Written by Olivia Skirvin
The advertising industry is ever-changing. New leadership is being put into place as new ad agencies are erected and current ad agencies continue growing. Selecting a diverse leadership, specifically women and minorities, in this industry is more important than ever as they have major control over how messages are communicated to the public. Having these individuals in leadership positions means actually having the opportunity to share their stories and have influence in the industry. Unfortunately the landscape of the ad industry needs some work to create this kind of environment.
Gender diversity is one issue within the advertising community. In the 2019 ANA annual diversity report, researchers found that the overall membership was 68% female and 32% male which shows an overwhelming amount of growth in the direction of female employees, but when comparing the percentages of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) in the ANA membership it’s reported that only 47% are female while 53% are male (Association of National Advertisers). The second part of this statistic is important because it shows that while women are surpassing men in the general workforce, they are not in leadership positions. This information shows there is still work to be done in balancing gender representation within the industry, but there is another issue as well. Despite the ANA’s report finding that the industry is moving towards having a majority of females a part of it, women are still dealing with issues surrounding pay gaps and the working environment with their male counterparts.
“Male homosociability” in the advertising industry is also a present issue and affects the working relationship between males and females in the industry. The term “male homosociability” refers to what is more widely known as “locker room” talk which occurs between males in the workplace (Gregory). Michele Rene Gregory, a professor at York College of The City University of New York, studied this concept and how it affected the advertising industry in Britain. She found that through inappropriate jokes, exclusive male bonding, and the objectification of women, they were able to assert dominance and maintain the edge over leadership positions in the industry. All of these tactics make women uncomfortable in the workplace causing them to refrain from sharing their ideas or making a contribution to a project. In her analysis, she says, “Although the hegemonic culture has changed in creative departments...what has not changed is the importance attributed to sports, humor, clubbing and the sexualization of women. The prevalence of hegemonic masculinity, in whatever form it takes, helps to explain why female advertisers still encounter discrimination in an industry where they make up half the workforce...” (Gregory). The information from Gregory’s study still rings true today as the female population in the advertising industry grows. Males are still the most represented as CMOs and their behaviors can exclude female colleagues. This kind of environment breeds toxicity and contributes directly to the issues of gender diversity within the advertising industry.
Additionally, diversity of race also presents itself as an issue in the advertising world. There are very few minorities who hold leadership positions in the industry. While companies are more open to hiring a diverse workforce, many employees will end up leaving a company due to feeling undervalued or not having a sense of belonging because of the lack of diversity. In a study done by Christopher Boulton, he followed 11 black interns at 10 different advertising agencies in New York City to learn about the struggles young people of color face in the industry. He found that these interns have a much more difficult time than other interns because they are put under immense pressure that their white colleagues may not realize. These interns had to consider things like whether or not choosing a black mentor would convey a preference for their own race, or be the sole insight givers on what would attract black target markets. White authorities made these interns represent the entire black community and fit the white stereotype (Boulton). Behavior like this in the industry pushes diversity out of the advertising community and creates a hostile environment for different minorities.
Beyond entry-level roles, minorities are often not hired into leadership or directorial positions, which creates a biased and isolated executive team. When one race dominates a leadership team, it pushes down people who don’t fit that group and silences voices that would bring new ideas. In her article for the World Federation of Advertisers, author Belinda Smith states, “Executive leaders set the culture of the organization, play a big role in recruiting and developing talent and, most importantly, are empowered to make decisions about the business. We need to stop focusing on entry-level talent who are not empowered to affect change” (Smith). While Smith goes on to talk about the importance of minorities in entry-level roles as well, she hits on the point that leaders have the most impactful change which is why it is necessary to have a diverse panel of people who are able to make decisions and change actually happen. With someone in power who identifies with a minority, companies are also able to make sure their messages are appropriate and sensitive to a community that they may not be a part of. Representation is vital for companies to breed new ideas and a healthy culture of diversity internally.
All of this evidence paints a clear picture that diversity in gender and race is needed within the advertising industry. By moving these groups on people into leadership positions we are able to create more inclusive and more creative environments. By listening to these voices, recognizing the issues, and creating practical steps to take action in solving the issues there is hope for a more diverse and inclusive advertising environment. Jerri DeVard sums up the direction the advertising industry must take by stating, “to create meaningful change, we must shift from the rhetoric of progress and inclusion to the power of personal accountability and consequences” (DeVard). Let’s lift up women, especially women of color, to leadership positions within this industry and create an industry that stands as the example of what inclusion and leadership should look like to the rest of the world.
Sources
Association of National Advertisers. “A Diversity Report for the Advertising/Marketing
Industry.” ANA Association of National Advertisers, 2019.
Boulton, Christopher. “Black Identities Inside Advertising: Race Inequality, Code Switching, and
Stereotype Threat.” Howard Journal of Communications, vol. 27, no. 2, 2016, pp.
130–144. EBSCO, doi:10.1080/10646175.2016.1148646.
DeVard, Jerri. “Opinion: We must shift from inclusion rhetoric to accountability and
consequences.” AdAge, 08 February 2021, https://adage.com/article/opinion/opinion-we-must-shift-inclusion-rhetoric-accountability -and-consequences/2312296.
Gregory, Michele Rene. “Inside the Locker Room: Male Homosociability in the Advertising Industry.” Gender, Work & Organization, vol. 16, no. 3, 2009, pp. 323–347. EBSCO, doi:10.1111/j.1468–0432.2009.00447.
Smith, Belinda. “Advertising Has Rebranded Diversity, and It Isn’t a Positive Change.” World Federation of Advertisers, 3 Sept. 2019, https://wfanet.org/knowledge/item/2019/09/03/Advertising-has-rebranded-diversity-and-i t-isnt-a-positive-change.
Commenti