New York, NY, Dec. 13, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The marketing and media industry is coalescing around a new initiative called the Inclusion and Diversity Accountability Consortium (IDAC), which has been launched by She Runs It™ and Diversity Best Practices. Based on the principle of “what gets measured, gets done,” the initiative seeks to ignite quantitative action that will make the marketing and media industry more diverse in its make-up and sensibility.
The movement has already enlisted initial champions including Blue 449, DigitasLBi, Estee Lauder, Fullscreen, GroupM, KBS, Leo Burnett, L'Oréal, Publicis Communications, SapientRazorfish, Starcom USA and Unilever, with several other companies to follow.
“The desire and intention to solve for diversity and inclusion in this industry is sincere across all stakeholders, but companies struggle to make meaningful progress,” said Lynn Branigan, President and CEO of She Runs It. “Even across our own [She Runs It] community I am aware that we need to champion a more diverse population and move beyond a single dimension of diversity as it relates to gender. We believe this initiative is additive to others, and that the actions required of consortium participants will move us from preaching to practice to progress as we isolate and attack the obstacles that have made true diversity elusive for our industry.”
Built to produce and measure results, the initiative requires that consortium participants commit to three key actions:
- Participation in an annual benchmarking study – the DBP Inclusion Index, administered by Diversity Best Practices and the Working Mother Research Institute. The Diversity Best Practices (DBP) Inclusion Index was created to drive change and help organizations accelerate progress in diversity and inclusion. The Index application helps companies target their efforts to understand gaps and provide specific strategies and programs, tools and resources to help raise the bar on D&I strategies. It was developed to focus on the best practices that are proven to have impact and that will encourage companies to take action.
- Executive presence at quarterly roundtable discussions specifically organized to confront nagging challenges and surface solutions. Diversity Best Practices and other diversity experts will facilitate these Thought Leadership Roundtables by providing provocateurs and guiding conversations that give companies high-level insights and tools they need to create more diverse and inclusive cultures. The first Thought Leadership Roundtable will take place at in Q1 2018.
- Implementation (maintenance) of company-specific initiatives to recruit, retain and advance diverse talent, including the enactment of policies and programs that drive positive impact, foster inclusive cultures, create open dialogue for greater understanding, build trust, encourage compassion and tackle unconscious bias.
"The advertising and marketing industries would significantly benefit by ensuring that their cultures are inclusive and their employee base is diverse and representative of the growing and changing marketplace and consumer base,” said Deborah Munster, executive director for Diversity Best Practices. “This initiative is a measurable call to action and increased education for the marketing and media industry to put a strategic roadmap and accountability tool in place to create and measure meaningful progress. We applaud those companies and leaders who are taking these inaugural steps with us, and we welcome all others who want to see this initiative succeed.”
The Consortium is open to all industry executives who are willing to commit to the obligations, including the roundtable discussions, the benchmarking research and the corporate practices and policies. Interested leaders can get more information or join the movement by sending an email to IDAC@sherunsit.org, or logging into sherunsit.org/IDAC. The 2018 DBP Inclusion Index application process will open on Monday, Dec 18th, 2017.
Quotes from IDAC participants:
| “Creativity and innovation thrive when different perspectives, disciplines and experiences are recognized, respected and cultivated. As a global consumer-facing company, with diverse employees, brands and products, we continue to prioritize these values in all that we do and are proud to be a part of the Inclusion and Diversity Accountability Consortium.” Marilu Marshall, Senior Vice President, Executive Management, Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer, Estee Lauder |
| "As storytellers and marketers, our teams absolutely have to be as diverse as the audiences we serve”, said Andy Forssell, COO of Fullscreen. "We’re excited to work with a fantastic group of companies dedicated to finding data-based solutions to improve inclusion and diversity with She Runs It." |
| Everyone in advertising knows the lack of diversity within our industry doesn’t properly represent the realities of the world we live in and this issue needs to be addressed with tangible action in order for things to change. And there’s no question industry leaders agree that this is a social issue they strongly believe needs to be fixed. The problem is most people are viewing it incorrectly. Diversity is much greater than just a social issue: it’s actually a productivity and economic issue. There are multiple studies that prove the companies with the most diverse talent base thrive the most from an employee satisfaction standpoint as well as bottom line growth. It’s our mission at KBS to educate others within our industry through our own actions which is why we’re incredibly excited to be partnering with She Runs It and Diversity Best Practices on the Inclusion and Diversity Accountability Coalition (IDAC).” Mike Densmore, President KBS New York |
| “Solving our industry’s diversity and inclusion challenge is imperative to our talent, clients and the future of our business. Holding ourselves accountable to measurable, industry-wide benchmarks will enable us to take great strides forward,” said Renetta McCann, Chief Talent Officer, Leo Burnett. “The goals of this consortium are aligned with our own organization’s commitments, and we could not be more thrilled to see the industry coming together to collectively tackle this critical issue.” |
| "L'Oréal is inspired by all forms of beauty, while respecting and reflecting the differences of our evolving society,” said Angela Guy, Senior Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion at L'Oréal USA. “In celebration of our customers and workforce, we prioritize inclusion and engagement efforts in support of our L'Oréal USA Diversity & Inclusion mission to build the standard in making beauty inclusive." |
| “It’s not enough to just talk about creating change in our industry – we actually want to lead the charge and build a business that reflects the world in which we live, to better serve our clients and their customers. We are working towards this by training our people to challenge their unconscious biases and cultivating a culture that allows our employees to bring their whole selves to work. I’m excited for SapientRazorfish to join the IDAC and look forward to hitting the ground running in 2018 to help drive meaningful change for our people and industry.” - Ronald Shamah, Co-CEO SapientRazorfish |
| “Unilever US is proud to join the Inclusion and Diversity Accountability Coalition,” said Mita Mallick, Head of Diversity & Cross Cultural Marketing, Unilever North America. “Through Unilever’s own initiatives like #Unstereotype, and the work we are leading with our marketers and agency partners around cultural competency, we are committed to tangible, quantitative actions that help create a more diverse industry.” |
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