompson also added in an email that Droga5 hired “an independent firm … to assist us with our investigation” when Royer was on leave and encouraged staff members to come forward with “any concerns or complaints.”

Later in the year, it was reported that Royer was hired to help assist DDB for the Omnicom network’s pitch for the global Volkswagen account (ultimately divvied up among WPP in North America, Omnicom in Europe and South America, and Cheil in China). Initially, DDB’s global CEO, Wendy Clark, denied that Royer was hired for the pitch yet, shortly thereafter, stepped down from the Time’s Up Advertising steering committee, acknowledging that she made a “mistake.”

At that time, the committee issued a statement reading, in part, that: “Our mission is to create workplaces that are safe, fair, and dignified for all. Our signatories are accountable to the values of the mission. We hold the women who signed, and their agencies, accountable for a process of change.”

Disclosure: Doug Zanger was a jury president for LIA in 2008 and 2009.

14633: Wunderman Thompson London Celebrates Mental Health Week In Depressing Fashion.

AgencySpy posted about Wunderman Thompson London celebrating Mental Health Awareness Week by helping staffers deal with stress and anxiety via power naps, mental health ambassadors and a happiness guru. The feel good vibes were completely offset by post-merger redundancies, Jo Wallace and Unhappiness Guru Mark Read.

Wunderman Thompson U.K. CEO Pip Hulbert explained, “Stress is the enemy of creativity.” No, lack of talent is the enemy of creativity—along with an abundance of corporate cluelessness.

14524: JWT Commodore Sailing Toward Another Stormy Court Battle.

Campaign reported the JWT London discrimination case—where a group of White, British, privileged, straight men charge they were fired after voicing concerns over JWT London Creative Director Jo Wallace griping about White, British, privileged, straight men—will go to tribunal. Remember when JWT New York CEO Lynn Power argued the internal perception and external perception were very different for the White advertising agency—i.e., she claimed the place did not have the diversity and divertsity dilemmas that the Gustavo Martinez-Erin Johnson lawsuit seemed to symbolize? Bwahahahahaha!

JWT discrimination case to go to tribunal

Group includes Chas Bayfield.

By Jeremy Lee

The straight, white, middle-aged men who claimed they were forced out of J Walter Thompson as part of a diversity drive are taking the agency to an employment tribunal.

The men involved, which include senior creative Chas Bayfield, have engaged law firm Judge Sykes Frixou to fight the case. They are due to serve papers either tomorrow (Friday 15 February) or early next week.

JWT will then have a maximum of 28 days to respond to the claims in writing, giving its side of the case. Once it has replied, the tribunal will decide whether there will be a full hearing to decide on the case. If they can prove that they were discriminated against, there is an unlimited payout.

Campaign broke the story of the allegations in November. It is alleged that they were ousted after raising concerns about the comments of JWT creative director Jo Wallace at a Creative Equals conference in May. Wallace introduced herself as a gay woman and said that she wanted to “obliterate” the reputation that the agency was full of white, privileged straight men after the company announced a gender pay gap of 44.7%. Wallace was speaking in a joint presentation with JWT executive creative director Lucas Peon.

The story attracted considerable media attention and it is believed that the BBC is making a programme about the case. Since the allegations first came to light, WPP is in the process of merging JWT with Wunderman.

Wunderman Thompson declined to comment.

14379: JWT London Falling Down On White Men.

Campaign reported JWT is facing another discrimination lawsuit, except this one involves JWT London being accused of discriminating against straight White men. Sorry, Gustavo Martinez, you’re no longer eligible to join the legal fight as a plaintiff.

The latest fiasco started when JWT Creative Director Jo Wallace reportedly spoke at a Creative Equals event, introducing herself as a lesbian and declaring her mission to “obliterate” JWT’s reputation as a “Knightsbridge boys’ club” for White, British, privileged, straight men. A few days later, a group of White, British, privileged and straight male employees allegedly met with the JWT HR department to voice their concerns. Within days of the HR powwow, the group was obliterated and made redundant—that is, the guys were fired.

For the initial news stories, JWT London declined to respond, opting for the standard line: “It’s not appropriate for us to comment on individuals in an ongoing process. Any redundancies at JWT London are handled fairly, lawfully and without any form of discrimination.”

Okay, people are allegedly treated fairly when fired, but what about when hired? Given the earlier revelation that JWT London has a terrible gender pay gap problem, it’s safe to say the White advertising agency engages in discriminatory practices—so it’s reasonable to presume the place is capable of wrongdoing in any employment-related area.

Additionally, once the news spread—and Wallace likely started getting targeted with criticism—JWT London sources proceeded to inappropriately comment. The sources even remarked that seemingly disproportionate firings of White men were to be expected, as White men are disproportionately in the majority at JWT London.

Yet the bigger news bomb came when clarifying that Wallace was not delivering a monologue at the Creative Equals event. Rather, she shared the stage with JWT London Executive Creative Director Lucas Peon; plus, JWT London CEO James Whitehead was in the audience. Um, Peon and Whitehead—whose last names are wildly appropriate in the overall scenario—actually deserve the most flak, as they had to be aware of the gender discrimination at JWT London long before Wallace realized she was getting screwed by her employer. And the two male leaders had to be directly involved with the decisions that sparked the redundancy of White men.

BTW, if the redundant White men ultimately take their former employer to court, they can offer the JWT Female Tribes gender pay gap campaign as evidence of a pro-White-women workplace. Hell, they could toss in JWT Worldwide CEO Tamara Ingram’s tampon crusade too.

At this point, WPP CEO Mark Read is probably wondering if he can institute a lawsuit freeze.

Finally, look forward to JWT London positioning itself as innocent and progressive by having the Commodore replace Victoria Beckham for the Spice Girls Reunion Tour. Or he could join Village People, as the group has never really featured a Commodore character.

14294: BBH BK BS.

Campaign reported on a new Burger King campaign from BBH London, who “won” the account sans a pitch. The dreadful work stars BK UK CEO Alasdair Murdoch promoting a contest that invites people to post videos of themselves eating and reviewing an imaginary sandwich. Wow, what a breakthrough concept. Is BBH London following the lead of its U.S. sister shops by refusing to hire union talent for advertising? Will BBH even bother showing up to review the entries?

Burger King hands UK creative to BBH without a pitch

Bartle Bogle Hegarty has created a competition-led campaign for Burger King, after the agency was appointed to the fast food brand’s UK creative account earlier this year without a pitch.

By Simon Gwynn

The win sees the Publicis Groupe agency once again involved in the fast food sector, after KFC moved its creative account from BBH to Mother last year.

BBH was approached after a change of management at Burger King UK by private equity group Bridgepoint Capital, which acquired the franchise late last year.

Burger King’s UK chief executive, Alasdair Murdoch, who features in its campaign, and marketing director Katie Evans joined the business in February. Evans took over from Renato Rossi, who moved to Miami to lead marketing for the brand in North America.

Evans was previously marketing director at upmarket rival Gourmet Burger Kitchen.

The brand is today launching “The opportunity you haven’t been waiting for”, a nationwide search for the first person to try the new Crispy Chicken Burger. Playing with the apparently poor perception of the chicken options in Burger King, the contest will pay the (un)lucky winner £20,000 for trying the product.

Murdoch himself announces the search in a video and post on LinkedIn.

The campaign was created by Fred Rodwell and Andy Parsons at BBH, and runs across online display, social, press and out of home. To enter, consumers have to post a video of themselves eating, and giving a review of, an imaginary Crispy Chicken burger, with the hashtag #20Kfirstbite.

On top of the cash prize, the winner will also appear in the first TV ad from BBH, which will launch on 3 October.

Evans said: “We are delighted to have BBH on board. Their inspiring portfolio of work and experience in our sector gives us real confidence that they understand our brand challenge and how we need to engage and resonate to build brand growth in the UK.”

Ian Heartfield, chief creative officer at BBH added: “The chance to rebuild an iconic brand, one that’s famous for ground-breaking, disruptive work, is every agency’s dream brief. We’re pumped that Burger King have chosen us to help reinvent their entire customer journey, and bring the fight to the McOpposition.”

14265: Wimbledon Wonkiness.

McCann London created this Wimbledon campaign rendered in a period style, presumably nodding to the tournament’s storied history. So why is Serena Williams depicted without spectators in the background, contrasting the images of Roger Federer and Garbiñe Muguruza? Is it because in the olden days, a Black woman would never have drawn an audience—or even been allowed to compete?

Oh, and it didn’t help that all three players depicted suffered earlier-than-expected exits in the tournament.

14117: Noticing The Gaps.

McCann London created this campaign for MysteryVibe, producer of a technologically advanced vibrator. Oddly enough, despite the divertsity trend snowballing in adland, the credits show the responsible McCann teammates are predominately male. Did anybody consider that the best way to “help close the orgasm gap” might have involved closing the gender gap?

13842: Made Of More Stereotypes.

Adweek reported on a Guinness commercial starring the Compton Cowboys of South Central Los Angeles, created by White advertising agency AMV BBDO London. The spot is a rip-off of an iD Mobile commercial from White advertising agency CHI&Partners. Gee, White shops can’t even manage to hatch original stereotypes. What a bunch of horseshit.

Guinness Profiles the Compton Cowboys of L.A. in Its Latest Stirring ‘Made of More’ Ad

From AMV BBDO and Henry-Alex Rubin

By David Gianatasio

AMV BBDO London and acclaimed director Henry-Alex Rubin have developed new advertising for Guinness that profiles the Compton Cowboys, young men who’ve managed to break the cycle of violence and fear in hardscrabble South Central Los Angeles.

They’ve added purpose and meaning to their lives by caring for horses. In turn, the guys serve as beacons of hope for others as they ride, sometimes 10 abreast, through the neighborhood.

The story is extremely well told. Rubin, who directed last year’s lauded “Evan” spot for Sandy Hook Promise, deftly handles the material, delivering a perfect combination of poetry, grit and heart. His visual sense adds a lot to the story.

Shots of the shirtless, tatted guys sitting tall in the saddle amid a graffiti-tagged concrete wasteland are especially strong. A brief scene of Keenan Abercrombie riding proudly past an abandoned car-husk underscores the message that these dudes are determined to move forward despite the entropy around them.

That’s not to say the mood was deadly serious at the steamy four-day shoot in July.

“The cowboys certainly took to the Guinness,” recalls AMV BBDO creative director Steve Jones. “There was absolutely no difference in them when the director called ‘cut.’ They talked, laughed and drank just the same. Our director wisely just kept the cameras rolling, and what you see in the films [at various points] is just the guys with their friends, girlfriends and wives, thinking they’re between takes.”

It’s stirring work, part of Guinness’ celebrated “Made of More” series, though some commentators have pointed out that the brewer isn’t exactly blazing new trails here.

The campaign, which dropped this week, bears more than a passing resemblance to “Urban Riders,” an ad that CHI developed last year for iD Mobile. That work featured a similar group of men from Philadelphia and boasted a comparable vibe and storyline. (In fact, the Guinness work also evokes Almap BBDO’s powerful Pedigree film from a few years back.)

A rep for CHI brought the similarities to our attention, but declined further comment.

Are they wearing long faces at AMV BBDO over the similarities? Did they knowingly trot out a lookalike? We asked the agency to address the situation, but a rep said she’d have to check with the client before responding. We’ll update this item if and when we hear back.

13713: Half-Assed Effort Via BBDO.

Advertising Age reported on a half-assed stunt offering half-time roles to keep White women staffers at AMV BBDO in London. Oddly enough, the story featured a photograph (depicted above) spotlighting two White men. Regardless, it demonstrates again the extension of diverted diversity, where even part-time females receive preferential treatment over minorities. Maybe AMV BBDO could adopt a Three-Fifths Compromise approach, allowing Blacks to work 3/5 days—and earn 3/5 of what White women are paid.

This BBDO Agency Is Offering Half-Time Roles to Retain Female Creative Talent

By Alexandra Jardine

London agency AMV BBDO is creating a number of permanent half-time roles for female creatives in a bid to retain talent in its creative department.

The shop, whose clients include Pepsi, Mars and Guinness, is currently recruiting for eight to 10 half-time roles for its creative department, with a view to rolling the program out across other departments in the future. The roles will be built around half the working hours required in standard working contracts.

The aim is to identify the best creative talents who may have taken a career break. Male parents who are in a primary care role and are attempting to return to work are also eligible to apply.

Executive creative directors Adrian Rossi and Alex Grieve said the initiative was born out of a realization that “experience is extremely undervalued.”

“There are a lot of women coming into this industry, but very few at the top and there is a dearth of experienced women in their 30s and 40s,” said Grieve.

“We spoke to a lot of women about this, and sometimes when they do come back, the conditions are patronizing and the work not that exciting,” added Rossi. “Returning can be disappointing: for example they are given a non-challenging brief and kept away from the best clients. We want to make sure they have access to the best briefs.”

So far, around two dozen people have applied for the roles, with both internal and external candidates applying. Each new hire will be connected to an industry mentor to help with their transition back into work. Rossi said that these could include clients, or senior women from production companies, as well as creative agencies, and that each mentor would be handpicked for each new hire.

Grieve and Rossi said that while no direct pressure came from clients, they spoke to several senior female clients before launching the effort, in order to get their advice. The scheme has been approved by the wider BBDO network.

Several networks and holding companies now have plans to boost female leadership—for example, DDB’s “The Phyllis Project” and Omnicom’s “Omniwomen”—and other agencies, including CP&B in London, have offered “returnships” to women returning to the workplace. However, AMV believes its program is the first—at least in London—to offer permanent roles.

“We want to put a flag in the ground here,” said Rossi. “It’s not a transient gesture.”

13708: W+K London, B.S. Italian.

Wieden + Kennedy in London created a Babbel commercial that might inspire criticism from Sons of Italy or The National Italian American Foundation. How do you say, “Now that’s fucked up!” in Italian?

13613: V&F Is B&S.

Adweek published a lengthy piece on a Grey London stunt intended to spark industry-wide diversity. What’s the breakthrough concept? Rename the agency after its founders—two White men of Jewish descent—who opened the flagship New York shop in 1917 when anti-Semitism was prevalent. Okay, but in that very same year, Blacks held a silent march in Harlem to protest getting lynched, beaten and burned. Lawrence Valenstein and Arthur Fatt feared their names could cost them business. Blacks feared their skin color could cost them their lives—and it would take 30-40 years before Blacks would actually be hired at New York advertising agencies. Oddly enough, the Grey London scheme is intended to woo racial and ethnic minorities. So to perhaps offset all the Old White Guys imagery, the bold initiative includes minority scholarships and high school outreach efforts. Gee, how original. Sorry, but even in 2017, White men of Jewish descent have a much better and easier chance of landing jobs at Grey London than racial and ethnic minorities—and this would still be the case if the shop suddenly hired Gustavo Martinez as its CEO.

Grey London Renames Itself Valenstein & Fatt, After Grey’s Jewish Founders, in Call for Diversity

Office will take the name for 100 days, urges industry to change too

By Tim Nudd

Grey London is using the agency’s own 100-year-old origin story as a springboard for an industry-wide call to embrace diversity and acceptance via a self-branding campaign, launching today, in which it will rename itself, for more than three months, as Valenstein & Fatt, after its Jewish founders.

It’s 1917. New York is booming. Two young Jewish entrepreneurs, Lawrence Valenstein and Arthur Fatt, set up a company. But anti-Semitism is rife. Their names could cost them business. So they call it Grey, after the color of the wallpaper.

The London office will fully operate as Valenstein & Fatt—changing its office signage, stationery and business cards, answering its phones that way, even operating under that name in pitches—for the next 100 days.

The initiative is happening just as the British government is triggering Article 50 and begins the process of disconnecting the U.K. from the European Union. It is also launching as “xenophobia is raising its ugly head once more, along with political isolationism,” the agency adds.

Also, the symbolic gesture of the name change is being backed up by more concrete plans, including the following steps, in the agency’s own words:

1) We are publishing our diversity data. Progress cannot be made without clear measures and transparency about who we are today. Our new study is independent and in-depth and is based on the voluntary responses of 305 individuals, which represents over 60 percent of the agency and reported according to standards set by the British Office of National Statistics (ONS). Research developed in partnership with PSB examines roots, identity, education and lifestyle. It will be measured and shared annually and we are encouraging other agencies to take it up as their methodology.

2) We are launching a cross-industry taskforce to identify the barriers to recruitment and retention of talent among ethnic minorities. The first gathering will be co-chaired by Trevor Philips OBE and CEO Leo Rayman, and we are inviting leading organizations in this space and the most progressive agencies, including chairwoman of Mediacom, Karen Blackett, to join us in agreeing industry-wide initiatives and targets. We will also commit to targets for our advertising output, to ensure that it is nationally representative.

3) We are launching the Valenstein & Fatt Bursary to pay a year’s rent for up to two young people from ethnic minority and disadvantaged backgrounds. To qualify, candidates must have been offered a job at Grey, be state educated and live outside of greater London. Applications are open from this summer.

4) We will inspire the next generation, by working with 100 primary and secondary schools to introduce students to a career in the creative industries. Working with exec head Michelle Williams and education therapist Jodie Cariss and starting with the New Wave Federation primary schools in London’s Hackney, we will offer a tailor-made program for the schools involved, from assemblies to full-day workshops, coaching and agency open days.

5) We will develop our diverse talent. Recognizing that recruiting people with different start points isn’t enough, 50 individuals identified as ones to watch will be matched and formally mentored by our executive and senior leadership. In parallel we will run community mentoring workshops open to any member of the agency who wants to participate.

[This video explains more about the project.]

Adweek spoke to Sarah Jenkins, chief marketing officer at Valenstein & Fatt, about the initiative.

Where did this idea come from?

We’re an agency that is feeling the craziness of the last 12-18 months. The world feels a little bit uglier. A little bit less welcoming. So we wanted to make sure we were celebrating difference. And getting diversity right into the heart of our organization. Coincidentally it’s a big year for Grey this year—100 years old. So the Valenstein and Fatt story feels relevant and meaningful in the context of business and society today. Subsequently celebrating them, and telling their story, was the right way for us to make a definitive statement about our diversity commitment moving forward.

While a great gesture, this idea will also clearly cause confusion here and there. Is dealing with that confusion an embodiment of the kind of hard work needed to commit to diversity?

It’s definitely got some risk, but good ideas are hard work and generally require a healthy kick of bravery. Which is a lovely parallel with the spirit of our founders. It definitely helps that we are in the communication business, so hopefully, for the vast, vast majority of the time, we can avoid confusing people.

Tell us why the concrete steps you are also taking will make a difference.

We should first talk about what we are going to get wrong. Diversity is complex, nuanced and gnarly. So they might not all make the difference we are wanting. We’ll fail fast and go again and tell everyone what’s gone wrong, so they don’t make the same mistake.

That said, we have worked hard to get our first initiatives right. We have talked to some brilliant and smart organizations like Channel 4 and the Social Mobility Foundation. Progressive agencies like Mediacom. People who have spent years thinking about the problem and the solutions, like Trevor Phillips. And we’ve backed our own instincts.

When you break down the initiatives, it’s hard not to see them working in some form. One-hundred schools. That’s at least 1,000 kids we are going to hang out with, possibly closer to 5,000 or even 10,000—how can they not help inspire kids to stay curious and think about a career in our industry?

A bursary to help kickstart your first 12 months in—how can they not help us attract some of the best state-educated kids in the country?

Dedicated time and investment to ensure all our diverse talent are able to develop and a clear leadership program to ensure all the glass ceilings are smashing and stay smashed—how can that not inspire the next generation of young leaders, no matter what their background and who they are?

Working with the best agencies and businesses in our industry to push the diversity agenda, so that the smartest, most creative minds are applying themselves to a big gnarly comms and behavioral challenges—how can that not shift the diversity dial in ad land?

What metrics will you look at to gauge the improvement in diversity, both at Grey and across the industry?

As an agency, we will gauge success by seeing more diverse talent coming into the building. And that is any diverse talent. We would love to encourage more people from BAME backgrounds. And more people who are state-school educated. To have more diverse talent identified as future leaders. Future leaders we then keep in our agency, or at the very least we keep in the industry.

As an industry… for agencies to stop fudging their diversity numbers and realize that diversity is a genuine commercial win, not a marketing headline or some weird, point scoring exercise. For advertising to be seen at the forefront of diversity in business, particularly in attracting the best young talent. I mean, fair play to the accountancy firms for leading from the front, but surely, with our insane communication and creative skills, we should be helping them set the bar, not be running behind them.