• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, April 10, 2023

A new study from the Association of National Advertisers finds that marketers increased their investment in diverse suppliers in 2022, and the trend is expected to continue into 2023.

That said, there’s a gap between the “interest” marketers claim in diverse suppliers and their actual level of investment. 

The study revealed that 56% of respondents indicated that interest in supporting diverse suppliers is on the rise, while 38% of diverse suppliers indicated they received increased investment from the marketing/advertising communities in 2022. And only 46% said they expect the hike to continue into next year. 

Why the gap? According to the study, one possibility is that "many companies which have interest are still 'sitting on the sidelines' and don’t know how (or where) to get started." Several trade groups including the ANA are developing guidelines to address that issue. 

Also, according to the study, it could be that supply of diverse media lags demand. It recommended that buyers could help increase inventory by co-creating content with diverse media suppliers. The report also recommended that, when working with diverse media companies, buyers should look for opportunities beyond traditional media, such as event sponsorships. 

According to AIMM, in partnership with Media Framework and Standard Media Index, only 1.85% of all current ad spending goes to diverse-owned media and only 1.25% of current spending goes to diverse-owned and -targeted media. AIMM recommends that by 2025, 6.5% of all spending should go to diverse-owned media and 4.6% to diverse-owned and -targeted media. 

Additional Findings: 

• Top challenges facing diverse suppliers:
  • Lack of feedback when they don’t get the business
  • Getting their foot in the door with national advertisers/agencies
  • Extended payment terms required by some advertisers/agencies

Diverse suppliers also said they perceive that the biggest challenges for advertisers and their agencies when working with diverse suppliers are: 

• A lack of leadership support for working with diverse suppliers (76%).
• Identifying opportunities to bring diverse suppliers into an organization’s marketing/advertising supply chain (76%).
• Understanding the value of using diverse suppliers (74%).