US ad industry sees significant growth in supplier diversity

A new report from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has found that the majority of their members (69%) have a supplier diversity strategy in place for their marketing and advertising.

The report defines a supplier diversity programme as “a proactive business program which encourages the use of women-owned, ethnic/minority-owned, veteran-owned, LGBTQ-owned, disability-owned, and small businesses as suppliers”.

“The Growth of Supplier Diversity” provides a deep dive into supplier diversity and covers areas including benefits, challenges, spend, goals and measurement. The ANA study revealed that 89% of respondents said the importance of supplier diversity has increased over the past year, with 58% reporting a significant increase. The reasons indicated were two-fold: the racial events of the past year, and the growing importance supplier diversity plays in a company’s overall diversity and inclusion strategy.

“The devastating events of the past year have had a profound effect on all businesses, and the marketing industry has been no exception. But this report shows that at least one positive development has emerged – a growing number of marketers are realising the importance and the value of diversifying their supplier base,” said ANA CEO Bob Liodice.

Published in May, the report is a follow up to the association’s "The Power of Supplier Diversity" report in 2020 which highlighted that finding diverse suppliers is a top challenge for marketers.

ANA and its Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) published an open letter last year calling for the development of an equitable creative supply chain. In July 2020, they committed to curating a list of Certified Diverse Suppliers working in the US ad industry. The regularly updated list has since grown from 104 to 305 companies as of June 2021.

ANA’s ongoing efforts around supplier diversity won a WFA President’s Award in May.

CLICK HERE to access ANA’s reports on supplier diversity and their list of diverse suppliers.

For more information, contact ANA.