12831: D5 Defines & Defies Diversity.

Campaign presented a perspective from Droga5 Chief Creative Officer Ted Royer—a self-described lumpy White guy—explaining why creatives should try working abroad. Royer’s commentary included, “Throw yourself into another culture to better understand yourself and your audience.” The CCO added, “I see an energy and enthusiasm in the faces of every foreigner who works in D5. They are delighted to be tearing it up in New York. They feel more alive just for being here.” Heaven forbid the White advertising agency might see the value of throwing itself into non-White cultures by diversifying its own staff with more than foreigners—versus perpetuating the exclusivity so prevalent in the industry.

Why creatives should always consider working abroad

By Ted Royer

Throw yourself into another culture to better understand yourself and your audience, says the chief creative officer of Droga 5.

Let’s say you’re having a shit(e) day. An account is going tits up. All your work got killed. You realise you lost the pitch while still actually in the pitch meeting. You’ve just shot an ad and some nerd just discovered the same thing had been done in Australia in 2002… Whatever it is, crap day.

Then you leave work and walk outside.

Outside, the sights and sounds are all different. Voices sound strange. The food is different, some looks good, some looks…gross wtf is that? Even the sunlight seems strange and surreal.

This is what living abroad, far from home, off on another continent, feels like. For a creative it’s intoxicating. And you know how much we creatives like to be intoxicated.

If you have the chance to live abroad, I can’t recommend it enough.

Creatives are lucky. We don’t need to pass some bar exam or get some specific degree to practice our trade anywhere around the world. All we need is empathy, an open, curious mind and a willingness to absorb what’s around us.

Live abroad and you will shake off pre-conceived notions, challenge assumptions about the way things are done, and be constantly surprised at the choices that have been made.

I’ve been lucky enough to live and work in Asia, South America and Australia. I definitely believe it’s made me a better creative, much less husband, father and friend.

In another country you soon begin to see which truths are universal, and which are merely regional or national. You develop a sense for what a truly global idea is. Will an audience understand your idea in Cambodia, or Bolivia?

You get to see what new clever ways old familiar problems have been dealt with. And you also see what stupidities are universal.

(An aside: when you live around the world you’ll notice every region or nationality always has another region or nationality they hate. Seeing this makes your own region’s prejudices and tensions feel ridiculous.)

If you’re single it’s even better. Whatever accent you have now seems exotic.

You’ll have more game just for being from a far off land. I should know. In America I’m just another lumpy white guy. Abroad I was interesting and exotic.

I see an energy and enthusiasm in the faces of every foreigner who works in D5. They are delighted to be tearing it up in New York. They feel more alive just for being here.

The best thing is perspective. You literally leave your comfort zones. You spend real time in your own head. You find out more of who you are and how wonderfully weird you are.

So if you have the chance, if you’re on the fence, or if you need to get the hell out of town before you go crazy, do it. Move abroad. Throw yourself into another culture. Dive into a strange world.

That way, when you have a shit day you can instantly make it great just by walking outside.

Ted Royer is the chief creative officer of Droga 5

12830: Ignorance Is Free At BBDO.

A MultiCultClassics visitor shared a link to an AgencySpy post reporting on BBDO creatives seeking freebies from professional illustrators for a pro-bono assignment. Pathetic? Yes. Surprising? No. After all, the BBDO Diversity Council is comprised of volunteers. And it makes you wonder if the BBDO diversity comic book also resulted from freebie requests. Then again, delegating diversity has always been an underfunded, uninterested and unconcerned effort at White advertising agencies. Hey, the staffers are too busy trying to produce work for pro-bono clients.

12829: Nothing Fresh At Subway.

Adweek reported Subway awarded its account to BBDO. It’s just as well, since the current tagline—eat fresh—is kinda creepy in light of the Jared Fogle mess. Plus, picking a new White agency to replace the old one is hardly a fresh move.

Subway Chooses BBDO as Agency to Guide It Into the Post-Jared Era

Chain hopes to redefine itself with a new shop and executive

By Patrick Coffee

Beleaguered sandwich chain Subway has chosen BBDO as its new creative agency of record after a review. The account will be handled by the agency’s New York office.

The company announced its review earlier this summer after two big changes: the departure of chief marketing officer Tony Pace and the news that longtime brand mascot Jared Fogle was under investigation for his alleged involvement in child pornography.

As we now know, Pace was replaced by Chris Carroll, who served as svp of global marketing from 1999 to 2005 and now holds the position of chief advertising officer. The company cut all ties to Fogle after he was taken into custody and agreed to plead guilty to a variety of crimes that will land him in prison for at least five years and brand him a sex offender.

The chain wants to move beyond Fogle, who appeared in more than 300 ads, as quickly as possible after ending its relationship with Boston’s MMB, which ran the account for about a decade.

In a statement, Carroll says, “All the finalist agencies did an excellent job during the process,” adding, “Our decision came down to our confidence in the quality of the team, business orientation, strategic insights and creativity. We look forward to our new partnership with BBDO to accelerate growth for the Subway brand.”

BBDO New York president and CEO John Osborn adds, “Subway is a great brand. We are honored and thrilled to partner with them and to create a fresh narrative for the brand.”

Subway said it decided to hold a review before Fogle’s legal problems went public. Its sales totals dropped in the United States last year, marking an unusual slump for a chain that passed McDonald’s to become the world’s largest in 2011.

After relying on Fogle for 15 years, Subway has given no hints about the direction of its next campaign. It did, however, increase its media spend in 2014 from $517 million to $534 million.

According to sources, other finalists in the review were The Martin Agency, MMB and McCann Erickson.

In a further statement, Carroll thanked “valued partner for the past 12 years” MMB for its “many contributions to Subway’s success.”

The review did not affect Subway’s media agency Mediacom, its social agency 360i, or any of its international partners.

12828: Kohler Generates Stereotypes.

This Kohler commercial is a few years old, but culturally clueless stereotypes never go out of style. Dance on, Black people!

12827: Chief Irrelevance Officer.

Crowdsourcing con artist and Victors & Spoils Chairman John Winsor is abandoning his Chief Innovation Officer role at Havas. It’s just as well, since innovation and Havas are two words that should never appear together in the same sentence. Ditto innovation and Winsor. MultiCultClassics has consistently recognized the pseudo thought leader as a talentless, culturally clueless asshole. The man has become so irrelevant, even Digiday didn’t bother reporting on Winsor’s latest move—only AgencySpy shat out a post. And he failed to inspire a crowd of cutting comments too.

12826: Humana Hearts Omnicom.

AgencySpy reported Humana chose White advertising agency BBDO as its lead creative shop, replacing White incumbent RAPP. Both agencies are within the Omnicom network. Moving from RAPP to BBDO is like upgrading from Fathom Communications to, well, any Omnicom enterprise. A client spokesperson announced, “BBDO joins fellow Omnicom Network partners and incumbent Humana agencies PHD and GMR Marketing in helping to advance the brand and the business.” Humana presents another healthy example of Corporate Cultural Collusion at work. Oh, and selecting a White advertising agency where exclusivity reigns flies in the face of the insurance company’s alleged commitment to diversity and inclusion.

12825: NATO BS.

Campaign reported NATO hired a White advertising agency and White PR firm to handle communications work across its 28 member states. Leave it to an organization comprised of members from predominately White countries to select partners where exclusivity is the norm. Oddly enough, the careers section on NATO’s website states:

NATO has a lot to offer you in multicultural work, subject-matter expertise and exposure to decision-making at the highest level of the political-military dialogue. We recruit professionals who demonstrate our core values of integrity, impartiality, loyalty, accountability and professionalism.

Apparently, “multicultural work” does not mean anything related to race and ethnicity. According to its website, “NATO’s essential purpose is to safeguard the freedom and security of its members through political and military means.” But don’t expect NATO to join the army to advance diversity in adland.

Nato appoints Engine and Agenda for comms support over next five years

By Kate Magee

Nato, the inter-governmental military alliance, has appointed Engine and Agenda to handle all its communications requirements across its 28 member states.

Engine will work with Agenda, a public affairs consultancy based in Washington DC, to provide Nato with strategic comms advice, and support on design, branding, advertising, marketing, PR, broadcast video, digital and social media.

The two agencies have signed a five-year agreement with Nato (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) following a competitive pitch.

Simon Peck, the group managing director of Engine UK, said: “We are excited to be working with such an illustrious and important institution, as it tackles some of the most fascinating challenges of our time.”

“This is a huge win for our team,” said Agenda founding partner Doug Turner. “This was a long and highly competitive process and we are honored to have the chance to do important work for such a storied institution, and equally pleased to be partnered with Engine on this effort.”

He added: “There is no greater challenge – and reward – than helping the Alliance deal with a new generation of security threats.”

Nato is headquartered in Brussels and was founded in 1949.

In the past, Nato has used M&C Saatchi to advise on its communications for its Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

12824: Weekend White Man Wrap-Up.

Campaign reported, “Publicis Groupe carves out role for Saatchi & Saatchi’s Chris Foster.” White holding companies can’t ever find a place for minorities. For White men, however, agencies will invent a totally new position.

Campaign also reported, “Guillaume Herbette to take key role at Publicis Worldwide and MSL Group.” The publication went on to state, “Arthur Sadoun, the global chief executive of Publicis Worldwide, has appointed Guillaume Herbette to be one of his key lieutenants.” Frenchmen Henchmen are usually White men.

12823: Criminal Perspective.

Jared Fogle Will Pay $1.4 Million to 14 Underage Victims—probably to be paid in $5 Footlongs. To put things in obscene perspective, Fogle is paying roughly $20 million less than former MDC Partners CEO Miles Nadal, making it unclear as to which scoundrel is the bigger criminal.

12822: Stock Stupidity.

Be inspired—by a White guy with a Chia Pet afro…?

12821: Kraft Cuts The Cheese.

Advertising Age reported Kraft Heinz will dump 2,500 employees across the U.S. and Canada. The place that rejects up to 85 percent of digital advertising—despite proclaiming not all digital advertising is crap—is rejecting lots of employees and treating them like crap. Maybe Kraft figured it could realize better ROI with content than company people.

Kraft Heinz Cuts 2,500 Jobs Weeks After Kraft Acquisition

Massive Job Cuts at Kraft Heinz Had Been Rumored Following Deal

By Jessica Wohl

Kraft Heinz Co. said Wednesday it will eliminate about 2,500 jobs across the U.S. and Canada, or more than 5 percent of its total workforce.

Massive cuts at the maker of Kraft macaroni and cheese and Heinz ketchup had been rumored since the merger was completed in early July.

Before Wednesday’s cuts, Kraft Heinz had about 46,000 employees overall. The announcement includes slashing about 700 jobs at Kraft’s headquarters.

Heinz already eliminated thousands of jobs soon after it was acquired by 3G and Berkshire Hathaway.

“We have developed a new streamlined structure for our organization to simplify, strengthen and leverage the company’s scale,” spokesman Michael Mullen said in a statement. “This new structure eliminates duplication to enable faster decision making, increased accountability and accelerated growth.”

It was not immediately clear which areas were affected by the cuts and Mr. Mullen declined to elaborate.

Kraft Heinz began eliminating some top-level marketing jobs last month. Those who have already left the company include Tom Bick, senior director-integrated marketing communications and advertising for the Oscar Mayer business; and Kara Henry, senior marketing director, communications and agency relations, Ad Age reported in July.

Kraft Heinz is the world’s fifth-largest food and beverage company, with eight brands that each pull in more than $1 billion in annual sales.

The company aims to eliminate $1.5 billion in annual costs by the end of 2017. In an earnings statement issued Monday, Kraft Heinz CEO Bernardo Hees said the company was focused on “the difficult and challenging process” of merging the two businesses.

Last month, Kraft Heinz announced plans to move its Chicago-area staff from Northfield to a smaller location in downtown Chicago. The Heinz business continues to operate out of the company’s other headquarters in Pittsburgh.

Mr. Mullen said employees affected by the move will receive a minimum of six months of severance benefits and outplacement services.

12820: Stereotypical Idiocy.

Campaign asked, “Should adland ditch male stereotypes?” In stereotypical fashion, the question was posed to White adpeople, the folks most responsible for the culturally clueless stereotypes in advertising.

12819: How To Be Ignorant.

Campaign published a perspective titled, “How to be a chief creative officer,” written by Saatchi & Saatchi London Chief Creative Officer Kate Stanners. The White woman opened by stating:

The world is very different from when I started out as a creative. I was part of an all-female team, and remember being turned away from agencies because “we’ve already got one of you” — meaning a woman — or even two in the creative department. At Gold Greenlees Trott, I was one of only three women the whole time I worked there.

There are 21 women in the creative department here. It’s not quite 50/50, but we are getting there. It’s important, because women bring a different perspective and you need a creative department to be full of diverse individuals.

Stanners’ observations underscore the bullshit behind the alleged dearth of dames in adland. She admits “we are getting there” with gender equality, yet makes zero mention regarding the ratio of racial and ethnic minorities at Saatchi & Saatchi. She believes “it’s important, because women bring a different perspective and you need a creative department full of diverse individuals,” but she fails to consider how non-Whites might be included in the equation.

If you really want to learn how to be a chief creative officer, begin by embracing the cultural cluelessness and self-absorbed character defects displayed by White people like Stanners.

12818: Polishing A Turd.

This campaign from McCann in Thailand is, well, shit.

From Ads of the World.

12817: Talent Shortage, Ignorance Surfeit.

Campaign published a perspective explaining why there’s a talent shortage in the advertising and media industries: apparently, young people aren’t aware of the opportunities available to them in the disciplines. Um, isn’t this one of the popular excuses for the abysmal lack of racial and ethnic diversity in adland and mediatropolis? Does this mean more recruiting efforts will now target White youth versus minority youth? Will agencies scour lower-income White neighborhoods for the next generation of executives?

Creative solutions to the talent shortage in advertising and media

By Rachel Johnson

The advertising industry needs to be as proactive as banking and accountancy to seek out the brightest graduates, says UCAS Media’s head of careers and employer engagement.

With A level results out today and many young people finding out what direction their future will be going in, it seems like an apt time to think about getting new talent into advertising and marketing.

At the moment, it doesn’t look great. Earlier this year recruitment company Robert Walters found that 84 per cent of businesses recruiting for marketing roles say they are affected by talent shortages, with 81 per cent saying that there is a lack of candidates with the right skills.

So what’s causing this talent shortage, and what can we do to rectify it?

The advertising industry often struggles because the job roles and routes to get there aren’t as obvious as they are for banking, medicine or accountancy for example.

Beyond the TV show Mad Men, there is little genuine understanding among young people as to the roles available for them in media, marketing and advertising.

From strategists and planners, to sales teams, designers, and post-production, the variety of roles simply isn’t obvious from an outsider perspective.

Additionally, those who do aspire to a career in advertising often consult lists of the UK’s top 20 biggest ad agencies and work hard to get in through the graduate programmes run by these bigger companies. It’s an approach that means the majority of smaller agencies tend to miss out, which also has a dramatic impact on businesses working outside of London.

On the flipside, if we look to those more classic professions like accountancy, you’ll find that organisations such as ACA and CIMA work hard to promote careers in the sector and put a lot of effort into early engagement.

They are incredibly focused on promoting the industry as a whole through Insight Days, and work with local universities, as well as targeting specific courses where they know they will find the right people. And it works too.

The Association of Graduate Recruiters recently noted: “Across AGR members, on average, 26.5 per cent of graduate positions were filled by people who had previously worked for the same employer through an internship or placement programme.”

This should be a wake-up call to all industries. Opening your doors early-on not only enables the right talent to get some experience, but also means the graduates that you take on board at the end are infinitely more committed.

It’s also about looking outside of the graduate pool and connecting with the 18-year-olds that are keen to get some experience under their belt and start work as soon as possible.

Offering work experience and — better yet — apprenticeships, as other industries have done, would also help bring in talent that otherwise may stay untapped.

It’s a trend that is picking up with the AGR seeing 68 per cent of its members offering school leavers opportunities in 2013-2014, an increase from 54.7 per cent in 2012-2013. Local agencies in particular stand to benefit from bringing young talent in and training them up – this way the talent pool in their region will stay full.

As an industry, advertising is set to add £12.1 billion to the UK economy by 2018, but it can only continue to thrive as an industry if it maintains a strong pipeline of talent.

This means looking outside of itself to art and graphic design courses, and to the mathematicians that could become the next generation of data scientists.

It also means connecting with young people early on so they know what a vibrant and varied industry advertising is, as well as familiarising themselves with the agencies that are right for them.

It’s a move that would see a greater volume of talent coming from a wider variety of backgrounds — something that can only be of benefit to the industry and its clients.

Rachel Johnson is the head of careers and employer engagement at UCAS Media

12816: Baby Got Bic.

Adfreak reported Bic celebrated National Women’s Day in South Africa and wound up offending the audience with the message depicted above. It’s not the first time the pen maker has displayed cultural cluelessness or failed to woo women. Below is Bic’s Black-targeted message for National Women’s Day.

12815: Multiplying White Women.

Campaign reported VCCP promoted identical twin White women to ACD positions. Guess somebody decided to take the notion of hiring people who look just like you to another level. Talk about double diversity dyn-o-mite!

12814: Latest Bitch Session.

Campaign published yet another cry for gender equality from a whining White woman, this one titled, “My advice for young female creatives going into advertising.” It takes extraordinary self-absorption and cultural cluelessness to protest discrimination when you’re an active member of the Caucasian class creating the exclusivity. The best advice not included in the pathetic perspective? Stop bitching.

My advice for young female creatives going into advertising

By Lisa Blythman-Wood

What advice would you give to young female creatives about to enter the advertising industry? Lisa Blythman-Wood, VML London’s associate creative director, who heads the agency’s involvement in the D&AD New Blood initiative, offers her opinion.

Graduate season is upon us. What that means for the industry is a new intake of fresh-faced, eager young creatives who are (hopefully) bursting with ideas, ready to work late and up for a challenge.

For graduates, this September will see you stepping onto the first rung of your career ladder, which you can expect to steadily climb over the next few years, being fairly recognised for your work and properly rewarded for your efforts.

Unless, of course, you’re a woman.

Obviously not every woman who enters our industry will come up against sexism or gender discrimination in their first few jobs, but a hell of a lot will.

The poor ratio of male to female creative directors in the industry right now is hard to ignore and day to day sexism has a lot to do with it.

For many women experiencing this for the first time, their initial reaction will be disbelief — especially when they have just come out of an education system where men and women are treated, tested and sent out into the world on an equal footing.

Here’s some advice to get past the day to day gender issues and discrimination to make sure you don’t thrown off your career path as you’re starting out.

Out and out sexism

Gender discrimination can be blatantly obvious, or it can be so ingrained in a culture that it is part of everyday conversation. You could see male colleagues favoured over female ones, hear casual sexist remarks made in the office or about people you know, or discover a very real gender pay gap in the agency.

Either way, if you think it’s an issue that’s affecting your life at work then you need to raise it.

The trick is to have the confidence to recognise it and tackle it head-on in a way that feels safe. If you don’t feel like you can talk to your line manager about it, then either go to a senior member of staff who you feel you have a good relationship with and who will be able to professionally advise you — this is really important, you do not want to look like you’re trying to slag someone off — or just make a beeline for HR.

And don’t forget that with the way the industry is now, you will unfortunately be dealing with sexism in the workplace for a large part your career, so the earlier you find a way to deal with it the better.

Just last month Grey’s deputy executive creative director Vicki Maguire was called up by a male executive creative director because he had “to put some skirt in his department”.

She said jokingly to Campaign that she “might call him back and say I need some arsehole in our department,” but she still had to deal with it in the first place.

Find a mentor

It will become painfully obvious fairly early on that there are more senior male creatives than there are female ones. This isn’t going to change until more entry-level women stay in the industry and keep climbing until they get to the top — and everyone needs help and advice with this along the way.

Whether you’re in an agency with a mixed management team and an open-minded culture or an agency with an all-male senior line-up, find yourself a mentor.

It doesn’t matter what gender your mentor is, it just matters that they give you the help and advice that you need to help you along when you come up against challenges affecting your work or career progression.

Remember that statistic quoted in Lean In? That in an internal report conducted by Hewlett Packard, men apply for a job when they meet only 60 per cent of qualifications, but women will only apply if they meet 100 per cent of them?

Sometimes you just need someone in your profession with a lot of experience who knows your work and what you’re capable of to say: “You could do that standing on your head, why wouldn’t you think of applying just because you don’t meet every single requirement?”

Push for recognition

You could do the best work of your life, work the longest hours you’ve ever done in a job and give up your weekends to campaigns too, but that doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily get recognised for it or remunerated accordingly.

Data released by Bloomberg Businessweek last year showed that 17 out of 22 industries hiring MBA graduates in the US paid women less than men from the outset, despite starting at the same level, which means those female graduates were already starting the career ladder — financially — on a lower footing, despite being equally qualified.

So don’t expect your employer to see all your hard work and just give you the money you deserve. Use your performance and pay reviews to tell your superiors what you have achieved, why you’re proud of your work, and how you successfully overcame the challenges facing you to get the results you did to prove why you deserve a promotion or pay rise.

It’s only fair.

Lisa Blythman-Wood is the associate creative director at VML London, which is a mentor agency for the D&AD New Blood initiative

12813: Crowning Crap.

Not sure what this campaign from India is trying to communicate—but it looks culturally clueless.

From Ads of the World.

12812: Pornhub Premium Of Pap.

Adfreak spotlighted the latest lameness from Pornhub, featuring a series of awful videos intended to air God-knows-where. This campaign seems completely oblivious to the target audience, presenting contrived scenarios totally lacking relevance and relatability to porn enthusiasts. Like Pornhub’s primary offering, it’s a bunch of fucking bullshit.

12811: Google’s Bamboozler Of Diversity.

Digiday interviewed Google UK Head of Commercial Marketing Nishma Robb, focusing on the company’s alleged commitment to diversity. However, Robb seemed to indicate Google—like the advertising industry—is defining diversity as a gender issue.

“I’ve worked in the industry for over 20 years, and it certainly used to be a lonely place for women,” said Robb. “It actually isn’t anymore but the job is far from done. We do a lot to champion women at Google and diversity in general, but it’s also important to look externally and ensure we as an industry are developing a strong pipeline of diverse talent, particularly from a technology point of view. How do we get more girls and women in general interested in tech careers?”

Sorry, but if Google is serious about fostering inclusiveness—and Robb is being charged with making it happen—the company should terminate the idiot effective immediately. Sure, it would be an initial loss in the gender and minority figures, but replacing her with someone actually qualified to ignite change ought to be the goal. Robb’s position on promoting women displays her ignorance. While the Google workforce being only 30 percent female is definitely not good, its underrepresentation of Latinos at 3 percent and Blacks at 2 percent is considerably worse. Honestly, those stats make Madison Avenue look like a multicultural Mecca. Boosting the number of women at Google dodges, diverts, deflects, distracts and denies the real dilemma.

12810: Just The Facts, Gringo.

Advertising Age published its 2015 Hispanic Fact Pack; however, the “facts” are debatable.

Hispanic Fact Pack Fact: Marketers continue to boost spending in the U.S. Hispanic media market, with 2014 advertising outlays growing by 12.0%, far ahead of the estimated 4.9% growth for overall U.S. major-media ad spending. Reality Check Fact: Increasing crumbs by 12.0% still results in crumbs, and non-White efforts remain underfunded, underrepresented and underappreciated.

Hispanic Fact Pack Fact: Rivalries are heating up. In two of the biggest recent account moves, Sprint is moving to Omnicom Group-controlled Alma after a Hispanic pitch and AT&T, the No. 2 spender, is now at Omnicom’s Dieste after leaving its previous agency, WPP’s Bravo Group. Reality Check Fact: The true rivalries are happening between White holding companies, and the Latino shops are treated like puppets, peons and piñatas.

Hispanic Fact Pack Fact: In the 50 largest U.S. Hispanic agencies’ ranking, Lopez Negrete Communications’ 26.3% revenue growth to $42.3 million moved the independent agency into the top slot from No. 2 after a steady climb over the past decade from No. 7 in the 2005 Hispanic Fact Pack. Reality Check Fact: The top Latino shop records revenue at $42.3 million, while the top White advertising agency—BBDO—records revenue at $552 million. ‘Nuff said.

Hispanic Fact Pack Fact: One venerable Hispanic agency, Publicis-owned Bromley Communications, closed in August 2015 after 34 years. Reality Check Fact: Bromley Communications was the top Latino shop only 10 years ago.

Hispanic Fact Pack Fact: Hispanics continue to account for nearly half of the U.S. population growth since the 2010 Census, and now account for 17.4% of the population, or 55.4 million people. Reality Check Fact: Latinos account for roughly 9.25% of the U.S. advertising industry population. But even that figure is questionable, as White holding companies refuse to disclose EEO-1 data to compare against the U.S. Census data—plus, any EEO-1 data would probably be inflated by hires from Brazil, Spain and custodial services.

12809: Miami Ad School Fails Diversity.

Are the hackneyed instructors at Miami Ad School teaching students about diversity by encouraging them to jump on the White women bandwagon?

Oh, and here’s a version MultiCultClassics created for the advertising industry.

12808: Stock Value Trumps Diversity.

AgencySpy noted class action lawsuits have been launched against MDC Partners on behalf of investors charging the White holding company made “false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose materially adverse information” from September 2013 through April 2015, resulting in shareholders unexpectedly losing loot as MDC’s stock value plummeted. Hmmm. When a holding company’s lies and illegal acts lead to financial loss, class action lawsuits are filed with wild enthusiasm. When a holding company’s lies and illegal acts lead to institutionalized exclusivity and discrimination, class action lawsuits fizzle with disinterest and indifference. Money trumps diversity.

12807: Agency Quotes & Quotas.

Campaign spotlighted excerpts from Agency Quotes via a story titled, “Things you hear in agencies.” One example is depicted above. A new entry depicted below shows “Things you hear in White agencies.”

12806: Cutting Caucasian Cavalry.

Advertising Age reported MillerCoors Cut Cavalry, the White advertising agency hatched exclusively for the client by WPP in 2012. That’s a pretty short tour of duty. But it’s hardly surprising in light of the recent appointment of a new Chief Marketing Officer for the beer maker. An exclusive pitch features three secret agencies, although it’s safe to guess the shops are White. New CMO David Kroll declared, “It’s frankly just time for a change.” A new White man will pick a new White advertising agency to create a new white-bread campaign. Yep, that’s definitely a change.

12805: Nadal Owes Miles Of Money.

Adweek reported former MDC Partners CEO Miles Nadal will now repay the holding company $21 million following an SEC investigation. Not sure, but it could be the largest influx of money the White holding company has enjoyed in years. To put things in perspective, MDC employees would have to steal roughly 21 million legal pads from the office supplies closet to match Nadal’s theft. Additionally, the “refund” is approximately $21 million more than the average MDC employee receives as severance when getting terminated by an agency within the network. Thanks to Nadal, MDC now stands for Multi-Million Dollar Criminal.

MDC Founder Miles Nadal Is Paying the Company Back $21 Million

Result of SEC inquiry

By Noreen O’Leary

Former MDC Partners chief Miles Nadal has already paid the company back $8.6 million and owes an additional $12.7 million in the wake of the SEC inquiry into his expenses, company CFO David Doft told financial analysts on MDC’s second-quarter earnings call.

Last month, Nadal quit the company he founded amid the continuing investigation.

Doft, along with new CEO Scott Kauffman, reassured Wall Street the continuing inquiry has not cost MDC agency affiliates any business or caused problems with talent recruitment or retention. Still, Kauffman ended the analysts’ call by emphasizing the company’s need to “regain your trust.”

Kauffman said MDC just completed a deal to purchase the 49 percent of 72andSunny it doesn’t already own, with the agency’s three principals pledging to stay on another five years.

MDC also disclosed it has spent $3.9 million in legal fees related to the SEC investigation of Nadal, but the company hopes to recoup some of it under its insurance policy. Kauffman and Doft said company execs continue to cooperate with the SEC inquiry.

Kauffman, a nine-year MDC board member, made his Wall Street debut by promising no change in MDC’s core strategy of making entrepreneurial acquisitions by initially buying less than 100 percent in agency affiliates. He also said MDC will continue to bolster its North America holdings, scale media operations and look at expansion outside North America, where international operations now generate 9 percent of revenue.

In the second quarter, MDC reported a 7.8 percent rise in organic revenue and an increase of 11.3 percent in overall revenue. The company reported an “expected” loss of $2.5 million compared with income of $7.6 million in the 2014 period, blaming revenue recognition on certain accounts. MDC affirmed full-year revenue growth of between 6.5 percent and 8.5 percent to about $1.3 billion.

12804: Digital Digs Hip Hop.

Adweek published branded content titled, “What the Hip Hop Industry Can Teach Us About Digital Marketing”—demonstrating that even pseudo thought leaders love hip hop.

12803: Fix Agency Diversity Model.

Advertising Age published a story titled, “Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark Try Different Strokes to Fix Agency Model”—showing how the mega-clients are influencing transformation in the world of advertising agencies. The scenario underscores one of the easiest ways to end exclusivity on Madison Avenue and beyond. That is, if Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark want to make good on their respective commitment and dedication to diversity—as well as end the hypocrisy of promoting inclusion while conspiring with predominately White advertising agencies—all the companies have to do is request change. The advertising industry has demonstrated time and again that it will only act when clients deliver demands. Corporations face scrutiny from watchdog groups insisting marketing messages are accurate and truthful. Why doesn’t anyone call out Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark to be honest with their claims about diversity?

Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark Try Different Strokes to Fix Agency Model

One Goes for Consolidation; the Other for Fluid Assignments

By Jack Neff

Packaged-goods rivals Procter & Gamble Co. and Kimberly-Clark Corp. are both changing how they work with agencies, but are going about it and talking about it very differently. While P&G has been cutting the number of agencies it works with aggressively, K-C is looking to keep agencies around, but making leadership on brands fluid, with no guarantees about what or how big an agency’s role will be on a brand.

Through consolidation, P&G is “upgrading, so we can get better quality, fewer touches and save half a billion dollars that we can hopefully reinvest some of back into building our brands,” Global Brand Officer Marc Pritchard said in an interview in Cannes in June.

“Because of new technologies and new capabilities, there have just been a lot of agencies hired and related vendors,” he said. “There is literally a long tail. We’ll still work with the big, capable creative shops. They’ll pick up more capabilities and do more things, and it will just be a lot simpler. We’ve found with simplicity you get better work, because it’s more focused, and you get better execution as well.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean only bigger shops. Among agencies P&G has added in the past year is Boomagers, a small startup shop that specializes in marketing to baby boomers and led the effort for what’s been one of the company’s most successful launches of the past year—Always Discreet adult incontinence products.

“It’s not about big or small,” Mr. Pritchard said. “It’s about the best. So we’ll still have a range of creative shops so we can get the best work. And we’re always on the lookout for the best creative possibilities.”

K-C CMO Clive Sirkin wants to help fix an agency model he sees as broken, but he sees consolidation, and the growing number of reviews it inevitably entails, as part of the problem. “The more we put our agencies in review, the more we say ‘We want you focused on rearranging the deck chairs,’” Mr. Sirkin said.

Not only is he “frustrated” with the current state of the agency model, Mr. Sirkin said, but he believes agencies are too, because “the current reality is chaotic and unpredictable and the economics get worse and worse for them.”

Margins may be fine and even growing at holding companies, he said, but he thinks that masks a thinning out of agency ranks. He can remember a time when he worked at Leo Burnett when the agency “had a bench that was five or six deep” on key accounts such as Kellogg Co. or P&G, and the agency always had a plan for who would backfill when someone departed. That’s increasingly rare on the agency side, he said.

His idea of an “Uber-style” model might address that—with agencies putting more resources into talent with deep backgrounds and strategic expertise working with clients to create the big ideas, while putting more responsibility for developing content at a variety of entities outside the agency.

So for Kleenex’s recent campaign, small Chicago shop VSA Partners led the team, WPP’s JWT and VML were part of it, and one of the hit ads to date—the “Unlikely Best Friends” video—came from Facebook’s Creative Shop.

12802: White Elephant On Set.

Advertising Age published a story titled, “Disquiet on the Set as Shops Try to Ignore Elephant in the Room: SAG Contracts”—which focuses on the growing demand for digital videos and the resulting conflicts with the industry’s SAG-AFTRA contract. Actually, the White elephant in the room that everyone wants to ignore is the abysmal lack of diversity on typical sets, especially when the production is being run by a White advertising agency.

12801: DDB’s Diversity Delegator.

Digiday interviewed new DDB North America Director of Talent Julius Dunn, and the talk covered thoughts on diversity. This is not surprising, as “Director of Talent”—at least in Dunn’s case—sounds like a thinly veiled Diversity Officer title. Plus, the official DDB press release seems to confirm the matter. Dunn has certainly been around this particular block, having held stints with The One Club and 4As, in addition to running his own Adversity enterprise. That only Digiday bothered to spotlight Dunn in his semi-fresh position kinda shows the growing lack of interest the advertising industry shows for diversity. Sadly, Dunn had nothing original or unique to add to the dwindling discussion, although he did make one peculiar comment:

“Diversity today is a generational divide. People want to focus on the traditional pillars of what it means to be a diverse organization: gender equity, racial equality and sexual orientation. But nobody ever talks about generational diversity.”

Um, generational diversity gets more attention than ethnic and racial diversity, especially as veteran White men and White women feel the challenge of remaining relevant in the field—all of which leads to cries of ageism. Plus, integrating Millennials receives greater consideration than integrating minorities. DDB must be giddy over hiring Dunn, as it allows the company to check off “minority” and “Millennial” in the EEO-1 data that parent Omnicom will never publicly disclose.

Can’t help but think that with Dunn’s appointment, DDB stands for Delegating Diversity Bamboozlement.

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DDB’s new director of talent: ‘Nobody ever talks about generational diversity’

By Tanya Dua

Diversity has become a hot topic in the ad industry, as executives wring their hands at how monochrome many agencies appear. The issue is particularly important thanks to demographic shifts and advertising’s twin talent crisis.

With that backdrop, Omnicom Group’s DDB North America has brought on Julius Dunn as director of talent. In his new role, Dunn will draw from his experience as the industry liaison at the 4A’s as well as the founding director of Adversity, a nonprofit organization established to promote multiculturalism and diversity in creative media industries.

For Dunn, the key to solving the industry’s long struggle with diversity is a coordinated, sustained effort to tackle the issue. There will be no silver bullet, he said.

“The agency world was founded by men and without a conscious effort to address that unconscious bias; it is bound to stay an industry dominated by men,” Dunn warned.

Digiday spoke to Dunn on the issues he wants to tackle. What follows is condensed and light edited for clarity.

Why do you think the agency world isn’t diverse?

The issue lies in the fact that the industry continues to pursue isolated contingency groups in an effort to be more diverse when the definition of diversity is subjective. I think that the issue arises from an unconscious bias that people naturally have to be surrounded by people who are similar to them.

What is the biggest problem you’re trying to solve coming into this role?

Our industry traditionally has not been known to have cultural diversity or to promote women to positions of leadership. We are looking at what the intersections are between all the hallmarks of diversity, whether it is gender, race or sexual orientation and then trying to ground that in our legacy. We’re going to try our best to be proactive.

How is your standpoint going to be non-traditional?

Diversity today is a generational divide. People want to focus on the traditional pillars of what it means to be a diverse organization: gender equity, racial equality and sexual orientation. But nobody ever talks about generational diversity. Right now, we have three different generations in the workforce. Millennials are taking leadership positions. I really want to understand the things that connect them with one another rather than things that separate them.

What do you think is the best way to encourage diversity?

My overall approach will be to infuse diversity in everything that we do. I want to create a more inclusive environment that celebrates everybody’s freedom to be who they are. Our business is about people. Without having a diverse group of individuals working within our organization, we cannot authentically connect with the consumers. That is why it is important for us to embed the agenda of diversity and inclusion into the talent strategy.

And you think that will be enough to address the issue?

Creativity flourishes in an environment that allows you to be comfortable and be who you are. If you celebrate all the flavors within an organization and kind of put them into one stew, it helps realize the ultimate aim of connecting with the consumer market. Our organization needs to mirror the people our clients are trying to reach out to, and if not, then we need to address that.

What are some of the industries you think are worth looking at for inspiration?

Most industries have positions dedicated to the diversity question, which means no industry has got it quite right. If anything, we should look back at our own history. DDB specifically was built on the premise of diversity and inclusion. [DDB founder Bill] Bernbach was the first one to partner a copywriter and an art director in a room, which by chance was a female and a male. We’re still building on that legacy and looking for new ways to do that.

12800: Mickey Rooney Rules.

The Adweek Blog Network’s SocialTimes published a report titled, “Pinterest Lays Out Plans for Better Workforce Diversity.” The plans include:

Implement a Rooney Rule-type requirement where at least one person from an underrepresented background and one female candidate is interviewed for every open leadership position.

Meanwhile, the advertising industry is continuing its Mickey Rooney Rule, whereby every open leadership position goes to an Old White Guy—except for the more progressive White advertising agencies, where such roles go to White women.

12799: Management Layers & Layoffs.

AgencySpy reported Layoffs Hit Rosetta North America, probably a result of the newfangled management layers created in the unholy marriage of Rosetta and Razorfish. Hey, Publicis Groupe Chairman-CEO Maurice Lévy never promised no layoffs coming from this drunken digital debacle.