Repeatedly, a lack of diversity across industries — including within the advertising world — has been noted. We see the change our nation is making by the various melanin-infused faces we interact with in the community. Yet, representation of these individuals is scarcely mirrored within agencies that will influence the buying power of the consumer.
How can an agency effectively construct diverse messaging when the whole concept of diversity is everything it is not? If an agency fails to fully embrace a variety of different social, ethnic, and gender roles from the top down, how can it truly understand the nuances of different segments they advertise to?
Agencies that lack diverse, inclusive, and multi-cultural natures create and deploy campaigns that result in tone-deaf outcomes, less-than-stellar audience engagement, and wondering why marks were missed.
Agencies can band-aid the problem by hiring a “Black” or “Hispanic” team/agency to operate within, but this too does not fix the problem. This out-of-touch and outdated solution does not work for our changing nation. Smart leaders understand that they must have a diverse team that can create and adapt messaging to our ever-changing demographics and psychographics to reach and engage audiences across the board. This is the path to success.
Hiring a diverse and inclusive agency is the competitive advantage for those who value and comprehend that harnessing a multi-cultural agency multiplies creativity and ingenuity.