Words by Jamie Tolentino-Deludet
At IPG’s ninth annual breakfast at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity at the Hotel Martinez, the breakfast was a way to recognize advertising’s profound influence and impact on the world at large. This year we turned our lens toward the importance of representation – and the positive impact brands, agencies and organizations can have when we listen to and recognize different voices, and create stories that celebrate intersectionality.
Michael Roth, Chairman and CEO of IPG, focuses on all kinds of inclusivity and representation. He says that “The work is really what is important because our messaging shapes society and we can create how they view people. We have to harness this tool in a positive way because 80% of us watch ad-supported television, and are on social media. The issue is that certain people are left out of the work and it is one that the industry is prepared to take on.”
UN and the “Unstereotype” Alliance
Heide Gardner, SVP, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer of IPG says “Our industry is not the most trusted; we are less trusted than politicians. On top of that there is the issue of privacy. If there is one takeaway from this breakfast, it is to be intentional about intersectionality”
“If there is one takeaway from this breakfast, it is to be intentional about intersectionality” – Heide Gardner, SVP, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, IPG pic.twitter.com/OpkN6AZy8v
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) June 19, 2019
Adema Sangale, Global Coordinator of the Unstereotype Alliance, convened by UN women says the “Unstereotype Alliance was born in Cannes two years ago as a movement to use media as a force for good. Eliminating stereotypes in advertising is a pressing issue in our times.”
55% of Brazil’s population is black but only 3% of ads show black female protagonists 3 years ago. Now, the number is up to 25%.
Inspiring Radical Creativity
Gabby Rivera, Author, Storyteller and Comic Creator, says “They tell me to write the book that you wish you had so I wrote a book (called Juliet takes a breath) about a joyful queer Puerto Rican girl who doesn’t die at the end because she is lesbian. Then Marvel asked me to write about America Chavez, and I used that to disrupt white supremacy narratives.”
Inspiring Radical Creativity –
Gabby Rivera, Author, Storyteller and Comic Creator says “They tell me to write the book that you wish you had so I wrote a book about a joyful queer Puerto Rican girl who doesn’t die at the end because she is lesbian.” pic.twitter.com/CWI7IjvCda— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) June 19, 2019
Amisha Padnani, Editor of Obituaries and Creator of “Overlooked”, The New York Times shares that she thought about diversifying obituaries when she couldn’t find all the great women who died. Only 28% of obituaries are about women. Marginalized communities are also underrepresented even though there are a lot of great stories in those segments. Can you imagine that even Alan Turing never got a New York Times obituary?
Various Marketers In Action
Aline Santos, Global EVP of Marketing and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer of Unilever asked permission from the wives of all the board members to film their daughters on their perception of beauty. Each one came back with a really sad story and made the entire board emotional. Diversity is not just a social issue, it’s a business issue because we are getting more engagement and enjoyment from our ads.
Aline Santos, Global EVP of Marketing and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Unilever asked permission from the wives of all the board members to film their daughters on their perception of beauty. Each one came back with a really sad story and made the entire board cry. pic.twitter.com/VOzDOzVJdh
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) June 19, 2019
Jennifer Sey, SVP & CMO, Levi Strauss & Co. challenges the ads of the topless woman wearing only Levi’s jeans. Ads should not be about sexiness, but about self-expression. The highest performing ad was Alicia Keys talking about how women are naturally badass.
Ann Lewnes, CMO, Adobe says that female creators feel underrepresented. 40% of female creatives do not see senior female role models. At Adobe, they constantly feature inspirational creative women like Reese Witherspoon who started her own production company so that she can create her own narrative in the media.
Berta de Pablos-Barbier, Chief Category Officer of Mars says that they are not good enough in terms of diversity. They are being vulnerable so that they can lead the change.
Kathleen Hall, Head of Brand, Advertising and Research, Microsoft says that more women on their teams resulted in a campaign that won a Glass lion at Cannes.
Kathleen Hall, Head of Brand, Advertising and Research, Microsoft says that more women on their teams resulted in a campaign that won a Glass lion at Cannes. pic.twitter.com/bbqRhFJIxk
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) June 19, 2019
Basically, to win in the long term, put your investments where your values are.
Equality Can’t Wait
AJ Hassan, VP ECD, R/GA Chicago talks to Natasha Lyonne, Actress, Writer and Director and Catherine St-Laurent, Director of Pivotal Ventures (a Melinda Gates Company), and shares that it will take us 208 years until true gender equality. They are launching #equalitycantwait to escalate the timeline for equality. To achieve this, they are also looking at some of the barriers for women’s progress like sexual harassment, biased narratives, stereotypes and care-giving.
Finally, Gabrielle Union, Actress, Executive Author and Best-Selling Author talks to April Reign, Founder of #OscarsSoWhite about how she would rather process the truth than float on some lies. She will give up some money or power to make history and make progress. Gabrielle wants to empower the marginalized voices of various folks with her production company.
Actress, Executive Pruducer & Author @itsgabrielleu talks to April Reign, Founder of #OscarsSoWhite about how she would rather process the truth than float on some lies. She will give up some money or power to make history and make progress. #ipgcannes2019 #withallduerespect pic.twitter.com/l7qynZMF6N
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) June 19, 2019
