11225: Same Old Youth Story.

Campaign posted a perspective from Jonathan Akwue on the dearth of diversity in the U.K. advertising industry and the standard efforts to address the issue—namely, minority youth outreach programs. Why, even diversity crusader Sir John Hegarty made an obligatory appearance. What’s next? Neil French speaking at a 3% Conference?

A Wish for Cannes — A More Creative Future

By Jonathan Akwue

By some accounts, I’m at a disadvantage simply because of when I was born. You see I’m part of Generation X. I grew up in the seventies, commonly regarded as ‘the morning after the night before’ — the night before in this case being the sixties. Of course it was far less clear-cut than that, but many still regard the period as a decade of bad hair, bad drugs and bad attitude.

While the Hippies became disillusioned by the fact that the Age of Aquarius hadn’t ushered in a New World order of peace and love, the sense of hope wasn’t completely extinguished. The future (while not yet Orange) was at least brighter and generally cleaner — at least in terms of fashion.

Sci-fi shows such as Space 1999 predicted that in the future we’d all be wearing matching shiny threads. This tradition extended back to Sci-fi movies such as Forbidden Planet, and to the Star Trek series. Even in dystopian visions of the future like Logan’s Run or Rollerball, people generally wore matching gear.

As far as I’m aware, no one predicated the rise of the Hipsters, who make a virtue of the fact that nothing matches — except perhaps their beards and tattoos.

But here we are. Living in a world in which the Hipster has inherited the earth, or at least the advertising industry. There is nothing wrong with this of course (after all, some of my best friends are Hipsters). Despite their sardonic disposition and propensity to share images of food on Instagram, they are in my experience, a warm hearted set of people, with ethical values a keen sense of moral justice.

It is therefore somewhat surprising that as Hipsters increasingly populate advertising and marketing agencies in the UK, the industry as a whole stills struggles to reflect the diversity of modern Britain.

Urban theorist, Professor Richard Florida convincingly argued over a decade ago in his seminal book, ‘The Rise of the Creative Class’, that creative people enjoy living in urban environments that rank highly on what he defined as a Bohemian index, Gay index, and Diversity index. He concluded that if cities want to attract highly productive creative people, they should ensure there is a good mix of cultural activities and tolerance for different sexualities and ethnicities.

His theory (although hotly contested) led to a sea-change in town centre planning and theories of urban renewal. The growth of coffee shop culture and the resurgence of independent stores in the trendier parts of cities and towns today are in part informed by his thinking.

While town planners and urban theorists leapt on Florida’s concept in an attempt to attract more highly valuable creative people to their neighbourhoods, the creative industries themselves have been slower to incorporate this thinking into their recruitment practices. As a result, many of the young Hipsters now working in advertising actually meet a more diverse range of people when outside of work than within it. Some agencies have recognized the need to change this, but many still lag behind. Fortunately there are increasing signs that change is going to come.

On the June 12, The Ideas Foundation celebrated their Annual Celebration at the IPA in London. In the centre of the event (which was designed by the Foundation’s Scholars Council), stood a ‘wishing tree’ upon which people could write their wishes for the future of the creative industries. The wish that summed it up best for me was: ‘Get more people involved in the magic!’

The event showcased the work of young people that the Ideas Foundation has worked with through its various programmes such as I Am Creative and Incubate, spearheaded in schools in the North West. It also featured a Q&A interview session with Sir John Hegarty, Creative Nerds CEO, Dirujan Sabesan, and Claude Borna, SVP Global Customer Strategy & Worldwide Commercial at Sony Pictures Entertainment. The three interviewees represented different strands of the creative industries, but each spoke passionately about the need to find and follow one’s passions.

In the same week as this event took place, The One Club from New York held a week long Creative Boot Camp in London for aspiring Creatives, sponsored by the agency Mother and run by the amazing Director of Diversity, Traecy Smith. I was able to drop in on the final session on Sunday held at the London College of Communications and witnessed a large, diverse group of young people leaving fired up about the advertising industry and keen to make their mark.

Meanwhile, this week in Cannes, the Festival of Creativity kicks off. While Britain used to be disproportionately represented in the awards, over recent years our influence has waned as more international agencies walk away with the coveted Lions.

I believe that these events are not unrelated. For Britain to regain our position as a creative superpower, we need to learn lessons from the world of sports and open our doors to a more diverse pool of talent. I’m convinced that you’ll hear no complaints from the younger generation of Hipsters in our agencies — quite the opposite in fact. It won’t be long before our clients, like frustrated Football club owners begin to demand it.

We may not be living in the future we expected, but that’s no reason to hang onto the past. If we want our agencies to be filled with the brightest and best, we should heed the words of the prophetic reggae singer from the seventies — Nesta Robert Marley — and ‘Stir it up’.

Jonathan Akwue is a Partner at Engine and Chair of The Ideas Foundation.

11224: Exclusive Pizza Party.

Advertising Age reported Pizza Hut has launched a review for its creative business. The Martin Agency—part of IPG—will defend as the incumbent. Pizza Hut declined to reveal the other contenders and whether a search consultant will be used. Gee, it’s hard to guess which IPG shops may be involved. Perhaps Omnicom will enter the fray too. It’s a Corporate Cultural Collusion competition. May the best White man win.

Pizza Hut Launches Creative Review

Incumbent Martin Agency Says It Will Defend Business

By Maureen Morrison

Yum brands’ Pizza Hut has launched a review for its creative account.

The business has been with Interpublic’s Martin Agency since 2009, when the shop succeeded longtime incumbent, Omnicom’s BBDO. Martin said that it was defending the account but referred all other questions to Pizza Hut.

“Pizza Hut is continually looking at fresh ways to enhance its marketing efforts and strengthen relationships and points of engagement with pizza lovers. As a result, we are conducting an advertising agency review,” said the marketer, noting, “We are thankful for the commitment The Martin Agency has made to our business over the past 3 ½ years and have invited them to participate in the review process.”

Pizza Hut declined to disclose participating agencies and whether a search consultant was involved.

Pizza Hut’s media agency, Publicis Groupe’s Optimedia, is unaffected by the search.

Among parent company Yum Brands’ chains, Taco Bell and KFC, Pizza Hut is the third-largest measured media spender, according to Kantar Media. In 2012, Pizza Hut spent about $240 million on U.S. measured media, while KFC spent about $263.5 million and Taco Bell spent about $280 million.

11223: More Interracial Controversy…?

Why isn’t anyone freaking out over the interracial marriage in this Subaru commercial?

11222: Expect Oreo Offensiveness.

Given the Draftfcb track record of racist and culturally clueless messages, these Watermelon Oreos are a disaster waiting to happen.

11221: Enter The Icon.

From The Los Angeles Times…

Bruce Lee becomes a fixture in Chinatown

A 7-foot statue of the martial-arts film icon is unveiled in Central Plaza. Though he was a native of San Francisco, he had strong ties to L.A.’s Chinatown.

By Frank Shyong, Los Angeles Times

Officials in Chinatown unveiled a 7-foot bronze statue of Bruce Lee to a crowd of several hundred in the historical Central Plaza on Saturday night.

The unveiling caps a five-year effort to bring the statue to Chinatown, said Shannon Lee, Bruce’s daughter and the president of the Bruce Lee Foundation. The statue, created by an artist in Guangzhou, China, is the first such statue of her father in the United States, Shannon Lee said.

Though the statue will not be permanently installed until business leaders can raise $150,000 to put in seating and a concrete plinth, the timing was right for the unveiling, she said. This year is the 40th anniversary of her father’s death, as well as Chinatown’s 75th year. And Saturday was the day before Father’s Day.

“Seeing it there in its permanent spot with the night sky of Chinatown … it really struck me,” Shannon Lee said.

Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco’s Chinatown, lived in Oakland and opened several martial-arts schools in Seattle’s Chinatown. But he was a fixture in Los Angeles’ Chinatown in the 1960s, opening a school on West College Street and working out at the Alpine Recreation Center. Lee stood out, jogging energetically around a neighborhood where almost no one did, Shannon Lee said.

“It was the best place to be for Chinese food and to speak to people in his own language,” she said.

Actor James Hong used to manage a theater near Lee’s studio and recalled seeing him around the neighborhood. Hong, a prolific actor with more than 400 film and television credits to his name, including “Kung Fu Panda,” said he admired Lee’s patience and perseverance.

“I learned from him to keep a level head,” Hong said in between taking pictures with his fans. “That’s why I’m still around after all these years.”

In Los Angeles, Lee took a role as Kato in a television adaptation of “The Green Hornet” that launched a short film career that influenced cinema and pop culture even beyond his death at age 32 in 1973. His films inflamed the imagination of a generation of teenagers who grew up seeking black belts and plastering posters of him on their bedroom walls.

John Kreng, 44, staked out a spot with his friends hours before the statue’s unveiling, trading Bruce Lee stories and reminiscing. Growing up half Thai and half Chinese in an all-white neighborhood in Maryland, he was inspired by Bruce Lee’s films, Kreng said.

“Here’s this hero who looks like me on the screen,” he said.

Kreng grew up at the tail end of the Vietnam War and “got beat up a lot.” Then he saw “Way of the Dragon” and took up martial arts. Lee inspired him to become a stuntman and fight choreographer, Kreng said.

“Seeing him on the screen gave me hope,” said Kreng, who has watched “Enter the Dragon” at least 60 times. “I would not be here today if it wasn’t for Bruce Lee.”

Art Camacho, another fight choreographer and stuntman, was also inspired by Lee. He grew up in a rough-and-tumble neighborhood in East Los Angeles, saw “The Chinese Connection” in 1972 and promptly took martial-arts classes.

“Bruce Lee changed my whole outlook,” said Camacho, who said he once hired one of Bruce Lee’s co-stars just to get his autograph on a movie poster.

When the crowds thinned after the unveiling, Kreng and Camacho took up a stance beneath the statue. They turned sideways, clenched a first, and assumed expressions somewhere between grimaces and grins.

The moment captured, the two self-described Bruce Lee nerds laughed and exchanged high-fives.

Camacho said he’s a tough guy “when I do my stuff, but when I see Bruce Lee, I’m a little kid again. This is just awesome. I’m a 16-year-old sitting in that theater again.”

11220: Mad Men And Manservants.

In the latest episode of AMC series Mad Men Season 6, account executive Bob Benson was speaking in Spanish. Is the character actually Latino? Sure, he had previously hooked up Pete Campbell’s mother with a Latino caretaker, but it was never indicated that Benson was Latino too. Perhaps he was just speaking in Spanish. However, he showed extraordinary fluency with the language—especially the profanity. It was later exposed that Benson’s resume was full of lies and he once acted as the manservant of a corporate bigwig. The revelation led to a completely incomprehensible showdown between Benson and Campbell.

The episode also included an appearance by series creator Matthew Weiner’s son. The kid has absolutely zero acting skills. But like the real advertising business, nepotism trumps talent.

11219: Charmin Campaign Is Ass.

Is this supposed to be a multicultural campaign for Charmin? Regardless, it’s shit.

11218: More Cheerios Chuckles.

Must admit to growing increasingly annoyed at the liberal defenders of the “controversial” Cheerios commercial featuring an interracial couple and their biracial daughter. From cartoons like the one above to parody videos, everyone is quick to reprimand the racist haters. Granted, the haters surely are ignorant idiots deserving condemnation. The liberal spankers, however, should look beyond the obvious targets to identify the more slippery villains in the scenario. That is, how would the new defenders of diversity react upon learning the advertising agency behind the spot—Saatchi & Saatchi—and the global industry it represents have a long history of intolerance and discrimination? Hell, the culturally clueless hiring practices continue to this very day. Additionally, advertisers such as Cheerios parent company General Mills have a long history of ignoring the exclusivity of their agency partners. The ad industry liberals condemning the haters are pretty questionable too, considering their lack of commitment and action in creating change in their own offices. It all inspired the commercial storyboard below (click on it to enlarge).

11217: White Knights Unite!

News from the U.K. shows BBH Co-founder and Chairman Nigel Bogle has nabbed a knighthood. Don’t know enough about the details and qualifications of the honor to comment with authority on the matter—but will go ahead and do it anyway. Yes, there are certainly people of color who have received similar recognition over the years. Yet how many non-White advertising executives hold such a grand title? It’s a safe bet that there is a Black hole on the royal list. Perhaps Sir Nigel Bogle will join co-conspirator Sir John Hegarty as a crusader for diversity. Now that would be a noble act indeed.

Knighthood for Bartle Bogle Hegarty’s Nigel Bogle among creative industry recognition in Queen’s birthday honours

By Angela Haggerty

Co-founder and chairman of Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), Nigel Bogle, has been given a knighthood for services to the advertising industry in the Queen’s birthday honours list.

This year’s list gave honours to a number of names from the creative industries, with co-founder of Abbott Mead Vickers Peter Mead being awarded a CBE, and co-founders of Barber and Osgerby, Edward Barber and Jay Osgervy, given OBEs for services to the design industry.

The Advertising Association’s Rosemary Michael — the driving force behind its media business course, which counts Sir John Hegarty of BBH and Global Radio's Stephen Miron among its alumni — has been awarded an MBE.

CEO and founder of Clyde Space, Craig Clark, will receive an MBE for services to technology and innovation, while an OBE goes to Professor Janice Kirkpatrick, co-founder of Graven Images, for services to graphic design.

Sports presented Clare Balding has been awarded an OBE for services to broadcasting and journalism, and non-executive independent chairman of STV Group, Richard Findlay, has been rewarded for services to the arts and creative industries in Scotland with a CBE. Creative industries recognition in the birthday honours also comes for Creative Skillset, with a CBE going to CEO Dinah Caine. GQ editor Dylan Jones received an OBE.

Other honours in the list included a knighthood for Blackadder star Tony Robinson and a CBE for his co-star Rowan Atkinson. MBEs were awarded to singer/songwriters Adele and PJ Harvey, while comedian Rob Brydon received the same honour.

Golfer Paul Lawrie was awarded an OBE, alongside Red Bull Formula One team principal Christian Horner and novelist Jackie Collins.

Almost 1,200 people have been recognised in this year’s birthday honours list, with nearly half of them women and 72 per cent actively engaged in charitable or voluntary work.

11216: Guaranteed Trivial Bullshit.

The New York Times Advertising Columnist Stuart Elliott posted the following Q&A in his latest online installment:

Q. Is the bearded guy who ends every Men’s Wearhouse ad with the line “You’re going to like the way you look — I guarantee it” an actor who was chosen for the furry, reassuring tone of his voice, or is he actually connected corporately to the outfit?

A. The guy, dear reader, is George A. Zimmer, who helped found the Men’s Wearhouse clothing chain in 1973 and is now its executive chairman.

Really? This is insightful journalism demanding the skills of an industry expert? A simple Google search could have revealed the answer to such a baffling brainteaser. Thanks, Stu. Now Americans will be able to sleep tonight.

11215: Multiracial Search Results.

Google celebrates Father’s Day with a slider gizmo that creates multiracial dads.

11214: Rutgers Rant.

From The New York Daily News…

Former Rutgers men's basketball assistant Eric Murdock says Mike Rice treated players ‘like slaves’

In recorded rants, Murdock also accused Rice of pocketing money from ticket sales and basketball camps.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS STAFF

Eric Murdock, the former Rutgers men’s basketball assistant who blew the whistle on Mike Rice’s over-the-top practice behavior, said in an 11-minute, profanity-laced recording that the former coach treated his players “like slaves.”

“Treating mother f------ like slaves, just cracking the whip,” Murdock said in the rant to assistant coaches David Cox and Jimmy Martellli. “That’s all you do is crack the whip. When the mother f------ can’t deliver, you cut his toe off like f------ Kunta Kinte.”

The recording, from June 29, 2012, was obtained by The Chronicle of Higher Education, a weekly scholastic newspaper, through public records. The periodical said the recording was made by either Cox or Martelli.

In the rant, Murdock also accused Rice of pocketing money from ticket sales and basketball camps.

“Where’s it going? In this mother f------ pocket,” Murdock said. “He’s a greedy f------ pig.”

Rice was fired in April after video of his maniacal practice habits emerged. The video, which was taken by Murdock, quickly went viral.

In the wake of the scandal, athletic director Tim Pernetti also submitted his resignation “reluctantly,” as he wrote in a letter released to the public two days after Rice was fired.

Murdock has filed a wrongful termination suit against Rutgers in New Jersey state court. The suit claims the university ignored Murdock’s warnings — and videos that showed Rice punching, kicking, throwing basketballs at and belittling players — for six months before the disgraced coach was finally suspended for three games and fined $50,000 on Dec. 13.

The suit says Murdock, a former Providence College and NBA guard who also played pro ball in Italy, “never experienced a coach whose behavior and treatment of his players and others crossed the line into aforementioned assaultive, abusive and other unlawful conduct.”

The bad news at Rutgers has continued with new athletic director Julie Hermann, who has had to answer questions about her past, particularly when she was the head women’s volleyball coach at Tennessee.

Players from the 1996 team signed a letter in ’97 that accused her of physically and verbally abusing them — the same behavior that got Rice fired — including calling them “whores,” “alcoholics” and “learning disabled.” Hermann quit coaching the Lady Vols after that episode.

11213: Cheerios Crowd Rising.

From The Los Angeles Times…

More Americans consider themselves multiracial

The number of mixed or multiracial people in the United States jumped 6.6% between 2010 and 2012, according to the Census Bureau. Their ranks will only continue to grow, experts say.

By Emily Alpert, Los Angeles Times

The number of Americans who consider themselves multiracial has grown faster than any other racial group nationwide, new Census Bureau data reveal, a sign of slow but momentous shifts in the way that Americans think about race.

Mixed or multiracial people are still just a small slice of the American public, but their numbers jumped 6.6% between 2010 and 2012 — four times as fast as the national population, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Experts say their ranks will only continue to swell.

Researchers give two reasons for the rise: More people are wedding across racial lines than in decades past, bringing about more multiracial children. Roughly 15% of new marriages were interracial in 2010, compared with 6.7% in 1980, the Pew Research Center found last year. Census estimates show that children and teens were nearly three times as likely as adults to be multiracial, with 4.8% of people 18 or younger being identified as two or more races last year.

On top of that, experts say people who were long prodded to think of themselves as only “black” or “white” or “Asian” are becoming more comfortable choosing more than one race.

Mingling of races “has been with us forever in this country, and it has been erased and denied,” said G. Reginald Daniel, professor of sociology at UC Santa Barbara. Today, “that has begun to unravel. That is what you’re seeing with these figures.”

Deanna Rafla-Yuan, a 20-year-old student at UCLA, is an example. Every now and then, Rafla-Yuan is asked to check a box: What race is she? There isn’t a box for “half Egyptian, half Chinese,” she said. Sometimes she answers “Middle Eastern,” sometimes Chinese or African.

“If they let you pick more than one, I’ll pick as many as I can,” Rafla-Yuan said.

The census started allowing Americans to select two or more races only recently, at the turn of this century — an example of how attitudes have lagged behind the reality of mixed race. The country is now led by a president with an African father and a white mother. President Obama identified himself solely as “black” on the last census, but his racially mingled family is a celebrated part of his story.

For African Americans, in particular, the “one drop rule” that historically defined blackness is relaxing. Sixteen years ago, when golfer Tiger Woods dubbed himself “Cablinasian” — Caucasian, black, American Indian and Asian — critics said Woods was denying his black heritage, said New York University associate professor of sociology Ann Morning.

“If Tiger Woods said that today, I don’t think he would get the same flak,” Morning said. “There has been a sea change in American thinking…. We’re no longer looking at Barack Obama or Mariah Carey and automatically saying: ‘Those are black people.’”

The new estimates show multiracial people make up 2.4% of the national population, totaling more than 7.5 million people. Many scholars believe it is actually a much bigger group, particularly when it comes to people who have Hispanic roots. The census does not count Hispanics as a race, so people who see themselves as a mix of Hispanic and another race may end up marking off only one race in that section of the census — and not be counted as “two or more races.”

“For mixed Latinos there’s no answer,” said Thomas Lopez, director of Latinas and Latinos of Mixed Ancestry, a project of the nonprofit Multiracial Americans of Southern California. When the Census Bureau ran an experiment three years ago giving people a chance to claim Hispanic along with at least one other race, 6.8% did so.

The new estimates do not count the category of “some other race,” which is also likely to reduce the count of multiracial people. In addition, University of Minnesota sociologists found that even after the census started allowing people to mark more than one race, surprising numbers of children who had parents of different races were not being reported as multiracial — another sign that there are more mixed people than are counted.

Scholars caution the trend does not mean race barriers are collapsing. Marriage is still much more likely between people of the same race. Rafla-Yuan and other mixed students are still dogged by the persistent question: “What are you?”

“Americans are becoming more nuanced in their understanding of race,” said Carolyn Liebler, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota. “But I don’t think race is becoming less important in our society.”

11212: Cheerios You Can Believe In.

11211: ReKKKruiting Patrick Ewing.

From The New York Daily News…

Georgetown and Knicks great Patrick Ewing says on UNC recruiting trip, area was hosting KKK rally

Ewing said he was considering teaming up with Michael Jordan and Dean Smith in Chapel Hill, but Klan rally at hotel was a deal breaker.

By Daniel O’leary / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Patrick Ewing, a North Carolina Tar Heel?

Hard to imagine, we know. But when you hear the Georgetown legend’s reasoning for not picking the Tar Heels, it would be hard to knock him for not teaming up with Michael Jordan under head coach Dean Smith.

Ewing appeared on “The Dan Patrick Show” and explained why he didn’t head to Chapel Hill.

“You know, I was close [to attending UNC]. I was close. North Carolina was a very good school but, you know, when I went down there they put me in that Carolina Inn and there was a big Ku Klux Klan rally in North Carolina when I was there,” Ewing said. “And I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m not coming down here. I’m staying my butt back in Boston.’”

“So the reason why you didn’t go (to UNC), or the major reason, is the KKK had a rally going on at the time?” Patrick asked.

“Big rally man. I was like… They stuck me in that Carolina Inn. And at night down in North Carolina it gets pitch black and I hear all the crickets and I’m jumping, I’m like ‘what the heck?’ I said, ‘Nah, I’m going home.’”

Ewing said that Georgetown was his first choice and his second choice was UCLA. And even that Hall of Fame Tar Heels coach Dean Smith advised him to go to Georgetown if he was not going to pick North Carolina.

The former Knicks center was named associate head coach of the Charlotte franchise recently. The Bobcats, who are in the middle of switching their name back to the Hornets, are owned by Ewing’s long time friend Michael Jordan.

Ewing has publicly stated his desire to be a head coach in the NBA.

After Jason Kidd was named head coach of the Brooklyn Nets Wednesday, the Hall of Famer’s son, Patrick Ewing Jr. tweeted: “For real though I’m mad J Kidd got a head coaching job a year after retiring n my pops been coaching 10 years n barely gets a look.”

11210: New Awards For Cannes.

Advertising Age reported Cannes will add trophies for health care agencies and clients in 2014. The special Lions will be doled out two days before the main awards. Side effects include delusions of grandeur. In recent years, the arguably prestigious festival has appealed to overblown—and income-generating—egos through the introduction of honors for innovation, PR, effectiveness and even holding companies. Yet there appears to be no interest in saluting multicultural marketing. Hell, would it be asking too much to set aside an afternoon before the health care event to high-five the minorities? The snub underscores the lack of respect for multicultural marketing and its practitioners—as well as the true global apathy for industry diversity. A weeping Dan Wieden declared his ADCOLOR® Award was the most important trophy he ever received. Knighted hypocrite Sir John Hegarty blathered about the imperative for inclusiveness. Jeff Goodby probably wanders the beaches in Cannes wondering, “Where are all the Black people?” Perhaps an award could be created to recognize the efforts of such noble defenders of diversity. Call it the Adamantium Lyin’.

Cannes Will Add Lions Health in 2014 In Separate Festival

Two-Day Event Before Main Awards Will Target Health Care Agencies and Marketers

By Laurel Wentz

Are health-care agencies and their clients the last group in the ad world that don’t enter and attend the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in large numbers? The festival is fixing that, with a brand-new Lions Health festival set to debut next year.

The two-day Lions Health awards will be held right before the main Cannes festival starts on Sunday, June 15, 2014. Those awards will replicate much of the main festival, with five juries to judge entries, a Young Lions contest for specialist health care creatives, and a health care Young Marketers Academy. And of course a Lions Health awards show evening.

The festival said Lions Health will cover three areas: health (communication that falls under regulatory restrictions), wellness (communications that aren’t regulated) and sustainability.

Many of the main festival contests are divided into product categories that already include a pharmacy or healthcare category that includes everything from over-the-counter and prescription medicines to anti-hair loss lotions, but they are often overshadowed by more glamorous product categories.

It’s a big market. In the U.S. alone, health care communications agencies had total revenue of $3.62 billion, according to Ad Age’s DataCenter. The biggest network by far is Publicis Groupe’s Publicis Healthcare Communications Group, with U.S. revenue in 2012 of $505 million.

11209: Kraft Shaft.

Copyranter exposed that One Million Moms are not happy over the Kraft ad above. Maybe it’s actually an LGBT Pride Month salute.

11208: Dearth Of UK Dames…?

From Campaign…

Women: how can we manage what we can’t measure?

By Cilla Snowball

I’ve always subscribed to the Madeleine Albright principle that “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women”.

On a personal level, helping others is a decent way to return the support and inspiration I’ve received from countless women in the business. But I also know it’s good business to do so. Developing the female talent pipeline is a matter of commercial imperative.

Just over a year ago, I was asked to sit on the Women’s Business Council — an independent, one-year working group advising Government and business on how to maximise women’s contribution to economic growth. I joined a team of male and female leaders from the recruitment, enterprise, retail, legal and pharmaceutical sectors, supported by the Government Equalities Office at DCMS.

We launched our report last Tuesday at the Stock Exchange.

Our report showed there’s an overwhelming business case for fulfilling women’s economic potential — up to 10% growth in UK GDP by 2030 if we equalise men and women’s participation at work. And up to a million more female entrepreneurs.

Our report articulated, yet again, that businesses with balanced boards and senior management teams deliver better results, better talent management, better customer interface and better business culture.

It showed that Government and business need to remove barriers for women at all stages, in classrooms as well as boardrooms, forging better links between schools and business on subject and career choices and work experience. We ignore the youth squad at our peril, especially aspiring entrepreneurs.

It showed that working parents, especially returning mums, need support and flexibility, affordable childcare and effective talent management.

That older women offer great untapped business potential.

That mentoring and role models can make an impact at every level, raising confidence, ambition, skills and opportunity.

So what can we do about all this in the ad industry?

The IPA 2012 Census shows women are doing well at industry level, which is 49% female, but less well at management level, where only 21.5% of agencies are led by women.

This looks promising by comparison with the 2011 census figure of 13.5%, and brilliant by comparison with the FTSE 100 where there are only three female chief executives. But it’s not enough.

In future, let’s measure the proportion of women on agency boards and in agency management teams in the census; not just chairs, chief executives and managing directors as we currently do. This will expose the industry laggards and the pioneers, giving us a framework for action to develop the pipeline. We can’t manage what we can’t measure.

Let’s continue to expand and encourage the wonderful work the IPA have initiated with Women of the Future, and the excellent WACL and Gather programmes, which so consistently inspire and motivate women coming up through the business with leadership and mentoring advice, as well as providing ace role models.

We can be much more systematic about managing work experience. We can get into schools and universities to talk about our industry. We do it to recruit, but we must also do it to inspire. Robert Peston’s Speakers for Schools programme is a brilliant start. So is Robin Wight’s Ideas Foundation and the IPA apprenticeship programme.

Let’s also take a hard look at the demographics of the ad industry at the other end of the age spectrum. We’re a young business with an average age of 34. A massive 45% of the UK population is over 50 but only a tiny 6% of the ad industry population is over 50. So we have a double challenge to address, if we’re to avoid looking sexist as well as ageist in our industry profile going forward.

I’m lucky to work in a company where gender is no obstacle, where I’ve been supported and encouraged throughout my career, where diversity is celebrated and where men and women are actively and equally developed.

We have the results, the work, the culture, the management team and the talent pipeline to prove it. I know it’s not the same everywhere in our industry. The Women’s Business Council reckons it’s a pretty good time for us all to act. And better that than, according to Madeleine Albright, face the prospect of hell.

Cilla Snowball is Group Chairman and Group CEO at AMV BBDO and a member of the Women’s Business Council.

Read the full report at womensbusinesscouncil.dcms.gov.uk

11207: Free Refills With Restrictions.

This is sure to get a frosty reaction from the redheads and Wendy’s.

11206: Diversity Drivel.

At The Big Tent, Eric Mower & Associates Partner and HR Director Michael Slade posted a perspective titled, “We’ll Never Achieve Diversity Hiring Only From One Another.” Is the title supposed to be a warning/reprimand or merely a statement of fact? Slade’s column could have been written in 2003—or even 1963, for that matter—as it contains no new thinking. It’s always disturbing to see HR wonks not only regurgitating the same excuses (e.g., a lack of awareness of opportunities among minorities) and lame solutions (e.g., the 4As’ Multicultural Advertising Internship Program), but also openly admitting the industry engages in exclusive, discriminatory hiring practices. More outrageous is Slade’s admission that he has served on the 4As’ HR Committee for 15 years. Damn, it’s incredible the man hasn’t yet nabbed an ADCOLOR® Award. To underscore the audacity of hopelessness and cluelessness in Slade’s piece, take a peek at the executive leadership running his agency. ‘Nuff said.