14291: Innocean Not Innocent…?

Adweek published a lengthy report on two more women filing lawsuits against Innocean, doubling the number of legal actions experienced by the White advertising agency this year. However, one of the new suits involves alleged woman-on-woman violations. So at least Innocean is showing a diversity of discriminatory deeds. Other charges include a “rowdy college fraternity” culture, where former CCO Eric Springer introduced a “Velvet Hammer” award that some employees deemed offensive. Um, most employees prefer performance bonuses—even in the form of Target gift cards. And now, certain women might receive cash awards in the form of settlements, bringing fresh meaning to the phrase, “Hammer Time.”

2 More Women Sue Innocean, Alleging Wrongful Termination and Discrimination

4 suits have been filed against agency in past year

By Patrick Coffee

Two women formerly employed by Hyundai’s ad agency Innocean USA filed suit last month against the company in California’s Orange County Superior Court, seeking damages and jury trials.

Their claims include negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, wrongful termination, gender discrimination and statutory assault and battery. When combined with two earlier suits reported by Adweek in March, four women have now sued the agency over the past year.

Innocean’s lawyers have not filed a response in either case. “Innocean does not comment on active litigation,” said a company representative.

‘A rowdy college fraternity’

Lawyers for Carol Lombard Seelig, the agency’s former vp and director of integrated production, filed one suit on Aug. 22. It alleges that Seelig was subjected to a hostile work environment by now-former chief creative officer Eric Springer, who is named as a co-defendant in the suit. Seelig also claims that after nearly three years at the agency, she felt pushed out following a medical leave.

According to someone close to the matter, Seelig was replaced by a freelancer named Victoria Guenier, a former colleague of Springer who would later go on to sue him and Innocean for sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

Seelig, described by a former colleague as “well-liked” and respected in the industry, worked at several agencies, including David&Goliath and Y&R, before heading to Innocean in mid-2014 to lead its production team. The following year, she was diagnosed with Laing distal myopathy, a genetic muscle disorder that affects one’s mobility.

The suit claims Innocean’s culture “rapidly devolved into that of a rowdy college fraternity” after the agency brought on Springer as CCO in January 2016 “despite the fact that he was generally known within the advertising industry as a bully.” It alleges that Seelig and other employees were “pressured to engage in excessive alcohol use” at events, that Springer repeatedly demeaned her by loudly demanding that she explain why she had to walk with a crutch, and that he had a habit of making “demeaning comments about women generally.”

Specifically, the suit mentions the internal Velvet Hammer award, which Springer created soon after taking the job and allegedly named in reference to a slang term describing a sexual act. (Urban Dictionary lists several definitions, ranging from a sex act to a female leader who is good at her job).

A former Innocean employee told Adweek the award was “supposed to recognize those who had gone above and beyond to push through innovative work.” The object itself, which stood on display in the office lobby, consisted of an upside-down purple hammer. Adweek’s source and the lawsuit claim that multiple employees, including Seelig, objected to the award as a sexist, phallic symbol and suggested its name and appearance be changed.

A party close to the agency provided the image below.

According to the suit, Springer did not respond well to this criticism and “retaliated against [Seelig]” by changing her job duties to require more travel in addition to “demand[ing] that she attend an all-night production immediately prior to a business trip to Chicago.”

Seelig claims she reported this incident to HR, which declined to investigate. She went on short-term disability leave in May 2016 to seek treatment for her condition and eventually resigned from Innocean in February 2017 “due to the hostile work environment imposed upon” her, according to the suit.

Springer declined to comment for this story. He and the agency agreed to part ways after the Guenier case was settled in July.

Seelig is asking for unspecified damages due to emotional distress, disability discrimination and negligence.

Allegations of assault and battery

Lawyers representing Innocean’s former media investment supervisor Joan Veronica Baker also filed a lawsuit in the same court on Aug. 17. It names the agency, its South Korean parent company, and vp, director of media consolidation Rebecca Rogers as defendants, accusing Rogers of a range of violations.

In the lawsuit, Baker says the agency hired her in November 2016 and concealed the fact that it only intended to bring her on for a short-term project and “work [her] intensively” before treating her as an “expendable” asset.

The suit also claims that Rogers, Baker’s manager, forced her to work until midnight and on weekends and later “embarked on a vicious campaign to drive [her] out from the company.” It describes three alleged instances of abuse, including one in which the vp “forcefully grabbed [Baker’s] arm, swung [her] around in her seat” and yelled, “This isn’t your meeting!” during a conference room gathering attended by agency and department leaders. The suit makes the case that the September 2017 episode amounted to statutory assault and battery.

Rogers declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.

Baker reported Rogers to HR and requested a transfer multiple times during the 15 months she spent at Innocean. In the suit, she alleges that HR promised to send Rogers to management classes but didn’t as the intimidation and bullying escalated.

Baker went on medical leave for anxiety attacks, headaches and asthma in March 2018 after Innocean USA CEO Steve Jun refused a final transfer request, according to the legal filing. She felt “forced to resign” the following month “in an effort to preserve her mental and physical well-being as well as to avoid having further interact [sic] with Rogers,” the suit states.

The document posits that the company would have “certainly taken immediate disciplinary action” had Baker’s supervisor been a man rather than a woman.

A time of transition

According to a source close to the agency, Innocean leadership sent out an email this week asking employees to refrain from discussing the lawsuits with journalists or other outside parties.

The law firms representing Seelig and Baker have not returned phone calls seeking comment.

Contacts at Innocean’s corporate headquarters in Seoul, South Korea have not responded to multiple emails regarding the cases filed against the agency’s U.S. subsidiary over the past year.

After Adweek broke the news of the suit pending against Innocean in March, the agency launched an internal investigation and hired The 3% Movement, a for-profit group that conducts internal evaluations of agencies based on gender and racial diversity, maternity leave policies and other factors, then provides certifications based on certain benchmarks.

“3% is actively engaged with Innocean in 3% Certification through a time of transition,” said founder and CEO Kat Gordon. “Our priority is in helping amplify the voice of employees about what is working and what needs to change. We’re heartened by efforts on that front.”

The previous suits filed against Innocean within the past year are now closed. Lawyers for Victoria Guenier, who accused Springer and the agency of sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination, reached a settlement in July. Onetime account director Catherine Bennett, who claimed she was wrongfully fired after reporting former vp of customer relations management Michael Sachs for harassment, filed a notice of settlement in her case on June 27.

“Regarding the Catherine Bennett matter, it has been resolved,” said an agency spokesperson.

14290: Reading Rhetoric.

Advertising Age reported new WPP CEO Mark Read declared the White holding company must have stronger businesses delivering “better work, better strategy, better reputations.” Gee, the guy sounds like Papa John’s. And like the pizza maker, Read avoided discussing diversity during his first call with investors and analysts as the official chief executive—which was a missed opportunity, as WPP being “perhaps the most diverse example of diversity of any single organisation” is one of the few bragging points left. Meanwhile, Sir Martin Sorrell couldn’t avoid commenting on Read’s promotion, calling the succession process “a complete waste of time” given that the selection of a White man was a done deal. Plus, Sorrell insisted the CEO role should be shared between Read and Andrew Scott. Leave it to a Napoleonic narcissist to believe two men should replace half a man. Actually, Read did comment on diversity of talent in regards to recent hires. According to Ad Age, “[Read] also said the group needs to hire a different mix of talent, perhaps people who have consultancy experience and who understand how both agencies and technology work. He mentioned major new hires that had experience at Accenture and Deloitte Digital.” Okay, but Accenture and Deloitte are not exactly meccas of diversity. And Read—like his predecessor—is not exactly a defender of diversity.

WPP’s Read calls for ‘better work, better strategy and better reputations’ from creative shops

By Megan Graham

On Mark Read’s second official day of work as the new chief of WPP, he fielded questions from investors and analysts about his vision for the company and how the company will face increased competition from consultants and clients bringing their accounts in house. The world’s largest holding company saw shares tumble upon its second quarter earnings Tuesday.

WPP posted organic growth of 0.7 percent in the second quarter, but reduced its margin guidance for the year as it plans to spend more to spur growth. Read said the company is reviewing strategy as it pertains to structure, underperforming operations and how WPP will position itself for the future, and said that the company will issue updates by the end of the year.

“We’ve had one quarter of growth,” Read said on a call with U.S. analysts, saying this was the company’s first quarter of like-for-like net sales growth since the first quarter in 2017. “It’s too early to declare victory, though it is a positive step.”

Read said the company’s priorities lie in strengthening its creative agencies (saying “We need to have stronger businesses with better work, better strategy, better reputations as well as ensure that those companies have the capabilities that they need to grow”), as well as in data investment management. WPP will also focus on improving its performance in North America. The region saw like-for-like net sales decline by 3.3 percent in the second quarter.

“Changes seem inevitable, with fewer agency brands, for example, and some kind of change to the way in which Kantar is situated within WPP seems likely too, especially considering the expected auction for Kantar’s direct competitor Nielsen,” Pivotal senior analyst Brian Wieser wrote in a research note.

“However, we think that growth will mostly be a function of execution in adapting to evolving client needs with investments around internal and external e-commerce, data and consumer experience-focused capabilities,” Wieser wrote. “We think it is particularly positive for WPP that its new CEO has extensive experience in these areas, which should be helpful for the company as it evolves going forward.”

In a research note, Liberum Capital said it “would not expect a revolution in its approach nor a breakup, but we would expect a significant evolution.”

The note added that WPP’s claim it will address underperforming units raises the possibility the holding company may look to dispose of “at least significant parts of its Market Research (what it calls Data Investment) assets.”

This “would have the dual benefit of both improving the stated performance of the group and essentially resolving any balance sheet concerns, thus allowing WPP greater flexibility to drive growth,” the note said.

Analysts asked on the call how the company is thinking about competition from consultancies like Accenture and Deloitte, which are increasingly sparring against traditional agencies for pieces of business. Some clients are also bringing business in-house that was traditionally relegated to their agencies.

Read said WPP needs to understand how to implement marketing technology to help clients develop programs that run through from strategy, creative and execution of technology. He also said the group needs to hire a different mix of talent, perhaps people who have consultancy experience and who understand how both agencies and technology work. He mentioned major new hires that had experience at Accenture and Deloitte Digital.

Read also defended agencies’ ability to do much of that work better than consultancies.

“The value of our business is the ability to generate ideas to inspire consumers, to develop visions around how companies can grow, and I do think that agencies are better qualified to do that than consultants that tend to write hypotheses at the beginning of the project then spend the next three months proving the conclusion they’d come to at the start of the process.”

He added that WPP’s agencies need to be more amenable to working onsite with their clients.

“It’s something where historically agencies have been reluctant to let people work outside their operations and the consulting firms have been more familiar to do that,” he said. “I’d like to see any of our clients looking to outsource anything to consultants or bring them in-house — they should have a conversation with us. I think we can very effectively develop solutions with them … I think it’s an opportunity for us if we do it correctly.”

14289: Council Needs Counsel.

A MultiCultClassics visitor pointed to “12 Ways To Encourage More Diversity In The Agency World” presented by the Forbes Agency Council. First of all, for anyone wondering who the hell makes up the Forbes Agency Council, here’s the official hype:

Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Find out if you qualify at forbesagencycouncil.com/qualify.

Okay, except the Forbes Agency Council members offering a dozen diversity directives appear to be relatively unknown executives—and the group is not very diverse to boot. Perhaps the invitation-only organization should work on its own exclusivity before encouraging the agency world to change.

14288: BMW Seeks POC.

AgenySpy posted that BMW launched a review for its U.S. multicultural business, and incumbent The Community won’t participate in the pitch. Earlier in the year, Goodby Silverstein & Partners won the White portion of the business, pissing off a bunch of competitors who felt dissed because the client failed to directly inform the losers that they lost. BMW ultimately responded to the complainers like the automaker has responded to the Rev. Jesse Jackson—that is, with cricket chirping in German. Whatever. Watch for Omnicom to offer minorities from its network to be second-class citizens cultural collaborators with GS&P.

Meanwhile, the AgencySpy post inspired a comment worth repeating: “As a former ad person, why don’t clients just put out RFPs asking who wants to work for free? And I worked on the account for US Hispanic [a decade ago.]” Hey, clients aren’t bold enough to ask minorities to work for free, opting to compensate with crumbs instead.

BMW Launches Review of U.S. Multicultural Business; AOR The Community to Sit It Out

By Patrick Coffee

BMW has launched a mandatory review of its U.S. multicultural advertising business, a spokesperson confirmed today.

Another party close to the matter stated that Miami’s The Community, which has served as AOR for the brand since 2015, declined to participate.

The client rep confirmed this to be true. The review will be run internally and will not involve consultancy Ryan Roth Hayes, which oversaw the main U.S. competition that initially launched last year.

You’ll recall that GS&P beat out Hill Holliday, Wieden + Kennedy, Droga5 and Anomaly to win the account.

As with that review, this one will be driven by a procurement department based in Munich as BMW looks to cut expenses, much like its competitor Volkswagen. Last year, multiple parties close to the business claimed that this was one of the main reasons incumbent KBS chose to opt out just like The Community has done.

BMW, which traditionally works with a wide variety of agencies, spent $275 million on paid media in the U.S. in 2016; it’s unclear exactly what portion of that total was dedicated to multicultural marketing.

A spokesperson for The Community declined to comment on the news.

14287: BBH BS 2 SAG-AFTRA.

Adweek reported the U.S. offices of BBH have cut ties with leading actors union SAG-AFTRA—right around Labor Day—so the White advertising agency will cease being a signatory to the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract. The shop published a letter to “the talented actors who work with BBH US” to explain what motivated the move, claiming it was a business-based decision to stay competitive with other White advertising agencies that are not signatories, as well as to work in the best interests of their clients. The explanation sounds like a load of sheep shit, as sister firms within the Publicis Groupe network haven’t joined BBH in separating from SAG-AFTRA. Then again, the actors letter is a bit more respectful than BBH’s communication with minorities at the Diversity in Advertising Career Day in 2009.

Publicis’ BBH Withdraws From SAG-AFTRA Contract After Actors Union Threatens to Strike

Agency posts letter to talent on website

By Patrick Coffee

The U.S. offices of Publicis Groupe-owned BBH have ended their relationship with leading actors union SAG-AFTRA, a spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. Effective immediately, the agency is no longer a signatory to the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract, which requires all participating agencies—and, by extension, their clients—to cast only union actors in their campaigns. BBH also posted a letter regarding the decision on its website, addressing “the talented actors” who have appeared in its ads.

This move comes approximately one month after the union threatened to call a strike against the agency in a note that accused BBH of “disputing its status as a signatory” to the same contract and called upon its 150,000-plus active members to report any violations on the agency’s part. Additionally, the union said, “BBH believes it is free to disregard the terms of your contract, including contributions to your Pension & Health benefits, minimum compensation, and the responsible use of your image, voice and performance.”

At the time, national executive director and chief negotiator David White told Adweek he hoped to “get [BBH] to the bargaining table and bargain a fair deal with them” after the agency reportedly attempted to “unilaterally repudiate the contact.” He also noted, by contrast, that the union eventually developed a “great relationship” with Grey after accusing the WPP agency in 2016 of using its own in-house production studio to circumvent union rules.

BBH, like most legacy agencies, had been a signatory to the SAG-AFTRA contract since opening its first U.S. office more than 20 years ago. One major reason advertisers have often negotiated with the organization, which was formed by a 2012 merger of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, is that it is the largest actors union and represents a considerable majority of available talent. Yet many younger and more digitally-oriented shops like Droga5 never signed on—and this fact has not gone unnoticed. In 2016, the union staged a protest at Droga5’s New York headquarters, ran sponsored posts and bought an ad on AdAge.com arguing that the agency was engaging in “exploitation” of commercial talent.

One source at a separate agency told Adweek that many younger creative agencies—especially those that often work with influencers or create short-form, social-friendly campaigns—avoid SAG-AFTRA in the interest of lowering production costs. White argued that the union allows for “a great deal of flexibility” with its partners, and last year the organization did grant a waiver to signatories for digital productions with budgets under $50,000. But BBH’s letter states that the agency is increasingly unable to compete with rivals that are not bound by the agreement in question.

SAG-AFTRA often encourages its members to protest, most recently calling for them to voice their displeasure with the NBA, the Honest Company and several talent management firms for reportedly violating the terms of the commercials contract. It is unclear whether the organization will make good on its plan to launch a strike against BBH, whose L.A. office works with a variety of prominent entertainment companies.

“BBH’s decision to end its contractual relationship is unacceptable and will not go unchallenged,” said SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris in a statement. “The union will use every available resource at our disposal as well as leverage our 160,000 professional performers to bring BBH back to the table.”

SAG-AFTRA helps to provide actors with work assignments in addition to health insurance and other benefits. In exchange, members must agree to work only with companies that have also signed the contract or risk expulsion from the group.

BBH representatives declined to comment beyond the letter itself, which is reprinted in full below.

MESSAGE TO THE TALENTED ACTORS WHO WORK WITH BBH US

BBH US is privileged to work with the creative community’s best of the best. We thank you for being our partner in the work we love, using our combined creative power to produce ambitious ideas for ambitious clients. Your involvement in our work is crucial to delivering the high-caliber products our clients have come to expect from us.

It’s precisely because we respect your contribution that we want to communicate directly to you about why BBH US has decided to exercise our legal right to not renew our participation as a signatory to the SAG-AFTRA contract.

In short, we are hired to operate in the best interests of our clients, and part of that is being able to deliver the greatest level of flexibility and value for the work we do. We are simply looking to level the playing field for all of us. The current contract was put in place nearly 20 years ago, when the internet was in its infancy and the advertising world was a vastly different place, with vastly different economics. The cutting-edge work we do at BBH US across all mediums is not well-served by a contract that was designed for a traditional media landscape. The need for speed, agility, and greater efficiencies in how we produce work has become increasingly important in today’s market. Many of our peer agencies are not signatories, making it hard to compete sustainably in a way that benefits our clients.

We immensely value the creative talent we work with, and this decision does not change our commitment to fair wages and working conditions. We simply need the flexibility that this current contract does not allow in order to continue to do great work with great actors, both SAG-AFTRA and non-SAG-AFTRA talent alike.

It is unfortunate that the current SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract has placed signatory agencies at a competitive disadvantage. In withdrawing as a signatory, BBH US can operate in precisely the same manner as its peer agencies, providing work opportunities to performers across the full spectrum of the creative community.

While this was a difficult decision, it was one we had no choice but to make. We look forward to continuing to collaborate on work for some of the most innovative marketers in the world.

Sincerely, BBH US

14286: Gruesome Threesomes.

From hotels to hamburgers, it seems like White advertising agencies enjoy group-sex jokes. White Castle joined the orgy with its latest campaign for Threesomes menu items. Looking forward to a three-way promotion between White Castle, Carl’s Jr. and Wendy’s.

14285: Snickers Does Not Satisfy.

This Snickers commercial featuring Elton John in a rap battle was hatched by White advertising agency AMV BBDO, which has a history of producing patronizing propaganda while dodging diversity in its own hallways. Or maybe MultiCultClassics is being too cranky and just needs a Snickers bar.

14284: Big Mac Garbage.

This Mickey D’s campaign from Brazil is apparently celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Big Mac by highlighting its packaging over the years—but unintentionally calls out the tons of garbage annually generated by the fast feeder.

14283: Unreasonable Bullshit.

Campaign reported Anomaly is jumping on the White women’s bandwagon in opportunistic fashion with a new global offering—Unreasonable Equals—designed to generate gender-equality-focused marketing and products for clients. Oh boy, let’s profit by producing more patronizing propaganda! Anomaly insists Unreasonable Equals is not a division or silo, pointing to a 2016 stunt—Last Silo—that allegedly integrated multicultural marketing across the entire business versus letting minority efforts exist as a standalone unit. Okay, maybe a better metaphor would be to say the new initiative adds another turd to Anomaly’s big pile of shit. After all, while the multicultural absorption probably allowed the White advertising agency to snatch crumbs from professionals of color, Unreasonable Equals actually led to the hiring of more White women in the firm. To make matters more ridiculous, the name of the new venture was inspired by a George Bernard Shaw quote that reads: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” In other words, the gender equality program’s title is based on a male-dominant statement, which shows once again that Anomaly is a hackneyed hellhole.

Anomaly launches offering to drive gender equality in marketing

By Lindsay Stein

The agency already has assignments from Unilever and UN Women in New York.

Anomaly has launched “Unreasonable Equals,” a new global offering focused on helping brands drive gender equality in marketing and product innovation.

The offering has three pillars: pioneering marketing to change the gender narrative; female innovations and entrepreneurial partnerships; and continuing to invest in and prove the power of progressive talent models and new ways of working.

“Anomaly has always been committed to progressive business models, IP and the skill sets needed to really drive change, and this is personal passion of mine, so it was a natural evolution of us continuing to push the industry and help new and existing clients,” said Karina Wilsher, partner and global COO of the agency.

Biases still exist today in marketing today, Wilsher added, and Anomaly plans on looking at “the why behind the why behind the why,” which includes digging into product innovation and figuring out how things need to be changed right from the beginning. Most products have been created in a male-dominated world and have been built around men.

“The opportunity is massive change and big growing movements of female entrepreneurs and innovators and brands recognizing the commercial value of driving equality,” Wilsher said.

However, it’s important to note that this is not just about women.

“To drive equality for everyone, it’s everyone’s responsibility,” Wilsher said.

Anomaly already has two assignments under Unreasonable Equals. Unilever has hired the agency to help scale its Unstereotype global initiative, and UN Women of New York has asked the shop to evolve its initiative, The Unstereotype Alliance, which aims to end harmful stereotypes in advertising.

Wilsher has also hired two global leads for Unreasonable Equals, who will work part-time as part of Anomaly’s commitment to exploring new possibilities for women in the workplace through agile and modern models.

The two global strategy directors include: Tamsin Davies, who previously served as strategy partner at Droga5 London, head of new business models at The Nike Foundation, head of innovation at Fallon London and head of planning at Y&R London; and Kirsty Saddler, most recently marketing director at Leon, who also previously served as head of strategy at BBH London.

Saddler and Davies’ (left to right in above photo) part-time model is a “job-pair,” rather than a “job-share,” said Wilsher. “If you think of the old model of a job-share, it was often down to women trying to find other women to work two days a week for them and it doesn’t solve a problem — it puts onus on a woman trying to split a job,” she said. “This is a progressive way of always working together, part-time, and being flexible about how, where and when they work.”

Unreasonable Equals, named after a quote from George Bernard Shaw that highlights the importance of being unreasonable to make progress, involves every staffer at Anomaly. The offering does not exist in a separate division or silo — it’s on everyone at the agency to live up to the same standards, Wilsher said.

Similarly, in 2016, Anomaly broke down cultural barriers with its Last Silo effort, which integrated multicultural marketing across all parts of the business instead of operating in a standalone unit.

Unreasonable Equals is consistent with Anomaly’s culture, having created award-winning and groundbreaking initiatives over the years, such as the launch of the limited-edition Jane Walker whiskey on International Women’s Day; the “Keep Walking America” campaign for Johnnie Walker; and the “SheTopia” effort for Coty’s Sally Hansen brand.

14282: Labor Daze.

Labor Day is the perfect time to salute the advertising industry for providing people of color with opportunities to labor as receptionists, security officers, janitors, mailroom attendants, conference keynote speakers and performers (celebrities only), Global Creative Directors (hip hop artists only) and Chief Diversity Officers.

14281: Labor eBay.

For Labor Day, eBay invites Black people to sell like a boss and raise loot for the sneakers you really want. Just do it.

14280: Ford Fiasco.

In April, shortly after WPP Founder Sir Martin Sorrell resigned from his overpaid position, Adweek reported longtime client Ford launched a global creative review. To close out August, Advertising Age and Adweek reported Wieden + Kennedy will drive the automaker’s upcoming Fall brand campaign. Looks like Sorrell managed to make a clean getaway from the inevitable car wreck—and he sped off without the services of his disgruntled ex-chauffeur to boot. To recap, Sorrell erected a White advertising agency to exclusively service the Ford account. The build-a-shop tactic has not been overly successful, as evidenced by Enfatico and Cavalry. It underscores how holding companies have ultimately fueled the commoditization of creativity, where sister shops within networks are generic and mediocre clones. And it’s no surprise that a clearly superior creative shop like Wieden + Kennedy—which is independent, incidentally—can beat the typical holding company competitors. The only other sure thing is that minority advertising agencies will not play a major role or receive much press in this scenario—especially if former Team Detroit COO and current Ford VP Mark LaNeve is involved at all.

14279: Latino American Express.

How to target Latinos:

Family Imagery. Check.

Caring Father Figure. Check.

Soccer Balls. Check.

14278: TTFN Tyson.

AgencySpy posted that VML Chicago lost its Tyson assignments, which accounted for a majority of the shop’s revenue. Gee, maybe divertsity and diversity don’t positively affect business after all.

14277: Land O’ Fakes.

Adweek spotlighted patronizing propaganda from Land O’ Lakes and The Martin Agency, who celebrated female farmers with a parody version of “Old MacDonald Had A Farm” set to country rock music. This divertsity dreck is offensive on a host of levels. First, the featured farmers are mostly White women. It’s a safe bet that Land O’ Lakes and The Martin Agency are oblivious to the plight—and even the existence—of Black farmers or other minority groups. Second, for a brand to show reverence to female farmers while sporting a stereotypical and controversial Indian Maiden mascot demonstrates pale-faced hypocrisy. Third, for a chronically White advertising agency to salute feminism so soon after being exposed for allegedly engaging in long-term sexual harassment displays ignorant insensitivity. That said, don’t be surprised if the campaign gets submitted for an ADCOLOR® Award, Glass Lion, Athena Award, etc. Award show judges eat this shit up like butter.

Land O’Lakes Spotlights Female Farmers in Its Feminist Reimagining of ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’

Maggie Rose and Liz Rose create ‘She-I-O’ for Women’s Equality Day

By Lindsay Rittenhouse

Old MacDonald may have had a farm with a dog, cows and some chickens, but he also had something far more important to keeping said farm running—a daughter. At least according to Land O’Lakes’ “She-I-O,” a reimagined (albeit slightly hokey) version of the classic children’s nursery rhyme sung by country artist Maggie Rose.

The aim of it is to honor the oftentimes invisible female farmers who help feed America. This comes ahead of Women’s Equality Day (Aug. 26) and sends out a critical message: the successful, old, fictionalized farmer MacDonald doesn’t have to be a man.

“She-I-O” debuts with a full music video featuring Maggie Rose and several real female farmers, kicking off a larger campaign, “All Together Better,” from Land O’Lakes, which leaned on a predominantly female team at The Martin Agency to create. The campaign also intends to position Land O’Lakes as the member-owned agricultural cooperative it is, not just the consumer-facing brand of cheeses and butter.

The stars of the music video are members of Land O’Lakes’ cooperative of 1,791 farmers, many of whom the company said are women. In fact, the company said 30 percent of all U.S. farmers are female (like the ones shown in the video waking up at the ass crack of dawn to start work).

Grammy Award-winning songwriter Liz Rose—whose credits appear on various country hits including Taylor Swift’s “Fearless,” Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush,” Carrie Underwood’s “Cry Pretty” and Kenny Chesney’s “Better Boat”—collaborated on “She-I-O.” The video (below) was directed by female powerhouse duo Charlotte Fassler and Dani Girdwood of Similar But Different.

“I’m passionate about the message at the forefront of ‘She-I-O,’ which celebrates the power of inclusivity and the role women play in modern farming,” Maggie Rose said in a statement. “My husband’s family owns a cattle ranch in Missouri, so I’ve had a glimpse into what goes into putting food on our tables. Like so many of us, I grew up singing ‘Old MacDonald.’ Where you hear lines ‘on his farm’ and ‘he had a cow,’ it’s nice to finally add in the other half of the population.”

Anne Marie Hite, senior vice president and creative director at The Martin Agency, noted to Adweek that during briefing sessions with the songwriters, one of the first things to come out of Liz Rose’s mouth was, “Oh my god, MacDonald had a daughter.”

“It became the basis for the whole song,” Hite said, adding that both Liz Rose and Maggie Rose (no relation) were immediately identified as the “perfect” songwriting duo for the project.

“A lot of people picture farmers as men,” Hite said. When The Martin Agency got the call from Land O’Lakes to work on this campaign, she said this “brilliant idea” was sparked to rewrite “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” as “a modern-day, badass female anthem.”

The campaign breaks just one month after Land O’Lakes appointed Beth Ford as its new CEO, where she makes history as the first openly gay woman to sit at the helm of a Fortune 500 company.

Anna Squibb, senior manager of integrated marketing at Land O’Lakes’ Dairy Food Retail division, said it was inspiring to see everyone involved in the campaign “pour their hearts and soul into it”—even the female farmers in the company’s co-op.

“Our farmer members are the most cooperative and easy-to-work-with people,” Squibb added. “They were a little apprehensive at first but when we proposed the idea to have them in the video, they were open to it. … We’re so passionate about sharing their stories.”

According to Hite, the farmers were quite taken aback when the agency showed up with a film crew of 60 members, as they thought there would be five people at most. “They were like, ‘What did we sign up for?’” she said with a laugh.

“She-I-O” debuted on SoundCloud on Tuesday and will be made available on iTunes beginning Friday. The “All Together Better” campaign includes 30- and 60-second TV spots, print executions and “custom digital content,” according to a statement from Land O’Lakes and The Martin Agency.

Land O’Lakes partnered with hunger relief organization Feeding America on the campaign. For every like, share or comment the “She-I-O” video or music track garners on social media, SoundCloud and iTunes, the Land O’Lakes Foundation will donate $1 to Feeding America, capping it at $100,000. Hashtag #AllTogetherBetter is being distributed to help spread the word.

The last component to the campaign is a three-part digital documentary series called “In Their Words,” produced by the Female Farmer Project, that chronicles the personal stories of some of Land O’Lakes’ farmers. [Adweek also posted] the spotlights of Lori, Candice and Amanda (the farmers featured in the music video).

14276: Family Secrets & Lies.

Adweek reported on patronizing propaganda from HP, featuring a video designed to shatter the “All-American Family” myths and stereotypes. Of course, HP had no problem assigning the project to White pseudo-advertising agency Edelman, where the exclusive leadership hardly reflects society in general. The video is part of the “Reinvent Mindsets” campaign. Considering how HP continues to partner with White advertising agencies where diversity is a dream deferred, diverted and denied, calling it the “Reinvent Hypocrisy” campaign would be more appropriate.

What Does an ‘All-American Family’ Look Like? HP Created a Challenge to Show the New Reality

Lessons learned in new film celebrating inclusion

By Doug Zanger

To most people, the image of an “all-American family” consists of a heterosexual white man, woman and children. 74 percent of 2,000 people surveyed in an HP-commissioned study believed that the typical household in this country fits the generational and societal “white picket fence” stereotype. However, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, only one in four American families matches that description.

In a compelling social experiment and film, HP brought together 13 Chicago families of different races, ethnicities, ages, genders and sexual orientations. Each person was purposely separated not to reveal which families they were connected to. From there, a smaller group was brought in and asked to choose individuals to put together what they believed constituted an “all-American family.” The ‘families’ that were created followed a predictable script: same race, different gender, heterosexual.

Unsurprisingly, none of the people choosing the families got it right. An African-American lesbian mom, for example, was paired with a man of the same race who is actually married to a white woman. Additionally, a gay white father was placed with a heterosexual white woman and two children.

The reveal of the actual families was a stunning, emotional revelation and lesson learned about bias. One participant said that it changed “my perspective on a traditional American family. What surprised me was the man who I picked—it’s a two-father family—and when I picked him I [thought] this guy looks most like how the stereotypical father might look.”

After the real families came together, they were photographed, and the pictures were printed on HP printers and placed on a wall to commemorate the exercise.

“The social experiment helped spotlight the beauty and range of American families and what makes a family portrait,” said Carlos Ricardo, head of print marketing, Americas for HP. “This made us think about the family photo and how the family itself has evolved.”

“When marketing and communications are most powerful, it holds up a mirror to our lives and reflects who we are and what is most important,” added Karen Kahn, HP’s chief communications officer. “And as marketers for a purpose-driven brand, we tackle the subjects that are meaningful to our most important audiences—employees, customers and partners.”

The spot, Family Portraits, is the latest in the brand’s ‘Reinvent Mindsets’ campaign that celebrates inclusion and highlights unconscious bias that affects both the corporate world and society at large. For several years, HP has publicly stated its position around diversity, championed by recently-departed CMO Antonio Lucio, and challenged their agencies and partners to improve their own workforces.

In addition to the film created by Edelman Digital, HP will release its extensive research project that revealed a bevy of surprising statistics.

Eighty percent of respondents, for example, agree that defining an “all-American family” is difficult due to the country’s diversity. Additionally, 68 percent of LGBTQ people categorize their families as all-American versus 58 percent who believe others would describe them in the same way.

One of the more telling stats indicated that one in three Americans would be nervous bringing home a partner of a different race and a full 50 percent say their family prefers that they date or marry someone of the same race or religion. Another revealed that one in three people have cut ties with a family member due to intolerance.

“The Reinvent Mindsets study findings reinforce that to connect with everyone, everywhere, we must strip away bias and stereotypes and celebrate our differences,” said Lesley Slaton-Brown, chief diversity officer at HP. “These findings show that regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation or country of origin, perceptions of ‘family’ are not in line with today’s reality.”

14275: Galloping Garbage.

Campaign reported on the recent ravings of Divertsity Diva Cindy Gallop, who demanded that holding companies immediately eradicate non-disclosure agreements connected to sexual harassment cases. “I want to see the leaders of every holding company and agency network announce their eradication immediately,” snapped Gallop. “We cannot have progress without full transparency on who the harassers and bullies in our industry are and whether or not they face repercussions. Why on earth would anyone silence a victim instead of firing a harasser? If you’re trying to gag victims, you know you’re rotten at the core.”

Gee, wonder if Gallop’s growling has the leaders of every holding company shaking in their boots or just shaking their heads and rolling their eyes. Actually, it’s hard to point out the leaders of every holding company these days. John Wren, Michael Roth, Arthur Sadoun and whoever’s occupying the CEO suite at WPP and the other holding companies operate like spokesmen, presenting promotional propaganda at shareholder meetings. Indeed, shareholders appear to be the true “leaders” at holding companies. All of which makes Gallop more pathetic, as the typical shareholder probably couldn’t identify her in a lineup and couldn’t care less.

Gallop’s gripes aren’t even original. The topic is already being addressed—and in much more intelligent and informed ways. Of course, if change does occur, Gallop will take full credit, along with Kat Gordon and Diet Madison Avenue.

Finally, Gallop’s soapbox monologue also demonstrates the differences between fighting for divertsity versus diversity. Divertsity defenders demand total overhauls of policies, processes and laws. For diversity, on the other hand, the simplest suggestions are shot down—and any attempts at legal action are ultimately ignored. Gallop gasped, “Why on earth would anyone silence a victim instead of firing a harasser?” Um, people of color who protest for diversity in the advertising industry are routinely blacklisted, blackballed and blacked out—while the perpetrators who perpetuate discriminatory exclusivity retain their privileged positions and win ADCOLOR® Awards.

Cindy Gallop calls #timesup on NDAs

By Nicola Kemp

Non-disclosure agreements have the advertising industry in a stranglehold and it is time to eradicate them, according to industry stalwart Cindy Gallop.

Gallop, the founder of MakeLoveNotPorn, said the advertising industry must call #timesup on non-disclosure agreements and address their “appalling prevalence” across the industry.

She said: “I want to see the leaders of every holding company and agency network announce their eradication immediately. We cannot have progress without full transparency on who the harassers and bullies in our industry are and whether or not they face repercussions. Why on earth would anyone silence a victim instead of firing a harasser? If you’re trying to gag victims, you know you’re rotten at the core.”

A female creative in her twenties, who signed such an agreement without fully understanding the implications, explained that the widespread practice was not only damaging for the victim but put other employees at risk. She said: “The NDA provides a clean slate for the abuser, enabling, and even emboldening them, which almost ensures further abuse there, and elsewhere, placing other women in real danger. Cruelly, agencies silencing the victim elevate their suffering from abuse at the hands of a single perpetrator to having an industry aligned against them.”

She continued: “The reality is, agencies are absolutely terrified of women who will speak truth to power and upset the status quo. Silence ensures that each woman is isolated and powerless in their own suffering.”

Breaking the cycle

The call to end NDAs comes as the advertising industry continues to grapple with the issue of sexual harassment in the industry. Earlier this year research published by the Advertising Association, NABS and WACL, as part of the #timeTo initiative, revealed that sexual harassment in advertising is not a legacy issue. Twenty per cent of female respondents aged 18 to 24 reported they had already been sexually harassed in the few years they have spent working in the industry.

The great majority (72%) of those who had been sexually harassed had experienced it more than once, and of those a quarter had been harassed six times or more. This suggests that a culture of silence around sexual harassment, combined with the prevalence of NDAs, allows perpetrators to continue a cycle of harassment.

Gallop said: “I have literally hundreds of emails in my inbox from women who’ve been forced to sign them [NDAs]. This, combined with agencies’ and holding companies’ refusal to fire sexual harassers (and bullies and abusers) and, when they finally do, to state publicly the reason why, is keeping our industry in the dark ages by destroying women’s careers instead of the careers of the men who harassed them.”

Diana Tickell, CEO of NABS, said that using NDAs or confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements after an allegation of harassment has been made was likely to prevent people from speaking out about their experience and systemic problems being tackled within companies.

She said: “Our message to employers, which is reflected in our code of conduct, is that they need to think very carefully before using such agreements or clauses in response to sexual harassment complaints, and misusing them following an allegation of sexual harassment could make them void.”

Tickell believes that agencies need to create cultures in which people can speak up without fear of reprisals. “We want safe, trusting and open environments where anyone can approach their company with faith and confidence that the company will investigate all allegations fairly and promptly. We want to create work cultures where people are never made to feel that their jobs – at their current company or a future one – will be negatively affected because they have come forward to report an incident,” she added.

She said some respondents to the timeTo initiative did share more positive experiences of companies that had acted on allegations promptly and without using NDAs or confidentiality clauses, proving that it can be done.

A business imperative

Breaking the silence surrounding sexual harassment in advertising is also viewed as an important step in tackling gender inequality both on the screen and behind the lens. Gallop said sexual harassment was a significant business issue: “The resulting loss of female-lens creativity, strategy, business management and leadership hurts our clients’ business as well as our own. Our industry will never be gender-equal, diverse and inclusive, and therefore as exceptionally creative, revenue-generating and profitable as it could be, while protection of harassers keeps out of power the female leaders who would make equality, diversity and inclusion happen.”

For the female creative who signed an NDA following a traumatising experience of sexual harassment, the experience has been one that has left her feeling utterly powerless. Like other women who have left agencies following sexual harassment complaints she must also grapple with practical challenges, such as how she will explain the gap in her employment to future employees, or how she will explain why she left her previous agency.

She explained: “The NDA ensures the victim disappears because, it they don’t, the agency will be held to account for fostering an environment that allowed such inconceivable, criminal acts to occur within their walls.”

No one should be forced to sign a NDA or settlement agreement and no one should sign one without taking independent legal advice first. If you want impartial, free and confidential help and guidance, call the NABS Advice Line on 0800 707 6607.

14274: McCann The Puppet Master…?

Adweek reported on the latest lunacy involving McCann and the U.S. Army, with a lawsuit being filed against the White advertising agency by a Black media company that accuses McCann of “misleading and defrauding the plaintiff through ad buys made on behalf of the U.S. Army as part of a minority recruitment push.” The plaintiff—Urban One—charges McCann used a struggling Black advertising agency as a “puppet” to make ad buys and qualify for governmental financial incentives tied to utilizing minority vendors. As a result, Urban One insists it is owed over $930k in ad placement costs—along with interest, added costs and legal fees for a grand total of $1.8 million. A McCann spokesperson said the Urban One “claims are baseless” and believes the case will be dismissed. Regardless, this is hardly the first time folks have questioned the professional pranks practices tied to White advertising agencies “partnering” with minority firms on big accounts featuring political and governmental components. See Draftfcb and the U.S. Census as another example. Is it a coincidence that the former Draftfcb and McCann were/are part of the IPG network? And McCann has certainly created controversial kookiness with the U.S. Army, despite obscenely profiting from the account. Hell, don’t be surprised if the White advertising agency leverages this lawsuit to further extend its governmental contact.

Lawsuit Says UM Used ‘Puppet’ Agency for Army’s Minority Recruitment, Then Left Media Unpaid

Urban One claims it is owed $1.8 million in damages

By Patrick Coffee

Urban One, a media company focused on African-American audiences, is suing IPG-owned media agency UM, which is accused of misleading and defrauding the plaintiff through ad buys made on behalf of the U.S. Army as part of a minority recruitment push.

The suit, filed late last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, states that UM (named in the filing as Universal McCann Worldwide) “conspired to defraud and mislead” Urban One by way of what the plaintiff calls a “sham buying agent”: Penn, Good & Associates or PGA (now known as Penngood).

Urban One claims UM used Penngood, an African American-owned agency, as a “puppet” to qualify for hundreds of thousands of dollars in government incentives aimed at encouraging contractors to work with minority-owned companies, as defined by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

When Penngood was used to buy U.S. Army ads on Urban One’s TV and radio networks, a credit check reportedly showed that the shop had a “poor credit rating and history,” according to the lawsuit. Urban One also says it felt pressured “at the direction of McCann” to accept the ad buys on credit with assurances that payments would eventually come. The lawsuit cites a 2009 email from a UM svp pledging that Penngood had the “financial capacity and integrity to manage the account.”

Penngood then allegedly failed to pay Urban One $930,268.11 in ad placement costs. All told, Urban One says it is owed $1.8 million in damages, plus interest, assorted costs and attorney’s fees.

UM says claims are ‘baseless’

Urban One describes itself as “the largest distributor of urban content in the country,” and plaintiffs in this suit include its cable network, TV One, and Reach Media, which produces national radio shows by celebrities like D.L. Hughley and Al Sharpton.

This is not the first time the company has pursued legal action over its relationship with the Army’s agency partners, a fact UM points to as a sign that this lawsuit will not go in the plaintiff’s favor.

“A related case brought in 2015 by TV One was summarily dismissed in court earlier this year, and we fully believe this case will be dismissed as well, as the claims are baseless,” a UM spokesperson told Adweek.

A separate suit was indeed filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in August 2015 and dismissed, in part, six months ago.

That filing focused on Penngood and Carol H. Williams Advertising, which partnered with the UM organization for more than 10 years to help plan and execute Army recruiting campaigns targeting African-American consumers. The earlier lawsuit accused those two agencies and their principals of breach of contract while naming UM as a third-party defendant.

The first phase of that case ended on Feb. 9, 2018, when Associate Judge John Campbell of the D.C. court granted a summary judgment in favor of the Williams agency and Carol H. Williams herself, stating that “the Williams defendants are not the party to have recourse against.”

But the judge allowed the claims against Penngood and its co-presidents, Clyde Penn and Garrick Good, to proceed. According to court documents, a separate non-jury trial in that matter is scheduled to begin in December.

“Carol has reviewed the allegations in the complaint TV One has filed in federal court in Maryland,” wrote John J. McNutt, counsel for Carol H. Williams Advertising. “In the complaint, TV One included several allegations against Carol related to her role as a subcontractor to McCann on the U.S. Army advertising contract from 2006 to 2017. Many of these unsupported allegations were previously included in a lawsuit TV One filed against Carol in 2015 in D.C. Superior Court. Carol denies the allegations and is proud of her agency’s many years of work on the U.S. Army contract. In February 2018, the judge in the D.C. case rejected TV One’s allegations against Carol and dismissed all of TV One’s claims against Carol. TV One’s allegations against Carol have been refuted in a court of law.”

After that judgment, Urban One went on to hire the law firm of Morris, Manning and Martin and take action against UM last week. The latest suit mentions Carol H. Williams Advertising several times but does not name the agency as a defendant.

Mounting pressure, overdue bills

At the heart of the new lawsuit is Urban One’s claim that it felt pressured by UM to work with its minority-owned agency partner, Penngood, despite UM allegedly knowing that Penngood had “cash flow problems” that would eventually leave it unable to pay its bills, the suit states.

In January 2009, UM tapped Penngood, according to the lawsuit, despite the small agency emerging from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing only five months before taking on the business. The lawsuit also states that “Garrick Good, one of the principals of PGA, had been involved in approximately a dozen lawsuits prior to McCann engaging PGA as its ‘buying agent.’”

Urban One continued to run Army ads on its cable and radio platforms while extending credit to Penngood thanks to what it calls “the assurances of and a longstanding business relationship with” UM, which allegedly agreed to be “jointly and severally liable for the advertising buys” while “fraudulently misrepresent[ing] the financial status and capabilities” of its buying partner, the lawsuit states.

Penngood’s financial struggles only grew more pronounced with time. Garrick Good filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in late 2012, but Urban One claims that it did not learn until 2017 that UM had “only performed a cursory check” of the agency’s finances and qualifications.

In addition to the nearly $1 million owed to TV One, the lawsuit also states that radio brand Reach and its local division, Radio One, went through similar experiences after expressing concern over Penngood’s finances several years ago. The agency now allegedly owes these two divisions $375,218.60 and $545,000.00, respectively, for uncompensated ads purchased on credit.

A spokesperson for Urban One’s law firm had not provided additional comment at the time of publication. The listed press contact for Penngood has not responded to a request for comment.

The suit comes less than two weeks after the larger McCann organization filed a bid with the U.S. Government Accountability Office to protest its second elimination from the U.S. Army review in just over a year. That review has now been extended until at least mid-November, and the protest also required the government to extend McCann’s contract beyond its expiration date of Sept. 30 this year.

You can view the lawsuit filing in its entirety [at Adweek].

14273: Live And Let Liver.

This advert from Egypt—which is a disaster of Hindenburg proportions—shows pharma advertising sucks worldwide.

14272: Consultancy Cloning.

Adweek reported Accenture’s new Chief Creative Officer—who formerly served at places like McCann and JWT—boasted the consultancy will act “as creative as other agencies” in the Nordic region. Well, sure, if you hire the same White people who worked at White advertising agencies, it’s safe to say a consultancy will churn out work on par with the status quo. Consultancies will be as creative as other agencies—and as culturally clueless as other agencies too.

Accenture’s Newest CCO Says the Consultancy Will Be ‘as Creative as Other Agencies’

Adam Kerj looks to expand Nordic operations

By Patrick Coffee

Accenture Interactive, the digital wing of the larger international consulting group, looks to expand its presence in the Nordic region by hiring a new chief creative officer.

According to the attendant statement, Accenture aims to more actively seek out new business in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

Adam Kerj joins the company after serving as CCO at McCann Stockholm and WPP’s J. Walter Thompson in New York, and he was also the first creative lead at Dentsu digital shop 360i. Throughout his career he has led campaigns for such brands as Oreo, HBO, Coca-Cola, Tide and Ben & Jerry’s, and his work has been awarded by the Cannes Lions, One Show and other trade organizations.

Kerj told Adweek that Accenture Interactive can “have a faster impact on a client’s business” due to its lack of a “traditional legacy structure.” He claimed that the sort of experimental work that will often end up in a “lab or center of excellence” in other agencies is “what we do” at Accenture.

Specifically, Kerj cited the creative department’s collaborations with the company’s “robust ecommerce back-end” operations, stating that Accenture, unlike other agencies, can often skip the process of “looking hard to find the people who can actually bring the idea to life” because it has “most of those capabilities internally.”

“Creatively, we can figure out everything more or less by ourselves,” he added.

For that reason, Kerj thinks the consultancy will continue to attract more agency veterans and “non-traditional creatives.”

“What is an idea? How does it look? [We’re] hiring talent that doesn’t have any preconceptions as to how it has to look and behave as an advertising idea,” he said.

At the same time, he noted that he had pitched against Accenture in his past job at McCann and that other area shops, like Adweek’s 2017 International Agency of the Year Åkestam Holst, will also be competing directly against his new employer.

“We will bring something slightly different to the table, but that is absolutely the ambition: to be as creative as other agencies,” he said.

Kerj also noted that Accenture and its work remains somewhat unknown despite all the “buzz around these companies now,” especially in the Nordic region. But the consultancy plans to more actively promote both its presence in these countries and the work it does for clients, starting with his hire.

“We have to be more proactive than most agencies,” he said. “I don’t know that clients understand what an agency can help them with today.”

14271: Artificial BS.

Adweek reported on the growing interest among brands to employ “Artificial Influencers” like South African Instagram model Shudu Gram and Blawko. Hey, the average CMO is probably thinking, “I can make my brand feel relevant and diverse without hiring actual people of color? Sign me up!” Look for White advertising agencies to take the notion further, creating artificial receptionists, mailroom attendants, janitors and Chief Diversity Officers.

14270: HR WTF.

Adweek published another perspective from 4As SVP Talent Engagement and Inclusion Keesha Jean-Baptiste, who thinks Human Resources needs a human rejiggering. Really? Does anyone think HR wonks are actually affecting hiring decisions or overall culture? These days, it seems like effective HR leaders ensure decent healthcare and dental benefits. Plus, they’ve got enough on their plates related to sexual harassment charges. Even Chief Diversity Officers admit having roles and responsibilities that are distinct from HR personnel. In lots of cases, talent recruiters within advertising agencies are not necessarily HR members either. In short, HR does not manage talent. So reinventing the HR department seems like a diversionary move. Rather, the directive for change must be placed squarely on the idiots with hiring authority and making hiring decisions—namely, creative directors, account directors, etc.

It’s Time for HR to Undergo a Revival or Agencies Risk Stifling Creative Talent

The department and industry both need to step up

By Keesha Jean-Baptiste

HR is in the ER, and there’s a screaming sense of urgency to lead the discipline toward a real top-to-bottom transformation. But will change really happen this time?

HR gurus have been predicting the disruption of this field for the past two decades. In the meantime, trust in HR practitioners has diminished to an all-time low and key skill sets have remained underdeveloped or underutilized for many of our HR professionals. Businesses are also outsourcing functional areas of HR, and movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp have sparked conversation about third parties, rather than internal HR teams, leading investigations, which is a necessary move.

So then, why am I pushing for a rebuild of HR rather than for the sounding of its death knell? Because ad agencies that tout culture without an insightful talent strategy will get nowhere. Because we’re losing talent. Because our industry cannot run if the talent group isn’t thriving in the creative environments we’ve fostered. Because what we’re seeing more and more is that too many times HR is not showing up in the way that talent and organizations need it to show up.

But when HR functions at the highest order, a business reaps proven benefits, including higher retention, increased profits, transparency, more trust in leadership and improved work.

Here’s how we get there.

What HR leaders can do

Effective and profitable agencies have holistic talent strategies, which means they know how to organize their staff, align their talent operations and cultivate a unique work culture that delivers on a company’s business strategy.

When HR functions at the highest order, a business reaps proven benefits, including higher retention, increased profits, transparency, more trust in leadership and improved work.

And, of course, on the other side of every program and policy, there are humans. HR has the opportunity to bring a human voice and touch to an agency in real, practical ways, including by targeting solutions to workforce segments such as parents, women, people of color, multiple generations, independent contractors and remote workers. This calls for HR to move away from one-size-fits-all solutions. Instead, we need to take a one-to-one approach that’s based on understanding people and team dynamics and that integrates life stage and career-stage insights. This may include tiering traditional benefits, wellness programs and performance engagement across segments.

In a workplace where all workforce segments can see and understand that their identity, skill set and experience are valued, employees will show up knowing that their organization is willing to deploy all of those things to benefit the business.

HR must also embrace a needs-based approach to talent management. Sometimes to a fault it has relied heavily on yesterday’s best practices to help with onboarding and performance reviews, for instance, and yet we still hear feedback that people don’t know what they’re doing or what is expected in their roles.

How management and agency leaders can step up

We have to be brave enough to break the systems and reinvent. That starts with reskilling or recasting those who are clinging to an outdated HR model, where policy—rather than people—rule. With the right model and the right skill sets in HR, HR becomes a strategic partner helping to guide the business.

Management and employees should also set a higher bar for what they expect from their HR departments, starting with getting smart about what high-functioning HR departments look like and investing in developing our key HR leaders whose development is usually forgotten.

To set that bar, do your own competitive analysis. To start, look at your clients’ businesses and look at what the top Fortune 500 companies are doing and try to remake and remodel the successes that make sense for your agency. You can tune into HR transformation experts like Adam Grant, Cy Wakeman, Josh Bersin and Natasha Bowman, who are all actively provoking critical thought and pushing toward more evolved workplaces and HR practices.

And when it’s time to hire the HR practitioners that can help you raise the bar, management should be looking for elastic thinkers rather than linear, transactional processors. In an evolved HR model, you want HR to bring these proficiencies to the table: business planning, insights generation, predictive analytics, leadership and entrepreneurialism.

We’re at a fork in the road, one where trust can be rebuilt along with an entirely new model for what HR does and what’s expected of it. If we don’t reinvent HR now, we risk significant damage to our agencies and our most valuable asset: our people.

14269: Brandweek Blacker Than Ever.

Oh, look! The next Brandweek soiree now features Kevin Hart as Opening Night Keynote and Lauryn Hill as Opening Night Performer.

14268: Females Fundamentally Flawed…?

Advertising Age published a perspective from Zambezi CEO Jean Freeman, who opined that women can better advance professionally by learning business fundamentals. Um, if a man had made such a statement, he’d likely be branded as a mansplaining misogynist. Why haven’t Kat Gordon and Cindy Gallop complained that women are being held back in adland because no one will teach them the basics? Maybe the 4As should build an all-girls high school to educate female students about P&L, balance sheets and legal documents. But seriously, is there really a problem with women in advertising displaying corporate cluelessness? Cultural cluelessness is forever in abundance. Women, however, appear to be doing fine managing clients, adhering to budgets and handling all the responsibilities of running advertising agencies. Hey, only racial and ethnic minorities require remedial training to qualify for positions in the advertising industry.

Beyond empowerment: The case for teaching business fundamentals to women

By Jean Freeman

There’s no shortage of women’s events these days. I’ve attended them all — 3% Conference, Makers, Girlboss Rally, Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Gen, She Runs It. These platforms have had a meaningful impact on the ascension of the next generation of women leaders. They inspire creativity, confidence, community, and also encourage mentoring. More women (and men) are stepping up to mentor the next generation of women.

But in addition to mentoring, I’m seeing an even more pressing need for teaching. Specifically, teaching business fundamentals. Much of the discussion at women’s conferences focuses on personal actions, emotional intelligence, building self-confidence and creating a personal brand. This is all valid, but gender equity platforms need more rigor around the mechanics of business. Fundamental business smarts are what will truly move women forward, and women are recognizing this.

Frustrated with the slow progress in corporate environments, more women are going into business for themselves, founding companies at a historic rate. According to a recent study, women-owned businesses account for 30 percent of all businesses worldwide.

One of my favorite Ted talks is “The Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get,” by Susan Colantuono, CEO of Leading Women. She pointed out that the most important skill set that determines whether women in business move up the ladder and out of the bog of middle management, where 50 percent of the workforce historically is women, “has to do with understanding where the organization is going, what its strategy is, what financial targets it has in place, and understanding your role in moving the organization forward. This is that missing 33 percent of the career success equation for women, not because it’s missing in our capabilities or abilities, but because it’s missing in the advice that we’re given.”

Teaching women how a company runs is key. We need to develop learning around business and financial skills—the kind of expertise that contributes directly to a company’s success and profitability. We need to expand the offerings at conferences to also include business overview and training. Understanding the mechanics of P&L, why the balance sheet is probably the most important financial document, and how to interpret legal documents are examples of the fundamentals to which women at the mid level should be exposed.

Of course, not all staffers are interested in such details (regardless of gender). In our industry, we have creatives, brand planners and designers who laser-focus on the content we produce. Nevertheless, as agency leaders it’s incumbent upon us to identify and nurture the businessperson within our employees, especially women. At our agency, we’ve started a program to teach our creatives how to understand and consider business objectives when creating campaigns. We not only teach our agency’s business model, we teach our client’s business model. The same program can be applied to teaching women as well.

As Susan points out in her Ted talk, companies achieve their financial goals when “everyone is pulling in the same direction.” It’s in our own self-interest as business leaders to teach women more than just self-esteem and assertiveness in business. We want people who will help companies move our business. We need to lean into the hard skills, not the soft skills. Understanding business fundamentals will propel women into the higher ranks. Once they have the tools, they really will become empowered.

Jean Freeman

Named one of the 4As’ 100 People Who Make Advertising Great in 2017 and to Working Mothers of the Year by She Runs It, Zambezi CEO Jean Freeman works closely with organizations that advance women in advertising, including SheSays, The 3% Conference, Pledge Parental Leave and Free the Bid.

14267: ComedyWire Is A Joke.

ComedyWire is the Victors & Spoils of comedic crowdsourcing. The comics behind the company are being funny with the truth too. For example, the website presents the impression that projects are being handled by late-night TV show staffers. But it’s more likely the “writers” are late-night TV show viewers. After all, the job listing below seeks part-time help from any clown with computer access.

14266: Grab ’Em By The Chocha.

This message appeared at Chicago bus stops. Wonder if any are posted near Trump International Hotel & Tower.

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.