After 2020, agencies and brands pledged to do better. They promised to address disparities in advertising and media more forcefully by investing more in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Billions were pledged, promises were made, and entire DEI departments were established. But today in 2025, it has shifted. The fever has passed, economic headwinds have stiffened, and most agencies are quietly redefining what DEI actually is when it comes to the buying power.  

The question worth asking is this: are these changes moving us closer to equity, or back toward business as usual?  

From Pledges To Proof  

In the early years after George Floyd’s murder, DEI often operated like crisis management. Companies wanted to show action quickly, so pledges translated into campaigns spotlighting diverse faces, cause marketing partnerships, and limited-time allocations to diverse-owned media outlets. For a moment, representation expanded.  

But commitments don't translate. Far less than 2 percent of U.S. ad spending continues to go to Black-owned media, according to a report from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). That number hasn't materially moved even with the corporate commitments' wave. It's now also pressuring agencies to give more explanation on how funds are spent and if such influence is structural or symbolic.  

Rethinking "Diversity" In Media Spend  

One of the most profound shifts in 2025 is one of definition. Agencies are expanding the definition of what "diverse-owned" means. While initially the emphasis was on Black-owned retailers, prompted by pressure from the public, agencies today combine a wide array of minority and women-owned businesses. To the positive, this expansion can create more opportunities across communities. To the negative, it can dilute targeted investment into those most historically undercapitalized groups.  

The challenge is not whether or not to make investments inclusive to a number of communities. The challenge is whether agencies are transparent about who benefits when "diverse spend" is reported back to the public. Without transparency, "diverse-owned" is a loose umbrella that masks chronic underinvestment in the outlets that initiated the conversation in the first place. 

 Budgets Under Pressure 

Economic conditions are also influencing how agencies approach DEI spending. Client cost-cutting, diminishing margins, and inflation have made an environment where marketers are first and foremost looking at efficiency. In these situations, DEI budgets are more often the first to be slashed, brought up as "optional" rather than as a part of an expansion strategy.  

This is where leadership requires courage. Black, Latino, Asian, Indigenous, and LGBTQ communities are not niche: they represent trillions of collective spend. Black consumers alone are estimated to have a purchasing power that will grow from about $910 billion in 2019 to $1.7 trillion by 2030. But if budgets are reduced and diverse media investment is made optional, brands are intentionally forgoing their own growth markets. That is not efficient, that is shortsightedness.  

The Rise Of Accountability Metrics  

If there is a bright spot about 2025, it's the quest to measure more. Agencies and advertisers alike are finally realizing that it's not enough to simply report dollars spent. New frameworks are taking hold that track where the dollars are going, plus what is being generated in terms of brand lift, purchase intent, and audience engagement with multicultural consumers.  

For the first time, DEI spending is subject to the same scrutiny as other performance channels. A step in the right direction. When diverse-owned media are held accountable by ROI (instead of the private virtue test) it demonstrates what communities already know: hiring actual storytellers delivers business results.  

From Check-the-Box To Change-the-System  

The real truth deeper down is this: DEI spending can't just be a line item that floats with the economy or the polls. It has to be coded into the operating system of advertising itself. The agencies that are going to succeed in this next era will be the ones that tackle equity not as a project but as infrastructure.  

That demands the inclusion of varied media spending into long-range media planning cycles. It demands setting minimal percentage goals which do not roll over each year but compound over the years. It demands bringing diverse-owned publishers into mainstream relationships rather than short-term pilots.  

So What Comes Next?  

Agencies stand at a fork in the road in 2025. They can further expand their definition of DEI but reduce the actual impact, or embark on the more challenging path, a path that needs accountability, sustainability, and courage. Next decade's advertising leaders will not be the most articulate. They will be the ones folding equity into strategy, the ones who never view investment in diverse audiences as disposable, and the ones who show that doing the right thing is also the best thing.  

Because at the end of the day, DEI spend is not about looks. It's about ownership, potential, and influence. And in 2025, the agencies that are most inclined to challenge not just how they make a difference but how they do so will be those that are remembered for creating real change.