• by Larissa Faw , November 3, 2017

Sexual harassment is the single biggest business issue preventing the ad industry from moving forward, proclaimed industry veteran Cindy Gallop during the 3% Conference's closing keynote address on Friday.

This is a "national emergency," she says. The ad industry is "hemorrhaging female talent" because of a male-dominated culture that makes it inhospitable for them. "We don't like what we are seeing today."

Gallop, now an advertising consultant and founder of MakeLoveNotPorn, believes agencies of the future need to be shaped by women. The white male Don Drapers of the industry are now the dinosaurs. "It is now our turn to seize the opportunities."

Although she continues to push for gender equality and a better corporate culture, Gallop is expanding her focus to encourage more women to start their own agencies. “We need to be our own ecosystem since the white male one isn't working for us,” she says.

In an expletive-filled presentation, Gallop outlined key principles to reinvent the industry and enable female leaders to "make loads of money."

Agency leaders need to change their mindset when thinking about ads. People currently have to be deceived into watching messages, such as watching pre-roll for only “12 more seconds.”  The solution is simply to make good advertising, said Gallop.

Also, the industry suffers from the "shining new object syndrome" where object drives strategy. Instead, female leaders should "blue sky it" by developing creative that they would love to see happen "when all bets are off." Too often, female leaders are cautious and sensible, she added.

Agencies need to rebalance the power equation by refusing to let tech platforms drive their agendas. This 'Please let us advertise on Facebook' mentality needs to stop, she says.

The future of advertising is selling products, not units. Creatives need to build brand loyalty through "little pellets of love," says Gallop. "Imagine if consumers experienced the same level of happiness with your branded content as they do when they get a Facebook like or a share."

“Your audience must be your team. Your team needs to look like your consumers,” says Gallop. "Diversity drives innovation."