16021: Advertising Age Top 5 DEI Prompts 3 Questions.

Advertising Age launched a new series highlighting branded DE&I efforts—Creativity Top 5 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion—which really should be titled Top 5 Heat Shields or Top 5 Divershitty Stunts.

 

The series begs three questions:

 

1. Who is judging the highlighted DE&I efforts—and what criteria is used to merit a top designation? Sorry, but a predominately White editorial staff would not be qualified to assess the true value of DE&I efforts—and delegating the task to resident minorities and/or contractors of color would be questionable too.

 

2. What is the DE&I makeup of the creators? Determine if the advertiser is progressive or performative. The involvement of a White advertising agency should warrant instant disqualification too. Avoid turning the display into the social equivalent of scam advertising.

 

3. Any wagers for the length of this series? In July 2020, Advertising Age launched “a regularly updated blog tracking brands’ responses to racial injustice.” The last post is dated January 13, 2021. These types of series—like Adland’s DE&I dedication—tend to have short shelf lives.

 

Top 5 Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Efforts To Know About Right Now

 

The first in a series highlighting branded DE&I efforts includes inclusive guides, a video series and creative workshops

 

By Maia Vines

 

Over the past two years, agencies and marketers have pledged to become more equitable and inclusive in their business strategies, with many creating initiatives and campaigns to increase support for communities of color, along with diversifying their internal teams.

 

Ad Age’s new Top 5 series, Top 5 DE&I, takes a look at the recent campaigns, entertainment series and programs through a solutions lens. Each month, we will highlight campaigns and brand initiatives that get DE&I representation right. See all of the latest creativity Top 5 here.

 

5. QuickBooks

QuickBooks and agency Critical Mass’ spotlight series highlights small business owners of color. The latest creative tells Andrea Hermosillo’s story of switching careers, from construction to tacos. The spot is the latest in a series of 11 videos so far, focusing on AAPI business owners in New York City’s Chinatown, Black business owners in Inglewood, California, and Hispanic and Latino business owners in Dallas.

 

“What makes these stories so amazing are the business owners themselves; we’re always floored by the impact that they’re having in their communities,” Shauna Maher, team lead, QuickBooks Brand Social, said in a statement. “We’re really committed to giving these underserved business communities a platform, because they don’t often have it.”

 

4. Revolt

 

“Bet on Black” returns for its second season on RevoltTV.

 

Did you catch the first episode of #BetOnBlack? #REVOLT and @Target searched for 12 of the most innovative Black entrepreneurs to help elevate their businesses.

 

Download the REVOLT app to see @LABeautyClub, @PoUpCards & @DogWhistleVegas compete to win $200K pic.twitter.com/l4hZ8atWwS

 

— REVOLT (@revolttv) October 26, 2022

 

The competition series, in partnership with Target, sees Black entrepreneurs as they pitch their business proposals to a panel of investors and industry pioneers.

 

The latest season premiered on Oct. 24 with host Dustin Ross alongside judges Master P, Pinky Cole, Remy Ma, LeToya Luckett, Revolt CEO Detavio Samuels, and Target VP of Community Impact Ron Brown. It will also be streaming on Peacock.

 

3. Warner Bros. Discovery

 

On Oct. 12, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that its newly expanded DEI unit will now be in charge of its writers and directors workshops. Discovery faced backlash after previously calling for an end to the programs—run by Warner Bros. Television for over 40 years.

 

“Including the Writers and Directors Workshop within the scope of our current DEI pipeline programs, which include development opportunities for music supervisors, comedic voices and showrunners among others, will allow for a broader and more intense DEI focus and yield an even larger pool of cohorts to benefit from the experience and exposure we provide,” said Karen Horne, senior VP, equity and inclusion, programs, Warner Bros. Discovery.

 

2. Code and Theory

 

In late October, Code and Theory released its Inclusive Writing Guide as part of its Inclusive Design and Marketing Strategy. The guide has been in the works for the past year. In addition to topics like race, where the agency provides guidance on how to use terms like Latinx and Black and brown communities, the guide also covers ability and disability, age, nationality, gender, sexuality, appearance and socioeconomic language.

 

Proudly sharing C&T’s Inclusive Writing Guide. We call it Words Up. We hope it causes a ripple effect in how agencies help brands reach consumers and also in how we honor one another with language.

 

Access to the first edition of the guide here: https://t.co/9YhiaU59i7 pic.twitter.com/JPNPuXYyie

 

— Code and Theory (@codeandtheory) October 21, 2022

 

“During the racial justice conversation, the reckoning that happened in 2020, we saw a lot of different companies making very big commitments, very big claims and setting really big goals. And that was a really great intention. However, it’s more important that we reach those goals and that takes consistency and small steps,” said Kirstyn Nimmo, group director of Code and Theory’s inclusive design and marketing strategy discipline.

 

1. Target

 

Target’s holiday commitment includes spending 30% more on Black and Latino-owned media this season, similar to the retailer’s 2021 holiday season investment in Black-owned and Latino-owned media.

 

Target previously announced that it would look to double the number of Black-owned brands available at Target. In May, it announced it already offered more than 100 Black-owned brands. In 2021, the retailer launched its Building Blocks for Better Products program to support women, Black, indigenous, and people-of-color-owned or founded beauty and personal care businesses.

 

The retailer's holiday marketing plans include about a dozen commercials beginning with “Gathering,” which began airing on Nov. 1.

16020: It’s Official—Dusty Baker Is The Best In The World.

 

In a World Series that had no US-born Black players for the first time since 1950, Houston Astros Manager Dusty Baker represented big time.

16019: RITZ Is The Shitz…?

 

This headline should get RITZ banned from the Internet…

16018: At Golden Corral, Blandness Is A Holiday Tradition.

 

This Golden Corral holiday commercial is a turkey.

 

 

16017: Marketers, Take Us To The BRIDGE!

 

Adweek reported on BRIDGE, a trade association focused on addressing DE&I in media and marketing. Hard to tell if it’s just a heat shield to delegate diversity and allow brands to check boxes for diversity vendor initiatives, as even Adweek seemed skeptical about the organization’s value. After all, Adland has pretty consistently collapsed under the pressure of progress.

 

Do Brands Need a New Trade Group to Realize DEI Goals?

 

Unilever, Sephora, IBM, Condé Nast, iHeartMedia and others have signed on to BRIDGE to make good on diversity promises

 

By David Kaplan

 

The trade association model is a time-honored one: Gather the leading lights of a particular industry to set business standards, challenge regulatory issues, host lucrative conferences and sponsored events and network.

 

But can such a model be applied to addressing such a deeply complicated issue as diversity, equity and inclusion across advertising, marketing and media? BRIDGE, an organization that launched in April 2022 to tackle that major problem affecting all industries and institutions, is betting that it can.

 

The timing, depending on one’s politics and perspective, is either uniquely opportune or unfavorable. At the moment, the Supreme Court’s hearing of affirmative action policies regarding college admissions is one signal flare to those pursuing racial parity. On top of that, economic fears are likely to make staffing decisions even more difficult in the next year.

 

For Sheryl Daija, as founder and chief executive officer of BRIDGE (an acronym for Belonging, Representation, Inclusion, Diversity, Gap, Equity), there is no “wrong time” to set up an organization. As someone who spent a decade as the chief strategy officer of the Mobile Marketing Association (along with a previous stint at the IAB), she has some credibility in running an association.

 

BRIDGE did get an early vote of confidence with such launch partners as Unilever, Sephora, IBM, NBCUniversal, Condé Nast, Salesforce, GroupM, McKinsey & Company and Campbell’s, among others. This past week, the organization added iHeartMedia to its board.

 

Still, with every industry trade group having some focus on DEI, is BRIDGE really necessary? Or is it just another well-intentioned talkfest?

 

“While there are certainly some companies in our industry that have implemented more aggressive DEI practices, the change for the majority of media, marketing and advertising has been painfully slow,” Daija said.

 

BRIDGE’s singular focus is on accelerating the glacial pace of addressing DEI in media and marketing. In Daija’s view, the main lag in solving the issue comes down to setting a commitment. Still, for many of its members, it’s not knowing where to start, how to prioritize or what is meaningful change versus performative action—and more.

 

“BRIDGE was formed to help companies identify and prioritize their gaps as well as provide a framework to bridge them,” Daija said.

 

For brands like Sephora, the lift and guidance it’s getting from BRIDGE makes the collaboration worth trying.

 

Augmentation and accountability

 

The increased attention brands and media have devoted to DEI were outgrowths of the protests over the deaths of Black people in police custody that hit a shockingly painful crescendo with the murder of George Floyd in May 2020.

 

Sephora was one of many brands to begin to hold itself more accountable on DEI at that time. Last month, the cosmetics retail chain issued its latest DEI report where it outlined 11 initiatives. For Deborah Yeh, Sephora’s evp, global chief purpose officer and CMO, NA, working with BRIDGE is about recognizing that as much as an individual company or person wants to drive change, it needs to be in concert with peers.

 

“Sometimes in marketing and advertising, we can be guilty of tunnel vision,” Yeh told Adweek. “The membership of BRIDGE spans a variety of functional experts, so we get the insight of amazing marketers but also experienced DEI practitioners. We’re thinking about how we represent the diverse consumer in the marketplace but also how we include all employees in the workplace.”

 

As a board member, Yeh is helping to shape BRIDGE’s agenda. The plan includes research, learning, events and community building. It’s not just a “conferences and speeches organization,” she said.

 

She’s closely partnering with Emile Khader, svp of marketing strategy at Condé Nast, to support some of BRIDGE’s research work.

 

“The team has already partnered with very strong academic teams to help us define and measure brand inclusivity,” Yeh said. “While Sephora has done extensive research on the consumer experience within retail, we still have much we can continue to learn. Across industries, we are still on a journey to make our categories truly welcoming to all.”

 

The business of DEI

 

For BRIDGE members such as Sephora, Campbell’s and IBM, banding together to craft DEI solutions is about establishing a model for accountability while augmenting individual company efforts.

 

“As a marketer on the board representing a CPG company, I hope to bring perspective on how organizations can drive greater connectivity between the marketing and DEI functions to deliver greater diversity, inclusion and equity opportunities [across] product, campaigns, vendors and partners to the marketplace,” said Leslie Waller, vp of marketing at Campbell’s. “I want to highlight those gaps in current traditional systems and ways of working that need to be adapted to improve the overall impact on business performance.”

 

There’s a “strong alignment” between the goals BRIDGE has laid out and what IBM has been working toward, said Randi Stipes, vp for IBM brand marketing.

 

“IBM is focused on accountability, advocacy, allyship and employee experience—all of which are measured through actions and outcomes,” Stipes said. “This starts with providing a culture of inclusion and belonging for all IBMers. We must practice what we preach. Like BRIDGE, IBM also feels a responsibility to arm others with tools and technology to accelerate their DEI efforts.”

 

One minor goal is helping brands avoid unforced errors, as in the Walmart Juneteenth episode—something that is all too common. As Stipes noted, unintentional bias does creep into advertising. That’s especially true in an area of particular focus for IBM: artificial intelligence, which is powering more ad serving and creation.

 

So IBM has tried to help its brand partners ensure respect for underrepresented populations in their marketing campaigns.

 

Earlier this year, the technology giant released its free Advertising Toolkit for AI Fairness 360, an open-source solution deploying 75 “fairness metrics” and algorithms to identify and mitigate biases in separate data sets.

 

“Organizations utilizing the toolkit may gain a better understanding of the presence and impact of bias on their ad campaigns, as well as the makeup of their audiences,” Stipes said.

 

Without sounding cynical, BRIDGE’s ability to drive change may just come from recognizing that in order to do a public good, marketers and media brands also need to perform well on the business side.

 

“We are moving away from talking about DEI as a philosophy or as a line item on an operating agenda to how we build inclusion as the next critical business practice,” Daija said. “It’s why it is so essential for us to have the convergence of chief diversity officers, CMOs and business leaders on the BRIDGE board. Together, we are creating the foundations including common definitions against which we can all measure success as well as the building blocks to achieve maturity. For every initiative BRIDGE launches, there will be corresponding goals and metrics to track impact.”

16016: P&G Stands For Performative & Gobbledygook.

Adweek reported Procter & Gamble Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard declared, “…P&G intends to be the No. 1 spender in Black-owned media and take steps to significantly expand the ecosystem. In two years we’ve doubled our funding, and we intend to double and then double again.” Okay, but quadrupling crumbs = crumbs.

 

Byron Allen will likely file a lawsuit anyway.

 

P&G's Marc Pritchard Says the Company Will Significantly Increase Its Investments in Black-Owned Media

 

At ANA Masters of Marketing, he reframed how marketers should think about multicultural marketing

 

By Jameson Fleming

 

ORLANDO—P&G will significantly increase its investment in Black-owned media to grow the market and provide more opportunities for its brands and the industry as a whole to reach Black audiences.

 

“To do our part, P&G intends to be the No. 1 spender in Black-owned media and take steps to significantly expand the ecosystem,” Marc Pritchard, P&G chief brand officer, said at the ANA Masters of Marketing conference. “In two years we’ve doubled our funding, and we intend to double and then double again.”

 

Pritchard used his annual presentation to drive home the fact that marketers should consider multicultural marketing as mainstream marketing and delivered seven habits marketers should develop to reach diverse audiences. Pritchard pointed to the U.S. Census and other research that showed Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native Indigenous and multiracial segments of the population accounted for 100% of America’s population growth and represent $5 trillion in spending power.

 

“Half of our sales growth in the U.S. is now consistently coming from Black, Hispanic and Asian [consumers],” Pritchard said.

 

Seven habits for market growth

 

Pritchard walked conference attendees through how the company thinks about growth with multicultural audiences, and for the presentation focused on Black audiences.

 

1. Change Mindset: “We need to break with a habitual mindset that there is a general market. We live in a totally diverse country with many cultures. We are not homogeneous. There is no average consumer,” Pritchard said.

 

2. Inclusive Research: Pritchard called for marketers to rethink how they use representative bases in marketing, as they historically skew toward white demographics. He pointed to an example for hair care, explaining how “lather, rinse and repeat” is not representative of all hair care routines, as Black women often have more extensive routines.

 

3. Diverse Media Reach: P&G is working to diversify its media spend to increase its reach with Black audiences, hoping to achieve a reach of 80% to 90% in the coming years.

 

4. Representation in Ads: “It just makes sense that if you’re seeing someone like yourself in an ad [then] you’re more likely to relate to it,” Pritchard said.

 

5. Relevance in Ads: Pritchard added that increasing representation isn’t enough if groups aren’t being portrayed in authentic ways. This insight led P&G to create new Old Spice work that portrayed Black couples differently after it found Black audiences considered spots with Isaiah Mustafa and Terry Crews to be “sophomoric.” The new Old Spice work, Pritchard said, shows representation with relevance.

 

6. Resonance in Media Programming: Just 2% of media spend is invested in Black-owned and operated media outlets, despite a recent study by the ANA’s Alliance for Multicultural Marketing that showed a 17% sales life and a 48% increase in trust when resonant ads are shown across all ethnicities. Pritchard called for advertisers to develop better relationships with Black-owned media with the “intention of growing and creating value together.”

 

7. Accelerate Investment in Black-Owned Media: Pritchard is pushing marketers to form a consortium with P&G and other groups like the National Association of Black Broadcasters to invest in Black-owned outlets and solve the inventory problem. He called for brands to help develop programming and audiences for media partners that will allow brands more opportunities to get in front of Black audiences.

16015: Wakanda Forever Happy Meals Show Adland’s Forever Exclusivity.

 

Advertising Age spotlighted the new Mickey D’s commercial for Wakanda Forever Happy Meals. The trade publication pointed out that the Black Panther franchise features “a Black superhero while using a majority Black cast and Black director, Ryan Coogler.” Additionally, the McPromotion presents a totally Black cast. Yet the commercial was produced by DDB Chicago, a White advertising agency.

 

Wakanda Forever? In Adland, it’s Whites Forever.

 

Start rooting for the superpowers of Byron Allen.

 

See McDonald’s Black Panther Happy Meal Ad

 

Each meal comes with a toy based on characters in the Marvel movie

 

By E.J. Schultz

 

Editor’s Pick

 

McDonald’s is the latest brand feeding into the Black Panther frenzy ahead of the Nov. 11 release of the sequel, called “Wakanda Forever.” The fast food giant today announced new Wakanda Forever Happy Meals. Each meal includes one toy based on characters from the Marvel movie, including Shuri, Okoye, Namor and Ironheart.

 

A new ad from DDB Chicago plugs the meals. It includes a cast of Black children who express admiration for superheroes who look “just like me.” That theme plays into the groundbreaking nature of the Black Panther franchise, which has been celebrated for its portrayal of a Black superhero while using a majority Black cast and Black director, Ryan Coogler.

 

Jennifer Healan, VP of U.S. marketing, brand content and engagement at McDonald’s, in a statement said Black Panther “set a whole new standard for representation on the big screen. And now, we’re excited to bring that experience to our restaurants and help fans see and celebrate their inner hero with this new Happy Meal—because seeing is believing.”

 

Wieden+Kennedy remains McDonald’s lead creative agency, but the chain still uses DDB for kids’ Happy Meal promotions.

 

The Black Panther meal follows last month’s wildly successful Cactus Plant Flea Market Box, which involved W+K and used the Happy Meal approach to target adults via a partnership with a buzzy streetwear brand.

 

The Black Panther meals follow the more traditional Happy Meal script by partnering with a Hollywood blockbuster.

 

Other brands sponsoring the sequel include Sprite, Lexus and Mastercard.

16014: Procter & Gamble Brushes Off Plaque With Performative Propaganda.

 

The Drum reported on the latest heat shield from Procter & Gamble—Closing America’s Smile Gap—whereby Crest and Oral-B will significantly impact the dental divide for children in underserved communities by 2030. The promotional propaganda was co-produced by Publicis Groupe and Saatchi & Saatchi enterprises, meaning P&G continues to partner with White advertising agencies, effectively extending Adland’s racial and ethnic gap into the 21st century and beyond. In short, the exclusive exercise will generate lots of White smiles.

 

Crest and Oral-B aim to close the ‘Smile gap’ among all American children

 

By Audrey Kemp

 

‘Closing America’s Smile Gap’ aims to shed light on the grave oral health inequities that exist – and help solve them.

 

Procter & Gamble-owned dental brands Crest and Oral-B are on a mission to close what they call the ‘Smile gap’ in America, one tube of toothpaste and toothbrush at a time.

 

‘Closing America’s Smile Gap’ is Crest and Oral-B’s way of shedding light on the painful reality that kids in underserved communities simply don’t get the oral care they need. The ‘Smile gap,’ as coined by the brands, begins every day in the bathrooms of children when they don’t have access to basic tools to brush their teeth, and spreads to their ability to access dental education, access and treatment. In the campaign, children are seen ‘brushing’ their teeth with their finger and water instead of proper oral hygiene tools.

 

The two brands strive to ensure that every kid in the US has access to Crest toothpaste and Oral-B toothbrushes, as well as preventative and restorative dental care by pledging to donate materials with every product purchased.

 

“Crest and Oral-B believe every kid has the right to a healthy smile and the opportunities it brings ... But kids in underserved communities suffer from tooth decay two times more than their peers – that’s a real challenge,” said Carlos De Jesus, senior vice-president, Crest and Oral-B, North America. “We call that the ‘Smile gap’ [and] we are working every day to help close it ... Making sure every kid in the US has what they need to brush their teeth every day is our first step in the journey to closing America’s smile gap. We will keep working towards this for as long as it takes and until everyone cares as much as we do.”

 

Crest and Oral-B have carried out several mission-driven campaigns before as part of their mission to provide oral care to 20 million smiles in need by 2030. These efforts include donating $2.5m worth of product, hosting 24 local community events for free dental screenings and education in the past year, forming partnerships with 400,000 dental professionals across the country and establishing dental school scholarships for underserved students.

 

The brands also strive to get their school curriculum surrounding oral care in schools across America, as well as diversify the staff of the dental industry so that children can be treated by people who understand their unique needs.

 

As part of Publicis Groupe’s PGOne, MSL was the campaign’s lead creative agency, while Saatchi & Saatchi and PXP handled supporting production. The final ad will go live in The New York Times today.

16013: Heineken Hearts Hip Hop.

BBH Singapore and Leo Burnett Vietnam are among the agencies responsible for this concept-free cartoon campaign for Heineken. There’s an old advertising line attributed to David Ogilvy—which is typically extended—that reads: “When you have nothing to say, sing it. When you have less than nothing to say, let a kid sing it.”

 

Today the line should read: “When you have nothing to say, sing it. When you have less than nothing to say, let a hip-hop artist rap it.”