Marketing Industry Launches First-Ever Global Diversity and Inclusion Census
National advertiser and agency associations in 27 markets are promoting the research and encouraging local marketers to participate
The first-ever global census of the marketing and advertising industry has now gone live, designed to assess the scale of the diversity challenge facing the profession.
Members of the industry have two weeks (until July 2) to participate and provide socio-demographic data about themselves and perceptions of their workplace. People from across the marketing industry, including brands, agencies, media, tech, consultancies, and marketing services providers in 27 countries, are being asked to take 15 minutes to fill in the survey.
The survey will assess where the global advertising and marketing industry is in relation to diversity, equity, and inclusion by investigating workforce composition across the industry as well as people’s perception of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, including uniquely their sense of belonging and their perception of progress.
The findings will be presented at leading global industry events in October this year and put into the public domain so that global groups, such as the WFA’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, regional groups such as the one led by EACA in Europe and, critically, local coalitions can ensure their DEI efforts are as focused as possible on perceived shortcomings. A follow-up survey will be completed in 18 months to measure progress.
The census is being supported by WFA, Campaign, Kantar, Cannes Lions, Advertising Week, The Effies, the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA), and the new global agencies association VoxComm, as well as national advertiser associations and their agency counterparts. The goal is to generate the largest and most representative sample possible.
“This is an unprecedented act of unity by the global marketing industry. With over 100 participating organizations, this is the biggest industry collaboration ever,” said Stephan Loerke, WFA CEO. ‘We are humbled and delighted by the support from our global partners and critically from the national advertiser and agency associations – and their partner organizations – who are helping to drive the local samples.”
Tamara Daltroff, Director General of agencies association EACA and President of VoxComm said, “We are thrilled to be part of this historic effort. The data from so many markets will be incredibly powerful in helping the industry focus its efforts on where they are most needed, helping us become a better, more diverse, and more inclusive industry.”
“Driving greater diversity and inclusion in the MENA advertising and marketing industry has been a key priority for the ABG. We led the set-up of the UAE Chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance in 2020 and see great merit in supporting the WFA’s first-ever global D&I industry census. I therefore call on all ABG’s members, and the wider industry, to contribute as the results will advise an action plan. The stronger participation of women is an important driver to our sustained growth and increased resilience,” said Sanjiv Kakkar, ABG Chairman and EVP, Unilever North Africa Middle East, Turkey, Russia Ukraine, and Belarus.
The initiative builds on work already carried out in the UK as part of the highly acclaimed All In Census with the aim of establishing a tangible baseline for the global industry, which will help inform an action plan for improvement.
National advertiser associations and their agency association counterparts have confirmed participation in the census across a wide variety of countries and territories. The participating markets in this census are Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Greece, the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), Hong Kong SAR, China, India, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and USA.
While national associations and their agency counterparts will be driving the samples at the local level, corporate members of WFA and agencies involved in the WFA Diversity and Inclusion Task Force will be driving the initiative top-down via their own employees, clients, partners, and marketing supply chains. Supporting organizations include Diageo, Grupo Bimbo, GSK, Havas, Mars, Mondelez, m/SIX, Reckitt, and WPP.
Find out more about the Census and take the survey here.
