Global marketing industry launches 2023 DEI Census
Marketing and advertising professionals from around the world are being asked to share their views on the state of diversity, equity and inclusion in the industry by participating in the second Global DEI Census in marketing.
The initiative, which is supported by a coalition of 10 global marketing and advertising organisations –WFA, VoxComm, Campaign, Kantar, Advertising Week, Cannes Lions, Effie Worldwide, IAA, Global Web Index (GWI) and Adweek – has also been backed by a growing list of leading companies from across the marketing and advertising ecosystem, including Bayer, BP, Danone, Diageo, Dentsu, The Estée Lauder Companies, Haleon, Havas, Kraft Heinz, L’Oréal, McCann, Philips, Reckitt, Sanofi and WPP.
The questionnaire is the same as the one led in the UK by the Advertising Association, IPA and ISBA as the All In Census but with slight adaptations for legal and cultural reasons and will be driven by equivalent local industry coalitions in 33 markets; Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, SAR, Italy, Ireland, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE), and USA. Marketing professionals in other markets will also be able to take part by completing a shorter version of the survey in English, helping to give a full picture of the situation at a global level.
The goal is to measure the state of diversity, equity and inclusion in the marketing and advertising industry, as well as people’s sense of belonging, the absence of discrimination and presence of negative behaviours, in order to monitor progress on the results of the inaugural 2021 census, which covered 27 markets.
To participate, marketing professionals from across the marketing ecosystem - advertisers, agencies, media, ad tech and platforms - will be asked to complete a totally anonymous 15-minute questionnaire covering their demographic profile including race, ethnicity, religion, age (in accordance with local legal frameworks) as well as their experiences at their place of work.
The Census will be open for responses between 15 March and 15 April, with the global coalition working closely with national associations, multinationals, agency groups and all other relevant industry groups to promote participation.
The results are due to be released in June 2023 and will be used to showcase areas of progress as well as highlighting areas where performance may have slipped back.
So far, more than 100 organisations have pledged to promote and help support the initiative, making it the biggest collaboration to date by the industry.
These include local advertiser and agency associations, as well as international and regional associations such as the Global TV Group, the World Radio Alliance, the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA), the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA), EGTA – the European association representing TV and radio sales houses, the Federation of European Data and Marketing (FEDMA), European Publishers Council (EPC), the International Council for Ad Self-Regulation (ICAS) and the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA).
The inaugural Global DEI Census of 2021 found that one in seven professionals said that they would likely leave their company and the industry because of a lack of diversity and inclusion. It also identified that the most common forms of discrimination were experienced on the basis of gender, age and caregiving responsibilities (those looking after the young, the elderly or the sick) as well as on the basis of race, ethnicity and disability. The full results and analysis from Wave 1, which covered 27 markets and attracted more than 10,000 responses, can be seen here.
Since the first global Census, the WFA has published a Charter for Change, outlining how global organisations, such as advertisers, platforms and agency holding groups, can take concrete steps to drive more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces. The Charter is designed to complement action plans devised and driven at local level by local coalitions designed to address specific local challenges.
Stephan Loerke, CEO, WFA:. “What gets measured gets managed. Our industry is facing a well-documented talent crisis. Ensuring our industry is more diverse, equitable and inclusive will go a long way to addressing this challenge. There are patently clear moral and business cases for why our industry must better reflect the diversity of consumer we all aim to reach. This is why this exercise is so critical.”
Raja Rajamannar, President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Mastercard: “Taking an honest look at our industry and companies’ marketing representation requires exactly the type of data the Global DEI Census makes possible. Thank you to all the marketers who participate. This is how we move our industry forward.”
Susan Akkad, Senior Vice President, Local and Cultural Innovation at The Estée Lauder Companies, and WFA Global Diversity Ambassador: “The challenges that we face when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion vary by country and by region. The more people that complete the global census, the greater the granularity of our understanding and the more focused our solutions can be. There are lots of actions that we can take, this global survey will help identify the most effective ones.”
