U.S. ad industry calls for immediate action on diversity and inclusion

In light of growing calls for companies and industries to make a stand on racism, the ANA and its Alliance for Inclusive & Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) sent a letter to their board of directors and members that acknowledges the limited progress in diversity and inclusion in the marketing industry in the US and calls for immediate action to effect real change.

ANA CEO Bob Liodice said: “The inequalities that exist in our nation are also, abundantly and unfortunately, readily apparent in our own industries. The ANA and AIMM are fully committed to revisiting and revising our diversity and inclusion efforts and develop new plans that bring real, permanent, and long-overdue changes to the advertising and marketing sectors.  We must move forward as an industry that embraces equality and gives all people—regardless of race, gender, identity, culture, ability, or age—the opportunity to reach their full potential.  The time to act is now.”

The organisations and chief executive who have signed the letter have committed “to do everything in our individual and collective power to end systemic racism and achieve equality and justice.” The signatories so far include Marc Pritchard (P&G), Alicia Enciso (Nestlé), Lynne Biggar (Visa), Morgan Flatley (McDonald’s), Gail Horwood (Kellogg’s), Greg Lyons (PepsiCo), Ivan Pollard (General Mills), Manoj Raghunandanan (J&J), Deborah Wahl (General Motors) and Allyson Witherspoon (Nissan), among others.

The letter also recommends several actions marketers can take to address diversity and inclusion such as establishing yearly diversity reports, increasing spend in multicultural marketing, promoting AIMM’s #SeeALL campaign, holding the industry accountable via AIMM’s Cultural Insights Impact Measure (CIIM™) and doubling down on cross-industry partnerships.

For more information, contact ANA.