The Drum and Critical Mass launch report addressing diversity in the ad and digital industry
The Drum in association with Critical Mass has launched a report examining the lack of female talent in the advertising and digital industries.
The Female Perspective: A Vision For Change
Launched on the day the shortlist for the inaugural Glass Lion award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity was announced, the report - The Female Perspective: A Vision for Change - aims to help further stimulate debate around this pressing issue
The Glass Lion: The Lion for Change was announced in March with the a of celebrating advertising campaigns tackling issues of gender inequality or prejudice. Due to be announced this evening in Cannes, the award, created in partnership with Sheryl Sandberg’s LeanIn.Org organisation, hit a nerve, with 166 entries.
The fees for all entries are being donated to a programme to promote and enable the creation of '‘a more gender-neutral media landscape’.
The shortlist includes: This Girl Can by FCB Inferno for Sport England; #LikeAGirl for P&G’s Always by Leo Burnett; and It Happens Here for 28 Too Many by Ogilvy & Mather.
While the Glass Lions awards work that addresses the issue of female inequality, the inequality in the industry itself has long been a cause of concern. Over half of those working in advertising are women but only a quarter hold senior positions, according to the IPA, with women significantly underrepresented in key roles in UX, development and creative.
The Drum, in association with Critical Mass, held a roundtable summit featuring leaders from across the industry to discuss the issues holding back change and discuss simple solutions that could help engender it.
Diversity is an important agenda topic for both The Drum and Critical Mass and the aim of this report, developed off the back of the summit, is to stimulate debate and conversation among both individuals and companies about how to address diversity in the industry.
Although the report contains suggestions on how the industry can make the needed changes, these are by no means definitive. Rather we hope they will act as a useful catalyst for further discussion.
The report is available to download here.