Three Things “Woke” Brands Can Do Now to Avert Diversity Disaster

Brands across the country, and indeed the globe, are thinking about how best to infuse diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) into people, process, and product but well-intentioned efforts can quickly go awry. Over the last few years, we’ve seen a number of diversity disasters in advertising and marketing, particularly in consumer goods, fashion, and beauty.

Without proper insight, you may find yourself locked out of a lucrative market (Dolce and Gabba and China,) with silk gowns you designed and produced and now must burn (Chanel), sweaters that retail for $890 that you will – thankfully! – never sell (Gucci). The list is long  – and the reputational damage - goes deep. 

With very, very few leadership teams reflecting diversity and a dearth of people of color and underrepresented minorities in positions of clout, there is no mystery here.

According to a  study cited in the Harvard Business review, nearly 80% of respondents worked at companies lacking diversity in leadership roles.  Although we’ve seen some progress of late, leadership teams have not changed radically in the last few years. This lack of diversity results in women, people of color, and LGBTQA colleagues being markedly less likely to have their ideas endorsed.

According to the Association of National Advertisers, dominated by large, global companies, of the more than 13,700 members who responded to a 2019 survey, 84% identified as White. At the Chief Marketing Officer level, 88% identified as White. And, in a recent annual Spencer Stuart study of the most advertised brands in the US, over 90% of CMOs identified as White. 

Here’s the clincher:

“This costs their companies crucial market opportunities, because inherently diverse contributors understand the unmet needs in under-leveraged markets. We’ve found that when at least one member of a team has traits in common with the end user, the entire team better understands that user. A team with a member who shares a client’s ethnicity is 152% likelier than another team to understand that client.” (HBR December 2013)

We know that diversity leads to outperforming business results. According to research cited by Harvard Business Review (December 2013), employees of firms with both inherent and acquired diversity were 45% likelier to report a growth in market share over the previous year and 70% likelier to report that the firm captured a new market.

As demographics and consumer requirements continue to shift in a US where the minority will soon be the majority, and Millennials seek to align commercial decisions with their values, how do we stop paying lip-service to DEI and make indelible change?

Here are three ways advertising and marketing teams can avoid diversity disasters while gaining the insight needed to set yourself up for success:

Access a deep and diverse pool of opinion through focus groups and panels:

Marketers and advertising teams are facing more and more pressure on budgets and feel the need to produce more with less. If your team is not racially-ethnically diverse and/or there is asymmetry around the voices that get heard, ideas that should never leave a room will find their way to points of sale or digital platforms.

The good news is there are accessible ways to ensure your product, advertising, and communications are authentic, respectful, and resonant. Tapping into focus groups or insight panels (I co-founded of Panel of Voices to help increase access to a variety of perspectives) can help prevent your team from going too far down the road with a misguided ad or product design, no matter how well meant, saving time and money. In terms of return on investment, we know that the price of a diversity disaster often mightily outweighs an initial investment in getting the perspective you need.  

Hire a consultant with lived DEI experience to be in the room

Let’s get to the heart of the matter:  Certain industries, like fashion, are known for legendary, outsized figures who dominate the room, combined with a dire lack of racial and ethnic diversity. And for this reason, your current people, process, and product set up may be destined for failure for two interdependent reasons.

1.      If your creative teams and creative decision makers are mainly white, AND everyone in the room reports to said white person – the person with the “brilliant” ideas and “brilliant” career trajectory – no one on the team is going to challenge the direction or the execution when their own career is riding on this leader’s opinion.

2.      When combined with the fact that what little diversity resides in these industries is likely to be junior, you have a potent cocktail of asymmetric power and knowledge. The diverse person has the knowledge and lived experience needed to inform a successful product creation or advertising output and avoid diversity disasters.  However, without an environment that is open to discussion and that acknowledges different cultures and experiences, the input from diverse people is likely to be disregarded.  

Without an inclusive structure that prioritizes an open, constructive feedback process, you get the wrong output which can insult and alienate customers, fuel negative social media conversations resulting in calls for “cancellation” and suffer damaged reputation.

External, independent consultants can help short circuit the “big man” syndrome if the consultant is tasked with bringing objectivity and perspective to every engagement. Untethered from the opinions of leadership and unburdened by legacy and politics within your organization, a DEI marketing & communications consultant can save you from going down a harmful path, while also opening new and unexpected pathways to successful completion. I, myself have been stepping in as DEI marketing & communications consultant, supporting organizations looking for a clear, strong voice and a diverse lens, unburdened by internal politics.

Innovate at Leadership Level: Recruit for Talent and Diversity

While tapping insights panels and consultants will help bridge the gap, don’t forget that long-term, the most impactful way to ensure your product and messages reflect society’s needs is to reflect the diversity of your marketplace from within. The right DEI consultant or recruiter can help you with building your team and deepening DEI within your organization. They can help correct recruitment processes that exacerbate bias and racism and identify where to find and how to fairly evaluate needed talent. Connecting the dots around recruitment, inclusion, and retention will evolve your organization in ways you may not have considered. And, as Millennials and Gen Z seek to work in environments that inspire them, your recruitment brand must be stronger than ever.  

Getting to diversity may seem like a tall order. There is no doubt that achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion requires a serious commitment and a challenge to completely change how we think, re-think, and think different. New times demand new thinking and new resources to reshape how we do things. But getting diversity right has a big rewards. Reaching out to improve within can help protect your reputation and set your organization on the right path for innovation, overperformance and deeper resonance with your target market. 

Linda Dunbar is a co-founder of Panel of Voices, an inclusive insights firm dedicated to acknowledging the brilliant diversity of the human experience. PoV helps businesses, nonprofits, creatives and thought leaders access the perspectives of individuals who proudly identify with a distinct community, population, or lifestyle. Linda is also CEO & Founder of Diversity Decoder which provides communications and HR consulting with a diversity lens. She can be reached at [email protected].