For Black
History Month, Advertising Age is publishing content from Blacks in
Adland, covering a variety of topics.
The content
below features Black agency leaders discussing how DEIBA+ initiatives have diminished
in Adland.
The opening
question reads, “Why did DEI conversations go quiet?”
Um, because President Donald J. Trump made like Don Draper and obliterated the conversation.
Black agency
leaders on DEI’s quiet phase—and why courage still matters
By Brian
Bonilla
It’s no secret
that the conversation around diversity, equity and inclusion in the industry
has diminished from where it was only a few years ago. Investments in DEI
initiatives have declined and representation in Super Bowl advertising, both in
front of and behind the camera, continues to be an issue.
To understand
what this shift means for the industry’s future, I convened five prominent
Black agency leaders for a candid discussion about why the push on DEI went
quiet—and what brands risk by staying silent. The following is a lightly edited
and condensed version of my talk with Asmirh Davis, co-founder and president of
Majority; Walter T. Geer III, chief creative officer of innovation, North
America at VML; Keith Cartwright, founder and chief creative officer of
Cartwright; Taj Reid, global chief creative officer of Burson; and Kaleeta
McDade, global chief experience design officer at VML.
Why did DEI
conversations go quiet?
Keith: You could even tell last year in
Cannes: those conversations aren’t apparent in the work.
It’s a great
conversation to have because the first question you ask is why. Is it fear? Is
it burnout? Is it both? Is there no desire because there wasn’t a financial
impact attached to it?
Kaleeta: I think it’s fear of retribution …
When you’re looking at brands, there’s an immense fear of retribution from the
government that is financial.
You have to
look at the fact that people who are in power are also billionaires. So I think
people have a healthy fear of litigation, a healthy fear of just anything that
the government might do regarding that. But at the same time, I think there’s a
groundswell of citizens and Americans who want to see who’s brave.
I’ll say Costco
has really stepped up, and those who have stepped up have felt the dividends of
that. You’ve seen their stock go up, you’ve seen more people sign up. So people
have to balance their fear with progress, because right now, if you’re not choosing
a side—because there’s no in between—I think you’re going to be stuck in the
messy middle.
Consumers
are watching which brands step up
Walter: I understand why brands have backed
off and ripped everything apart, because it’s a massive financial risk to them.
Yet we are in a moment where people are waiting and watching to see what brands
do.
And we’re also
in a moment where people are using their platforms, their voices on social
media and their dollars to represent and stand behind the brands that are doing
things that benefit them and other communities. There is a line being drawn.
I guarantee
you, three or four years from now, when this starts to turn around—because the
pendulum always swings the other direction—you are going to have a multitude of
brands coming back out. Because again, we are seeing the browning of America,
and by 2040 the “minority” will be the majority, and brands are going to be
going after them. Multicultural is mainstream media. They’re going to want to
hop back on that other side, and I think people are going to remember.
Keith: As an industry though, we’re stuck,
right? Because we’re at the power of these brands making a decision on how they
want to move and operate. We can try to convince them, but at the end of the
day … they’re saying, “We took that risk four years ago, we took that risk
eight years ago, and look where it got us.”
That’s fair.
But at the same time, we have to have a conversation about what progress looks
like in this moment and how we, as an advertising industry, can quantify that
progress and demonstrate how it can create commerce if you stay with it, and
Costco is a great example.
Walter: Costco also has the money to stand up
and say it. There are a lot of smaller brands that wish they could do that but
can’t play in that space. It would cripple the entire company. So again, to
some degree, I get it.
Overcoming a
fear of backlash
Asmirh: But do you have an example of where a
smaller brand has done that and it’s been detrimental to them?
Walter: I don’t. That’s the thing.
Asmirh: Right. That’s what I was just thinking
about. Where is this imaginary monster that we’re all—
Kaleeta: I think Bud Light. That was the one
time—it wasn’t a small brand—where I remember a transgender woman was featured
and they lost billions of dollars. I remember that stream was the moment when I
started hearing the fear of being diverse, the fear of showing up differently.
When in
actuality, what we know that what that was, is you didn’t understand your base
… you’re sitting in this very bright spot and going way over here. What is your
base? I feel like that’s when it started.
Taj: The lazy performative is now really,
really in jeopardy. But with the work that we do every day—all of us, just in
this conversation—I’m super inspired by the work that we’re designing that
speaks to marginalized communities in a way that makes the commerce or the
business grow.
I feel like
it’s more important than ever to have diverse lived experiences in the room, to
develop those experiences that lead to conversion in a way that’s long-lasting.
Because, like you said, people will remember.
Asmirh: Last year was hard for everybody. For
us, it was even more of an anomaly because, since the inception of our agency,
we were on such a rocket trajectory. So it was more stabilizing for us—a
stabilizing year—than anything in terms of serious headwinds.
But it was good
because it helped us double down on what we were about and what we were
building.
I’ve seen the
impact more so in the industry initiatives that we are a part of … I’m on the
board of BLAC [an internship program focused on getting diverse talent onto the
industry], and it was a really hard year for us and continues to be as we go
into 2026, because our model relied so heavily on brands and agencies getting
behind the cause of Black talent and underrepresented talent.
No one wants to
invest and put their money and resources behind bringing in diverse experiences
into their doors and nurturing it. That is where we’re feeling it.
Keith: The economy froze because there was
instability. Obviously, advertising and marketing get hit first.
The common way
of thinking is when you don’t know what to do, you just stand still. I think
now they’ve sort of figured out how they can grow from this administration and
what’s going on in the economy, and they’re starting to open back up.
I don’t know if
it’s going to be as good as it was five years ago, but I think it’s going to
get better.
Our pipeline’s
healthy, but the thing that’s interesting is: healthy pipeline, lower margins.
And I think that’s industrywide. There are tons of opportunities. Businesses
are up for pitch. But when you look at what the fee is, you start to scratch
your head and say, “Wow, it’s starting to become less and less worth it if you
can’t figure out a way to make margin on it.”
Do we change
the conversation, or keep pushing it?
Taj: I don’t know if it’s changing the
conversation as much as keeping that conversation going.
It is
incredibly fatiguing and frustrating. But at the same time, I think that
persistence—and not letting it be muffled out—is so important. Maybe more
important than ever now. Because I actually do see people retreating from the
conversation and saying, “It’s not safe to even talk about it, so why are we
even going there?” I think we need to, if anything, lean into it more, but also
start building onto that in ways that can really be impactful.
Asmirh: It’s not changing the conversation, but
it is changing the narrative of how we enter the conversation. Appealing to
people’s morality and their empathy and their hearts to do the right thing—in
history has shown that has never worked.
Walter: Every brand wants to hit mainstream
media, right? Well mainstream media is multicultural. It’s Black and brown
people, so if you want to make money you have to think about that.
Asmirh: But we traditionally, industrywide,
have not led with that piece of it. And that’s why I believe that our business
has not been hugely impactful.
What needs
to change this year
Walter: I’m sick of this exhausting shift. It’s
really tiring, feeling like you have to come in and beat your head against the
same wall every single day. Ideas that are brilliant, that could make a massive
impact, are just pushed aside due to fear.
I think brands
need to be a little bold and step out and do the work. And again, it’s not DEI
work; it’s going after your market, going after your audience, expanding on it
to some degree.
Kaleeta: The only thing different I would tell
my Black leaders who are running these businesses is: survive the encounter.
Whatever you need to do to keep your doors open, survive the encounter. I know
it’s an onslaught of things that are happening. The reason they’re not doing
extra things is that there’s probably not enough time to do it, because you’re
still trying to survive the encounter. Thriving will happen later.
I don’t think
every year will be a win, but I think this year is about surviving. And I know
that’s not as sexy as us saying it’s a year of Black joy or a post-George Floyd
glow-up. But it is a year of reconciliation and us understanding who we are. So
that’s what I would say to my Black leaders.
