13870: Delayed WTF 36—72andClueless.

MultiCultClassics is often occupied with real work. As a result, a handful of events occur without the expected blog commentary. This limited series—Delayed WTF—seeks to make belated amends for the absence of malice.

Adweek reported White advertising agency 72andSunny invented “The 72andSunny Playbook” to ignite inclusion and “expand and diversify the creative class” across the industry. A peek at 72andSunny leadership—as well as agency work recently produced—shows the organization is hardly qualified to instruct anyone on extinguishing exclusivity. The White advertising agency views the publishing effort as pioneering, trailblazing and groundbreaking, but it’s really self-absorbed bullshitting. “One of the things we’ve realized over the last six months to a year, was the more conversations we’ve had with people the more we’ve realized there’s an unmet need for sharing the basics of how to even get started,” explained 72andSunny COO Partner Evin Shutt. “It’s a daunting thing to jump in to especially if you’re a smaller company, even a bigger company, figuring out how to do this.” Actually, it’s daunting if you’re a culturally clueless ignoramus. Shutt’s statement reflects a sadly common response to diversity from typical advertising executives. That is, advertising executives confronted with addressing diversity tend to hit the reset button—seemingly presuming they are facing an undiscovered country with unprecedented challenges that no one in the history of advertising has ever encountered. The truth is, the only people who see an “unmet need” are uneducated, unconcerned, uninterested and just plain lazy. There are plenty of existing resources to help. Why, the 4A’s literally published a diversity how-to book by Adonis Hoffman many years ago. Plus, it’s easy to acquire classic tomes like Beyond Race and Gender and Redefining Diversity by the late Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr. White advertising agencies are encouraged to check out Corporate Tribalism by Thomas Kochman and Jean Mavrelis too. Sorry, but finding diversity solutions simply involves two directives: 1) open your eyes, and; 2) open your mind. Instead, White advertising agencies opt to print playbooks, zines, comic books and other patronizing publications. Anything to avoid taking constructive, measurable and professional action.

72andSunny Published a Diversity Playbook That It Wants All Companies to ‘Steal’

Offering key insights as well as actions organizations can take

By Katie Richards

72andSunny wants the whole industry to be more diverse, not just its own offices. Today its North American operation (L.A. and New York) are launching a diversity playbook, “The 72andSunny Playbook.” The goal of the playbook is to “expand and diversify the creative class.”

The whole purpose of putting these findings out there for the world to read is for others in the business to “steal” them and learn from them.

“One of the things we’ve realized over the last six months to a year, was the more conversations we’ve had with people the more we’ve realized there’s an unmet need for sharing the basics of how to even get started. It’s a daunting thing to jump in to especially if you’re a smaller company, even a bigger company, figuring out how to do this,” Evin Shutt, COO, partner, 72andSunny, said.

The playbook focuses on the creative class–the second fastest growing job class, according to 72andSunny–which represents one third of the total workforce. Unfortunately the creative class doesn’t accurately portray society at large, and 72andSunny wants to help correct that.

Compared to the most recent U.S. Census, 64 percent of the U.S. population is white, but 81 percent of the creative class is white. Of the overall population, 13.3 percent is black and 17.8 percent is Hispanic, but in the creative class the numbers are 7 and 6 percent, respectively.

With that in mind, 72andSunny got to work pulling all of its insights and learnings into one document that it is now sharing broadly.

“[Diversity] is bigger than all of us and so important that we need to share it. As an industry the only way to move forward is through openly sharing and having these conversations. Our hope is it can be a catalyst for that,” Shutt added.

Inside the playbook companies will find nine key points, or plays, from “set clear, measurable goals,” to “invest in bespoke retention programs.” Each play includes an insight that 72andSunny has learned in the past few years about diversity, an approach that either worked well for the agency or did not and what the team learned from that approach.

“We don’t know it all by any means, we need to learn a lot. We’ve included a bit of the stuff we’ve learned the hard way. The stuff that’s in there is everything from internal programs to recruitment programs to external partners both within our industry and outside our industry,” Shutt added.

One play that Shutt finds most helpful is the scorecard designed to help agencies and clients make strategic decisions without hurting people’s feelings or stepping on any toes.

The idea behind the scorecard is that sometimes there are so many good ideas out there, but only so much bandwidth to bring them to life. The scorecard (basically just a checklist) helps filter out the best ideas that align with the company’s business. Does this idea build the creative class? Does it generate wide-scale interest for the staff? Does it grow diversity? All are criteria 72andSunny uses to decide whether or not and idea is worth pursuing.

Another play suggests that “saying yes to other people’s good ideas” is a great way to boost diversity. The playbook explains that in the creative business there’s a tendency to shut out other creative ideas from competitors or other companies. “We’d rather channel the energy we’d bring trying to beat something, into making it better,” the playbook says.

72andSunny lists a host of initiatives that it has invested in, from Free the Bid to AdColor and One Club: Here Are All the Black People. The takeaway here is that other agencies wanting to become more inclusive and diverse should invest in existing industry initiatives because sometimes it makes more sense to learn from others rather than learning on your own.

You might ask why 72andSunny’s playbook should be something your company adopts. At the end of the playbook the agency shared some of its own numbers, highlighting that while its not perfect, the organization is trying to change its own diversity metrics.

In the past few years 72andSunny has introduced the creative class (and all the opportunities people can have within that class) to 10,000 people. The agency is 6 percent away from reflecting the U.S. population in terms of diversity. Fifteen percent of the agency’s creative directors are women (globally) and 35 percent of employees at the group director level and above are women.

72andSunny’s playbook, for the time being, focuses on learnings from its New York and L.A. offices, but the agency is already talking about how its three international operations (Amsterdam, Singapore and Sydney) can be part of the 2.0 version.

“Obviously what it means to diversify the creative class in those markets is a lot different,” explained Shutt. “We’re just at different stages of it. Version 2.0 will include what they are doing and what their focuses are.”

Both version 1.0 and 2.0 are housed in an agency Google doc so that team members can continue to edit, change and make notes as internal and external feedback comes in.

13041: Comment By Adonis Hoffman.

A comment left for a previous post featuring the Campaign Editor’s Letter merits its own post, as the commentator is Adonis Hoffman. MultiCultClassics has spotlighted Hoffman in the past, after mistakenly believing a book he wrote was the kind of stereotypical diversity propaganda often peddled by organizations like the 4As; however, the book turned out to be quite thoughtful, insightful and brilliant. Anyway, here’s Hoffman’s latest comment:

With all due respect to my former colleagues in the advertising industry, this is the same old, same old, and although it is lamentable, it is not surprising.

After leaving Congress and the FCC, I served as senior vice president and legal counsel at the American Association of Advertising Agencies (the 4As) from 2000 to 2010. At the time, I was one of the few Black executives or attorneys in the industry. When the holding companies and several ad agencies were investigated by the New York Human Rights Civil Rights Commission (2004) and later sued for discrimination, I helped to develop the industry’s effort to systematically address the diversity issue, testifying on behalf of the industry in NYC and in Congress. Heck, we even wrote a book—roadmap really—to help agency execs “do diversity right”. While the initiative was not nearly sufficient to do away with decades of exclusion, it was a start with solid programs, timetables and recommendations. Like so many other well-meaning efforts, I suspect it just died on the vine.

You are correct to point out that there are more diversity officers, diversity events, diversity awards, diversity dinners, diversity discussions, diversity divas, diversity experts, and diversity seminars than anyone can digest. And yet there is no more diversity. Hmmm.

Maybe the answer lies in the simple fact that agency executives are not racist. They just are more comfortable with the illusion of inclusion rather than inclusion itself. That is why we can fill the room with diversity internships, but stumble to find one or two “qualified” account directors or whatever the top jobs are called these days. It’s just easier to feel better about giving a disadvantaged, but deserving, young Latino or African American student a break than to push out a mediocre, middle-aged white guy to give his slot to a hungry, equally (or more) talented minority professional.

The rules of convention die hard, so not much will change in the advertising industry despite all the chatter, outrage, shoulder shrugging, and mealy-mouth platitudes from industry and association leaders about the need to do better. The handwriting is on the wall. If African Americans want parity, they will have to create a parallel universe where their work is smarter, better, and cannot be denied. Then they will get half as much. Good luck with that.

The more things change … the more they stay the same.

11345: Publicis, Omnicom And Diversity.

From Target Market News…

Publicis, Omnicom merger likely to renew focus on lack of diversity in ad industry

By Ken Smikle

When conglomerates Publicis and Omnicom announced plans to merge into the world’s largest advertising holding company, it was generally viewed within the industry as a positive—almost inevitable—development. The merger, if approved, will bring together more than two thousand agencies, 130,000 employees with $22 billion in combined revenue.

The merger comes at a time when clients are challenging agencies to prepare for a future driven by mobile media and “big data.” Traditional agencies are far behind Google, the current leader in the soaring digital advertising arena, which had more than twice the annual revenues of its new, would-be competitor, most of it from advertising.

The size and impact of the newly formed Publicis Omnicom is sure to bring the long standing issue of diversity in the advertising business—or the historic lack of it—back into the spotlight. Numerous efforts to bring more people of color into advertising have been attempted for years, but despite commitments made by general market ad shops of all sizes, little has changed. Both Omnicom and Publicis have in the past been the targets of critics who say neither has done enough to improve opportunities for African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians.

Last year New York City comptroller John C. Liu asked the four ad holding companies to comply with the city’s requirement to disclose data on the diversity of their employees. The request was in connection with pension fund regulations. While Interpublic and the WPP Group cooperated, Omnicom and Publicis refused to provide the information. Firms in other industries, such as financial services, complied with the request.

“I doubt whether anyone at these companies has given much thought to the effect their post-merger corporation will have on the interests of ethnic media or diverse talent—although those interests stand to be seriously affected, and probably not positively,” said Adonis Hoffman, a lawyer and adjunct professor of marketing, advertising and public policy at Georgetown University. He is a former Congressional and FCC attorney and general counsel at the American Association of Advertising Agencies.

Ignoring the New York City Comptroller was not the first time that Omnicom had ignored requests for information about the diversity of its workforce. As Advertising Age reported in 2012, “Six years ago, when the [New York City] Human Rights Commission made its requests for diversity figures, Omnicom also played by its own rules.” The conglomerate issued a statement at that time on its refusal to provide data, which said:

“Data is neither informative nor is it a reliable measure of our commitment to equal opportunity employment. We do not believe that disclosing it will meaningfully further the goal of workplace diversity. To the contrary, this information, which is susceptible to misinterpretation, could be manipulated by those with interests adverse to Omnicom’s and harm the company.”

Omnicom’s current corporate Website mentions nothing about the role of diversity to the firm’s core mission, while publicisgroupe.com tells those clicking its “Careers” link, “We invest in our people, and empower them. And we recognize that it’s the diversity, creativity, energy and dedication of our employees that deliver our strength.” [Publicis Groupe has a 49 percent stake in Burrell Communications, one the nation’s leading and oldest African-American advertising agencies.]

If it is not known how important professional talent of color is to the future of plans of Publicis Omnicom, it is clear it considers global markets of black and brown consumers key to its objectives for growth.

In a New York Times story this week, Publicis CEO Maurice Levy cited a recent $15 million investment the company made in a new mobile polling company as important to its focus on emerging markets in Africa. “Everyone is fighting very hard and trying to find solutions to get these next billion consumers,” Levy said.

“In the grand scheme of things concerning this $22 billion merger, the issues of diversity, inclusion and minority media are probably way down the corporate agenda,” said Hoffman. “Unless the regulators, policymakers or vocal interest groups raise those issues, there will be little, if any, discussion of the impact on consumers’ interests, especially minority consumers’ interests.”

10153: Adonis Hoffman On Diversity.

MultiCultClassics first “met” Adonis Hoffman via a 2010 post spotlighting a how-to book on diversity Hoffman had published through the 4A’s. At the time, MultiCultClassics wrongly presumed the book was another token effort from the trade organization, and that Hoffman was perhaps the equivalent of a Chief Diversity Officer—as the role is defined by Sanford Moore—for 4A’s President and CEO Nancy Hill. Hoffman quickly clarified matters, and visitors are encouraged to view his comments at the aforementioned post.

MultiCultClassics had promised to review Hoffman’s book and dedicate more blog space to the man’s accomplishments. Sincere apologies for the extraordinarily long wait.

While Hoffman is a strong proponent for diversity—in the advertising industry and beyond—his official title is Lawyer and Leadership Counsel. Hoffman’s online profile states he “provides strategic communications, corporate and public policy counsel to business leaders, policymakers, academic institutions, diplomats and international organizations.” Plus, his resume includes serving as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, as well as Senior Vice President and Counsel at the 4A’s.

Hoffman is definitely an advocate for the advertising industry, as evidenced by his work with the 4A’s. So his diversity-related initiatives almost make Hoffman appear like a PETA-loving vegetarian employed at Mickey D’s.

Diversity: How To Do It Right technically addresses all industries and enterprises. Yet it has obvious, particular and direct relevance to advertising agencies. Additionally, it’s written in such a way that even the most culturally clueless Old White Guys will be able to comprehend it. Hoffman distills his points to single-page action items designed to inspire movement and progress, providing a straightforward roadmap for Madison Avenue.

Hoffman’s book is comprised of two parts. Part 1 is headlined, “10 Principles and Best Practices for Diversity and Inclusion,” and the 10-page section summarizes the top ten reasons why typical ad shops have failed to eliminate exclusivity. That is, the majority of Mad Men have not embraced the simple instructions. Part 2 features “50 Things Every Business Leader Should Know About Diversity,” and opens with some sage suggestions:

If you don’t believe in the value of diversity for your organization, here are a few words of advice:

First, don’t tell anyone how you really feel.

Second, get some confidential counseling from one of your CEO peers, a board member or someone you trust and respect.

Third, fake it until you become a true believer.

And fourth, once you commit, do it right or don’t do it at all.

Another pearl of wisdom from Hoffman urges:

One of the well-worn excuses for not achieving diversity is “we can’t find any qualified minorities” or “all the really talented minorities have been snapped up.”

Please resist saying these things because they are not true, and they will make you sound racist and stupid.

Hoffman’s no-nonsense words certainly apply to Jeff “Where Are All The Black People?” Goodby, Dan “Now That’s Fucked Up!” Wieden and every ADCOLOR® nominee hopeful organizing a minority internship or inner-city youth outreach program. In the end, Hoffman argues diversity is possible through three key components that advertising agencies cannot and/or will not deliver: commitment, cash and cultural competence.

Diversity: How To Do It Right is available for a mere $22.50, and only $10.00 for 4A’s members. It would be interesting to learn how many copies have been sold to date—and how many purchasers actually bothered reading the publication. Any 4A’s member agencies unfamiliar with the book and its contents deserve to have their names placed on Cyrus Mehri’s subpoena and Sanford Moore’s shit list.