‘Look at my pie chart’: Confessions from two agency execs of color on the diversity progress still to be made by the ad world in 2021

By Kimeko McCoy

It has been more than a year since George Floyd’s murder sparked global calls for racial equity in the marketing and media world and beyond. Since then, many agencies have made efforts to answer those calls in diversity hiring initiatives, programming that facilitates more inclusive conversations and even publishing annual workforce diversity statistics.

Still, some in the industry question the authenticity of those efforts and pledges, pointing out the disconnect between what communities of color need and what the ad world is offering. Digiday recently caught up with two women agency executives of color to talk about the pitfalls of navigating hollow diversity pledges, microaggressions and what it will take to achieve true equity.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

What has been your experience as a woman in advertising and marketing post 2020? What made you want to have this conversation?

Executive 1: I don’t have something so egregious where it was a tipping point and I think that’s often the misconception, where you’re targeted as a woman of color. There [have been] many occasions over my career and my life where those microaggressions have presented themselves. I think this past year has probably been the first time where, at a high level, there’s been that acknowledgment that it exists. It’s clearly an evolution and nothing is going to be perfect, but there’s still so much work to do. People all of a sudden have all these responses or actions that they want to report on, and it calls into question the authenticity of what’s real — the convenience of it all now that you’re the hero and the ally. But where were you a year and a half ago?

Executive 2: I agree. There’s this great big rush like, “Look at us. We get it. We’re woke. Look at the DE&I leads we’ve got.” There’s also this public declaration of what we’re doing, why it’s important and resources groups for employees, we want to create safe spaces, and all of that is really good. But I still think it’s still missing a whole bunch of things — behavior that we’re just not tracking and choosing to ignore.

I think we’ve got to go deeper into the action areas to really see that change.

Why do you think these diversity offerings, publishing diversity stats, panels and thought pieces, seem inauthentic?

Executive 1: Because it’s easy. The hard work would be to ask the questions and really understand what would deliver that sense of belonging and inclusivity. Putting on a panel, writing a piece of thought leadership or putting something on your website, those are all relatively simple things to do. And you get that pat on your back.

Executive 2: [The hard work] is a much longer commitment over time and it’s uncomfortable. That means calling out people and holding them accountable to a certain set of behaviors when it’s going to disrupt a lot of things. People have to truly feel safe to come forward and …read more

Source:: Digiday