Come Together
No doubt by now you’ll have read our groundbreaking reports on how to increase numbers of working class adlanders. But you might be wondering why so little progress has been made in the industry until we came along.
Well, for a start, Adland seems to have forgotten about class. In recent years we’ve seen plenty of noise around gender and ethnicity (and rightly so). But in the wake of those movements, the industry’s left class behind. To be fair, it’s easy to overlook when even the law doesn’t protect social class or accent. And of course, there’s the whole aspect of cultural capital, which we dive into elsewhere.
But the thing is, there is activity happening to improve class diversity. And there are agencies who want to do better. So what’s stopping them?
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When you learn how to read, you begin with ABC
And when you learn about social mobility, you, er, don’t really know where to begin.
One hiring manager told us how they felt pulled in lots of different directions:
When they do try and do the right thing, this lack of resources is a serious problem for smaller companies. The same hiring manager told us of their difficulties in recruiting someone from Brixton Finishing School. They had gone to BFS but the link between the School and small agencies was fragile. With both parties working on limited resources, there is a gap for dedicated employability and employer liaison.
Another hiring manager we spoke to didn’t seem to be aware of pipelines and networks for those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. The exception was for their tech department, where they’d had success with a placement scheme. Their response was telling for other roles, though:
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To which a working class adlander who had managed teams responded:
“Bollocks. There are quite a few. They’re just not looking. You have to put in a lot of time to get a diverse team.”
There’s clearly a theme here of time, but there’s also something else going on. Why don't hiring managers know of different schemes and pipelines? They're not tricky to find - it didn't take us long to google and find some.
What's going on?
Whilst researching prototypes, our product team discovered a fair number of organisations working hard to diversify Adland. They grouped them into the following categories:
Training - such as Brixton Finishing School
Routes into the industry - like Commercial Break
Mentoring for entry and progression - for example Creative Equals, Media For All
Networking - Common People
This is by no means an exhaustive list. It seems every part of the career journey has different organisations involved. And maybe that’s the issue. If you’re a pressured hiring or HR manager, would you have time to deal with separate people for what is essentially one route? And more to the point, do each of these organisations have the resources to deal with lots of agencies and hold their hand?
This is where our founder’s experience came in handy. Having worked in Higher Education for many years, she was familiar with the sector's Widening Participation work. Although each Higher Education Institution (or HEI) would run their own scheme and activities, these began as part of the national AimHigher network. Now, HEIs work in regional consortia, pooling resources with at least one manager dedicated to the consortium - rather than an HEI. Working under an umbrella organisation like this works for both universities and feeder schools and colleges - less legwork for everyone all round.
Could this umbrella approach work for the advertising and media industry?
You can stand under my umbrella
Looking at this model, we developed our kitemark, E Corp, and the criteria required to join. We realised we needed to get agencies to sign up to every part of the journey, and so brought the following elements together:
Recruitment into the pipeline (advertising advertising) - Entry scheme delivering outreach into communities
Training - Full Spectrum entry scheme
Routes into the industry - placements through the entry scheme
Networking - E corps working together with those coming through Full Spectrum
Progression - progression frameworks and Continuous Professional Development
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Making these steps a requirement of becoming an E Corp has ensured no part of the journey gets neglected. And our participants agree - creating a one stop shop removes barriers for agencies. As one interviewee told us:
A hiring manager told us:
“Getting support for these aspects would definitely make it easier. I can see this happening.”
Of course, reducing barriers to implementing actions like the E Corp criteria makes it easier for more agencies to join. And the advantage of more agencies joining is social pressure. Seeing competitors becoming E Corps and benefiting from the kitemark creates FOMO, and then you start to reach the point of creating a movement making real changes.
One and one and one is three
And so there you have it, the beauty of ‘all in one place’. An umbrella doesn’t always mean one unit. It can be a number of organisations huddled together, sharing a metaphorical roof. Working together and pooling resources cuts down on legwork - on both the agency’s side and those trying to make a difference. It can also help create awareness and a snowball effect much faster. After all, marketing good practice is about removing barriers to action. Let’s apply it to our own industry.