It's Time To Change The Marketing Industry
Laura & I have always been dedicated to doing what we can to make the industry we work in a better place. And this week, in light of George Floyd’s murder and the consequent much needed conversations that have come from it, it has consumed us in all the ways it should.
We’re not going to sit here and tell you all the things we’re doing as a business right now because quite frankly, diversity & inclusion has ALWAYS been important to us. We are by no means perfect and we have a lot to do to be better, but this is not a new conversation for us. Nor should this conversation be about us.
This week, I have spent time talking to people within the marketing industry; from fellow freelancers to small business owners to agency leads to influencers and everyone in between. The examples that have been shared with me have been shocking and eye opening and everything in between. Long and short of it is that our industry has a lot to be held accountable to - the things that happen every day should simply not be happening. And we feel ashamed to say that whilst we were definitely aware these things happened, we haven’t proactively done anything to date to help put a stop to it. That changes now.
As marketeers, it’s our job to build connection between a business and their audience. To do that, marketeers need to actively learn what it is and audience want but equally they have a responsibility to know what their audience need educating on. Diversity & inclusion should always be at the forefront of that. Let’s break this down.
Influencer Marketing
Before approaching influencers for a campaign, is your target list diverse enough? And let’s be really clear here, that means it’s inclusive of different genders (unless campaign specific to a gender), race, age and sexuality. If not, do your research. There are plenty out there creating incredible content and if you can’t find them easily, we suggest reviewing the people you actively follow!
Pay everyone equally. Sadly, we’ve discovered that there is still huge disparity between what influencers get paid for trips and frustratingly, BAME influencers are often underpaid vs their white compatriots. This must stop. If budgets are tight (aren’t they always?), then be transparent about that with the influencers you’re hiring and communicate that everyone will be paid equally, asked for the same deliverables and any extra work that might come from it will be compensated for additionally and confirmed in writing.
Social Media
Look at the social media feeds of your clients. Are they sharing diverse voices? Is who they’re following diverse enough? Look at the language being used in captions - is it accessible for everyone? If the answer to any of those questions is no, fix that and challenge your clients on it.
Are you talking about D&I enough on your channels? This conversation should be had by companies more frequently in the public domain. LinkedIn and Twitter lend themselves most naturally to this but don’t make it a one off. Bring your audience across all channels up to speed with what you’re doing as a business to be better. D&I content is not a box ticking exercise that comes about in the face of tragedy. Make it your everyday.
PR
Most importantly, let’s address who you hire. Too many agencies are far too white. We’ve heard a lot of agency heads tell us that they don’t get diverse applications through. And that’s not good enough. If that’s the case, ask yourself why that might be? Are you advertising the roles in the right places? Is your client roster diverse and are their D&I policies up to scratch and are you holding them accountable for it? Are you talking about it as an agency on your channels enough? Are your campaigns diverse? These are all things you need to be fluidly doing as an agency in this day and age. Nobody should be made to feel like an outsider in the PR talent pool.
Brand photography. If you organise shoots for clients and use people within the shots, you know what I’m going to say, be diverse in who you use. We must put an end to “white” brands and this is an easy step to take.
Use these resources to learn more about where you can hire from and how you can do more: The Taylor Bennett Foundation and BME PR Pros
Let’s just talk about how little diversity there is in the PR world. Did you know…
1 in 4 (28%) UK PR pros were privately educated?
That 28% are earning up to £13k more per year than their state-educated colleagues?
98% of PR practitioners describe themselves as white?
The pay gap between men and women in the PR world is £5,202
We’ll leave that to sit with you…
This blog post is not enough. There’s lots more we could add into this post but we wanted to share enough with you to get the conversation going. Our DMs are open, our inboxes are ready, our phones are on standby - are you ready to help us create change? Are you challenging your clients enough on this? Let’s talk about how to do that in a way that is impactful, truly drives change and doesn’t put our industry, an industry that is first and foremost centred around everyday people, an ugly place to work.
