Why Brand Advance was named Diversity & Inclusion company of the year

Brand Advance was created with the idea of Diversity and Inclusion as its main core value. Founded by Christopher Kenna two years ago, the company's main output is to reach diverse communities and promote inclusivity across the media landscape.

Being one of the only media network companies in the UK whose inventory is all tailored for diverse communities, those often deemed outside of the mainstream by the rest of the media world. Brand Advance has many different divisions, with our main goal to help brands connect with the demographics we cover.

The activity

Being at the forefront of pushing innovation we've partnered with many brands to highlight D&I within the media and marketing industry. One of our most notable works last year was our government Covid-19 campaign in conjunction with the NHS to help reach the Asian community during Ramadan to promote a safe celebration during lockdown this summer The campaign was titled "Physical Distancing, Spiritually Connecting" using 12 Muslim influencers to help engage the community to adhering the government Covid messaging.

Brand Advance continued to promote diversity and inclusion outside of client campaigns, by hosting the first D&I live event "Diversity Live" an all-day livestream, promoting D&I through speakers and key figures from diverse demographics. The speakers discuss their personal experience in the media industry based from both a consumer point of view and working closely with brands. The event was a success with over 180,000 viewers, 200,000+ Impressions from 10 different countries.

Since then Brand Advance has worked with numerous brands to help reach diverse audiences. Notably working with L'Oreal Kiehl's for their Pride party last summer.

We livestreamed out on our extensive LGBTQ+ publication list, a live drag performance by the Cocoa butter club, took over their social accounts for a day, producing GIFS and photos from the event, whilst operating within Govt. guidelines during the pandemic. We've since then set up our own creative department, BA Creative. We offer our clients a different approach to creative, looking at who the campaign is trying to reach from our diverse community, and then working with our 7/10's we put together focus groups from within the community, for their take and feel on the creative. The goal is to find out if this resonates and speaks to the community.

The commitment

Our belief in what we do translates into a deep and long-term commitment to the people we work with and the places where we work. We tackle challenges and take responsibility with openness and honesty to bring about positive change. Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. By involving everyone in the conversation we learn from each other and bring together all of our experience, knowledge and expertise to do the best work that we can. We believe in the potential of young people to create a better world. Inspired by this optimism, we are positive and creative and we focus on what works. We are not afraid to make bold choices to shape a better future for everyone.

This project was a winner at The Drum Awards for Marketing 2021. Find out which competitions in The Drum Awards are currently open and don’t forget to visit our new interactive calendar.