• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, April 21, 2020

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) is setting up a diversity task force designed to challenge the global advertising industry to better represent and support diverse identities when marketing to consumers.

Diversity has been a major challenge for the industry over the years, despite efforts by some companies and agencies to address it. WFA cited a recent global study by Ipsos that found that 72% of adults believe advertising does not reflect the world around them.

The group has named Belinda Smith, former head of global marketing intelligence at EA and Jerry Daykin, senior media director for EMEA at GSK Consumer Health, as WFA diversity ambassadors and co-facilitators of the new group. 

Other members of the task force include senior executives from brands and agencies, including Bank of Nigeria, Brand Advance, Diageo, Forsman & Bodenfors, Kin, Mastercard, P&G, Publicis and Unilever. 

“Our content reaches billions of people every day,” stated Daykin. “We can use that reach to positively challenge social expectations. Diversity doesn’t have to be the main subject of an advertisement. Casually improving representation across your output helps to normalize diverse communities and reflects the world.”  

Along with the new task force WFA has released a new report with insights and recommendations for improving diversity performance.