Media Release – Tuesday, 19 October 2021
First-ever Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Census of the global marketing industry
The AANA welcomes the first-ever global industry DEI census recognising the key challenges it highlights around family status, age, gender, ethnicity, disability and look forward to participating in the 2nd wave, due early 2023.
The initial results are based on more than 10,000 responses from 27 markets around the world conducted in June to July 2021 with the online survey identifying not just the demographics of participants but also their sense of belonging, experience of discrimination and demeaning behaviour.
The Census found the most common forms of discrimination globally were reported on the basis of age and family status while women and ethnic minorities in the marketing industry reported poorer lived experiences than men and ethnic majorities. Despite these serious concerns, the marketing sector still outperformed every other category that has been analysed by research partner Kantar, scoring an overall 64% on the Inclusion Index, ahead of the next highest sector, Health and Pharmaceuticals on 60%.
The research effort was led by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) in close collaboration with agencies associations, EACA and Voxcomm, Cannes Lions, Advertising Week, Effies, GWI, Campaign, IAA and research firm, Kantar.
“This has been a Herculean but long overdue effort. For the very first time we hear and see the marketing industry in all its different facets and nuance. There is a confidence and strong sense of belonging that rings true of the marketing industry. But there are significant minorities in all countries saying they witness negative behaviours and discrimination on account of their age, family status, gender, ethnicity, race, disability, mental health, sexuality… such that one in seven considers leaving the industry. No company or industry can ignore this; a line has been drawn in the sand and we now know where progress must be made. The onus on us all now is to work together to make our industry fairer, more diverse and more inclusive – and to measure our common progress in a second wave in the Spring of 2023,” said Stephan Loerke, CEO of the WFA.
The full report on the global results of the Census is expected in early December.