Advancing equity and inclusion in advertising
In today's fast-paced and visually-driven world, advertising has become an integral part of our daily lives. It influences our decisions, shapes our perceptions, and even impacts our society as a whole via the images and messaging brands deploy. Which presents a massive responsibility for brands to get it right! And, spoiler alert, many haven’t been nailing it over the last few decades. Many have been creating ads in a bubble, to resemble how they see the world individually instead of how the world actually is: diverse. Or adopting diversity but practicing culture washing: casting commercials or shoots with diverse talent while not accurately portraying culture, background or unique values with a given audience. This is a symptom of a larger problem of brands running to the lowest common denominator of playing it safe by trying to use one asset that appeals to many different audiences instead of telling unique stories which connect to each type of customer and audience individually. It’s time for brands and marketers to get to know their diverse audiences and uphold their responsibility of representation within advertising.
