Commentary

ANA Finds Its Membership 'More Diverse Than Ever'

A new report from the Association of National Advertisers and ANA's Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM), finds the overall ethnic skew of the U.S. marketing industry — as measured by analyses of ANA members — is “more diverse than ever” at 30.8%.

One study examined the makeup of 61 ANA member marketing departments (representing 16,514 people), while another assessed the overall ANA membership representing 31,790 individual members. A third study looked at the gender and ethnic makeup of 873 member CMO or CMO equivalent positions.

Among the ANA overall membership, 27.2% are diverse — an all-time high during the four-year history of the study. Nearly 73% are White Non-Hispanic, 5.9% are African American/Black, 11% are Asian, and 8.5% are Hispanic.

The study lays out case studies and “action steps” that participating companies said they took to improve diversity, such as having inclusion plans by division. based on key metrics, opportunity areas and actions. Each division leader is held accountable for implementation. Action steps are also spelled out for talent retention, recruitment and other areas.

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The report also notes that future studies will provide a more comprehensive and perhaps more accurate picture of diversity in the marketing industry — if more firms participate. It noted that while 61 member firms participated, 230 were contacted. It also encouraged other trade groups, such as the American Association of Advertising Agencies and Video Advertising Bureau, to do similar studies.

The full report can be downloaded here

 

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