Following the recent JWT lawsuit against former chairman-CEO
Gustavo Martinez and the furore surrounding
comments from Saatchi & Saatchi's Kevin Roberts, the
advertising industry has started examining its dismal lack of diversity. But it
could all just turn into desperate navel gazing if lessons are not learnt. But
this is advertising and we cannot really expect our history to teach us much
when it comes to gender or race equality. In order to right our history’s
wrong, maybe time for the big boys to look at start-up shops and learn
important truths from their culture, devoid of any sacred cows, business or
revenue models.
In the face of heightened awareness and an increased appreciation
about the woeful lack of diversity in advertising, this is a big hurrah moment.
The fact that 80% of consumer spending is directly influenced by women, but
only 11% of creative directors are female leaves me in disbelief.
How can these huge global agencies, with offices in the most
diverse, cosmopolitan cities, still have these issues? And how have I
personally never noticed this kind of dynamic in my 16-year career? I “grew up”
around strong female (and male) leaders as my mentors and my heroes. I never
knew any different. From hiring practices to promotions to office pranks, everything
was equal opportunity. It was safe to joke, to jab, to not take ourselves too
seriously, because there was a foundation of mutual respect underneath it all.
Did I just get lucky?
I genuinely don’t think so.
The lack of diversity in any business is a cultural issue and
should be treated as one. Smaller start-up shops have an embedded culture of
creating something meaningful because it is powered by dreams and hopes and the
strong desire to innovate. Therefore the reason why diversity makes sense. It
brings new ideas and different solutions to problems in a world of changing
markets and customer demands. Here are the top lessons start-ups could teach
agency networks, when it comes to gender diversity.
1. Agility Comes With The Territory
Smaller boutiques can more quickly evolve with shifts in society,
culture and industry. The smaller the agency’s staff and footprint, the simpler
it is to make significant changes in culture and approach. Leadership is more
intimately involved in every aspect of the business, fewer people are needed to
form consensus, and less time is needed to create impact.
2. They’re On A Mission
Let’s face it: If someone has the guts to launch a new agency in a
world seemingly overrun with them, they’ll need a clear purpose in order to
survive. That’s why you’ll see many start-ups with a strong desire to make real
change in the industry and world, and they tend to attract a diverse set of
employees who see themselves as part of something bigger than their specific
role. We launched New Honor Society in order to bring “Less
Sell, More Soul” to the marketing industry, and race and gender
diversity are imperatives to fulfilling that purpose.
3. Diversity Is Status Quo
Diversity is baked in to the culture of the agency start-up, rather
than being a retroactive quota to fill. In our 45-person female-led shop, we
have more women than men, and employees from Lithuania, Venezuela, Korea, and
Peoria. Our staff make-up includes 25% Hispanic, African-Americans, English as
second language, and LGBT.
But none of this was by design. We simply hire the best person for
the job. But because we value diversity of thought, the definition of “best”
goes beyond talent and experience and includes the person’s perspectives,
attitudes and beliefs.
Heidi Singleton is ECD/Co-Managing Director
of branding and marketing start-up, New Honor Society, which is working to
transform the marketing industry through Less Sell, More Soul. She has helped
Logitech infuse more humanity into their brand and products, worked with PayPal
cofounder Max Levchin to establish a brand DNA for his new financial startup,
Affirm, and is changing the global conversation around safe sex with the launch
of the first FDA approved female condom.