Bestselling author, creative sociologist, futurist, cultures consultant, and LinkedIn Top Voice 2020, Amy Kean, says to the industry: if you want change, change things, without fanfare or fireworks
Whether you possess a degree from the University of Life or diploma from the School of Hard Knocks, the real world teaches us a great deal. Me? I’m proud to have gained a PHD in Office Politics, after seventeen years in the big bad ad industry.
I’ve seen it all: CEO civil wars, megalomaniac managers, ruthless rumours, and managed to thrive without getting caught in crossfire. I’ve witnessed backstabbing that’d make Marcus Brutus blush. Advertising environments aren’t known for their kindness, and many former agency employees speak - very seriously - of having PTSD from bullying and harassment.
But none of this prepared me for the cutthroat world of ad land’s Diversity Politics; a new-ish space where activism (important) and ego (self-importance) collide. It’s a toxic combination that’s led us to a critical point, where not only are things not progressing, they’re getting worse.
I entered the world of Diversity Politics accidentally, two years ago, when me and some industry pals launched an initiative called DICE. DICE stands for diversity and inclusion at conferences and events and we created it to eradicate manels/wanels (all male all white panels or line-ups at conferences) because we were tired of flagging them.
We created a charter and process of events certification based on the 2010 Equality Act, asked some clever friends (like Jerry Daykin, Jane Evans and Stephanie Matthews) what they thought, and then launched it. Our own money funded it. The aim wasn’t to make Newsnight, or reinvent ourselves as revolutionaries, we just wanted to get people thinking differently because we were sick of the status quo. There are a few other outfits also calling out the worst culprits on Twitter, like Gender Avenger, Manel Watch, nomorewanels and obviously the queen, Cindy Gallop. We work brilliantly with all of them, because we’re running in the same direction.
But as soon as DICE entered the world of Diversity Politics, things got silly. “You’re being too strict,” some people said. “You didn’t engage xyz in the consultancy phase,” said others. “We’d rather make our own charter. Can we just use your logo?” a few said, because of course they did.
We realised that it’s not simply enough to try and fix a problem, you have to try and fix it with the right tone of voice, the best soundbites and without unnecessary complexity, in case folk get bored. Throughout my 17-year career I’ve never had more people try and get in the way of something than they have with DICE: a non-profit diversity initiative with a single-minded mission.
The surprising solution to workplace diversity | Arwa Mahdawi | TEDxHamburg
Our industry hates change, yet every week I see a new announcement for a new inclusion thing that’s only slightly different to an inclusion thing that came before. It’s how the ad industry works.
You don’t quite agree with an initiative? Launch your own. Want to make money out of inequality? Write a press release! Need a bit of an ego boost? Announce yourself the lead of a new niche movement. New business looking lacklustre?
Two words: OPEN LETTER.
It’s a merry-go-round of meaningless promises that no one had any intention of keeping. Too many leaders, not enough dullards doing the actual work.
Because actual change that can be measured by data is dull, right? In 2016 the IPA launched an initiative called Make The Leap. They got a load of agencies to sign up and promise to significantly reduce the gender pay gap and significantly increase the amount of Black, Brown and ethnic minority individuals working for them by 2020 (the next leap year). Why these agencies couldn’t just *do it* without getting their PR teams involved, I’ll never know, but there was a microsite and fireworks and no doubt a procession down the Thames.
Jump to 2020 and according to the IPA’s own census, the gender pay gap had increased and the amount of and BIPOC representation in the industry had gone down, especially at a senior level. Among all the excitement of signing a pledge and fuelling the egos and building the agency brands, the people involved forgot to do the actual work!
Forbes Live | Driving Diversity and Inclusion in Marketing | CMO London 2018
The founders and 50-strong volunteer base of DICE aren’t fuelling our egos through activism. It’s not even a side hustle, because we make no money from it. We tend not to speak at events, unless it's DICE-certified and the organisers have asked us to educate their audience. We don’t take part in panels that ‘promote diversity’ because in all seriousness, anyone who’s not convinced of the importance of diversity isn’t going to take time to watch a panel on diversity. Our primary reason for DICE existing is because we don’t want it to exist. And hopefully, in a couple of years, it won’t. Like the best dating apps, activism that’s designed to be deleted is normally pretty effective.
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Activism in real life often involves risk, rioting… hell, sometimes it even involves a prison sentence. In the ad industry? Announcements. If your intention didn’t make the Campaign newsletter, does it even count? Everyone wants to be the one to make that final change. To give that great speech. To MAKE EQUALITY HAPPEN. Because it’s advertising, and we’re personalities. Shiny personalities that entered this industry precisely because we wanted to have a lovely, shallow time. We cannot be trusted to go the extra mile. But this is people’s lives we’re talking about. Their careers.
Often those most affected by DEI issues are the ones who don’t have a platform, because they’re at the start of their careers trying to navigate a shitstorm, whilst also wanting to belong. My advice? Journalists: please talk only about the results. Agencies: stop writing open letters. Brands: focus on action and impact. If you want change, just change things, without fanfare or fireworks. If it helps, we’ll give you a certificate from the College of Basic Bloody Decency.
