Month: March 2021

And yet, businesses have denied requests for more flexible working and job sharing, from people with a range of disabilities, for the past three decades, according to Waite. “The response was that it was too difficult or expensive,” she said. “We wouldn’t accept it if we were talking about race, gender, or sexuality, so why do we accept ableism across our working environments?”

However, Waite — who suffers from a number of non-visible conditions such as auto-immune health issues and a back injury — believes companies’ attitudes have finally been abruptly altered. Furthermore, commitments were accelerated due to the increasing acceptance of flexible working and heightened conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion during the pandemic.

A number of agency groups have now joined The Valuable 500, including Dentsu, MullenLowe, OMD, Omnicom and WPP, as well as big brands like Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Google. “It’s fascinating to see how businesses have turned things around and removed these working barriers,” added Waite.

Indeed, data from disability specialist recruiter Evenbreak shows its candidate base increased 43% over 2020, with 17% looking for purely home-based roles. Candidates include those with any long-term health conditions or disabilities that affect both physical and mental health, including sensory and cognitive issues. A total 291 new employers joined its books, including businesses like Airwave Motorola and professional services company Capita.

This shift prompted Waite’s return to Interbrand last month, to lead building brand customer experiences based on creating them with disabled stakeholders. The goal: to ultimately rebrand how society thinks about disability.

Interbrand’s wider initiatives gained momentum over the past year, including positioning candidates with disabilities into key strategic roles for promotion. An internship program is also in development to address challenges around talent pipeline.

Ogilvy has also bolstered its resources for disabled talent through its wider WPP Valuable 500 commitment. This has involved its The Pipe entry-level recruitment program and a pilot of its “Inclusively” platform which connects colleagues with disabilities.

The agency is now on the hunt for external partners to help improve its overall goals. “There’s an opportunity now to find further partnerships specific to disability, to learn and work with them on what might be preventing emerging disabled talent from thinking our industry is for them,” said Ogilvy’s chief people officer Helen Matthews. “Then we can start looking at the impact on our emerging talent makeup.”

Interbrand’s Waite also wants to see disability embedded in succession planning across businesses.

“What we don’t want is just the opening of doors to entry-level positions and not see that progression up towards the C-suite,” she said. “It’s necessary to do specific disability training in some areas, because accessibility requires greater change than other facets of diversity.”

This is a sticking point for Dom Hyams, newly appointed head of digital strategy at disability marketing agency Purple Goat. An advocate of The Valuable 500, he notes there are still barriers hindering upwards talent progression. 

“If people don’t see themselves reflected at boardroom level, they don’t necessarily have the confidence to push in the same way to get there because they don’t have those role models in life,” said Hyams, who has osteogenis imperfecta, affecting his stature, bone density and mobility. Made redundant from a digital and communications director role late last year, he founded his own consultancy, Tiny Man Digital, before joining Purple Goat.

“It’s like systemic sexism and racism — ingrained practices we have that, as much as we feel like we’re doing things perfectly, there’s still work to be done around.” Recognizing the need for greater inclusivity is different to actually implementing practices so the culture of the organization changes at its core, he added.

“It’s about ensuring you’re hearing diversity from the ground up, and having networks and voices from that community helping make decisions in the company — actually bringing them into the conversation,” added Hyams.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

You recently stepped into the step mom role. What has your experience been with that given the pandemic and remote work?

The amount of guilt that comes with having to shut off child access at certain times to get work done is almost unbearable. I feel like a terrible mom for not being able to spend time with her, a terrible professional for not being able to get my normal amount of work done, etc.

Then throw in Covid, where you can’t go anywhere or do anything, there are no breaks. It’s hard — a lot harder than I ever imagined it would be.

[Prior to being laid off], I was at a boutique firm. At the time, there was a limited number of employees and not many resources. Like if you’re gone for a half hour, you should be working for three hours after you’re back to make up for it. That’s expected in a lot of situations, not just at my specific company. And that’s one of the things that people don’t talk about. Like, ‘Yes, we’ll let you have off for the hour, but here’s what you need to do to make up for that hour.’ During the pandemic, working [at] that company, I lost almost 50 pounds.

What would have been more helpful?

Resources. I wish that was something there was more of. It’s easy to say ‘I totally understand what you’re going through’ but what are you doing to make it feel that way? If there’s issues with mental health, here are the resources. How can we help connect you? ‘Here’s a therapist.’ Standard empathy tactics go a long way.

Towards the end of my experience, I felt like I was being left out. They were rearranging who was going to handle certain tasks and clients instead of connecting with me and making it an easy process to go through.

My company was diverse. That was great, but there was nothing on the support side. No extra help or advice or a one-on-one connection to check in on your employee base, which I think is very important during crazy times like this.

What’s the importance of voicing unique situations, like women stepping into caregiver roles, as it relates to burnout and work-life balance?

It’s one of those experiences that people don’t think about until they’re in it. I never thought about how becoming a mom truly impacts [you]. A lot of women will mentally prepare themselves throughout their pregnancy, but then there’s situations like my case. I didn’t have the mental time to prepare. Women, whether new moms, step parents or [foster parents], should be more represented in companies. We have different viewpoints.

You’ve since launched a new business venture after being laid off. What are some of the things you’re taking with you from your experience in terms of motherhood?

When I’m hiring people, I think that I’m able to see them as more of a helpful hand and somebody that’s here to really drive business and that appreciates the company and the opportunity to work here. I’m able to see them that way and not as a worker.

I come at it in a more humanistic way. Not everyone’s going to have great days. Everyone’s going to have bad days. But working (at my last company), it was all product and outcome-focused. I want to be successful, but expecting the grind out of my employees isn’t going to do that.

Any other takeaways?

I really push having your mental focus in line before working — making sure that you’re taking care of yourself first and work comes second. If you’re working to the point where you’re miserable, you’re not creating anything that’s helpful. You’re ruining yourself and your work product.

Finally, for context on how the companies’ racial and ethnic makeup compares to the United States, the population in the U.S. in 2019 was 60% white, 19% Latino or Hispanic, 13% Black or African American, 6% Asian, 3% two or more races, and 1% American Indian and Alaska Native, according to data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The below breakdown was last updated on March 8, 2021.

Bleacher Report

B/R’s most recent diversity report was provided to its full employee base on June 8, 2020.

70% of B/R employees were white as of last summer, with 30% people of color in its staff overall. There were no B/R employees at the vp level or above who were Black, according to a diversity report obtained by Digiday in June — 80% were white, with 10% Hispanic and 10% Asian employees.

Employees overall:

• 70% white
• 13% Asian
• 10% Black
• 6% Hispanic

Manager/director:

• 71% white
• 16% Asian
• 8% Black
• 4% Hispanic

BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed’s most recent diversity report was released on October 8, 2020.

At BuzzFeed, 38% of employees identified as Black, Indigenous or people of color. Asians represented the largest racial group in the company overall and at BuzzFeed News, other than white. Most of the promotions in the last year in the U.S. went to white people at BuzzFeed, and at a larger percentage than the share of white people at the company overall (61% versus 58%). From September 2019 to September 2020, 47% of new hires at the company self-identified as people of color.

BuzzFeed employees overall, U.S. (5% declined to self-identify):

• 58% white
• 13% Asian
• 10% Black
• 9% Latinx or Hispanic
• 5% multiracial

BuzzFeed News employees (7% declined to self-identify):

• 62% white
• 12% Asian
• 8% Black
• 7% multiracial
• 5% Latinx or Hispanic

Promotions year-over-year, U.S. (2% declined to self identify):

• 61% white
• 13% Asian
• 10% Latinx or Hispanic
• 9% Black
• 2% multiracial

Condé Nast

Condé Nast’s most recent diversity report was released on March 4, 2021.

BIPOC made up less than 30% of Condé Nast’s overall employees, editorial staff and senior leadership positions in 2020, but made up nearly 40% of new hires last year. Senior leadership at Condé Nast was more than three-quarters white.

Employees overall, U.S. (4% declined to answer):

• 68% white
• 10% Asian
• 8% Black
• 6% Latinx
• 4% multiracial

Editorial (5% declined to answer):

• 69% white
• 9% Black
• 7% Asian
• 6% Latinx
• 5% multiracial

Senior leadership (3% declined to answer):

• 77% white
• 10% Asian
• 6% Black
• 3% Latinx 

New hires (10.5% declined to answer):

• 52% white
• 13% Black
• 11% Asian
• 8% Latinx 
• 5% multiracial

Gannett

Gannett’s most recent diversity report was released on January 1, 2021.

Of the 11 promotions in 2020 to top editor roles at Gannett’s local network or senior leadership at USA Today, eight of the employees promoted were BIPOC. However, a whopping 85% of Gannett’s leadership is made up of white people.

Employees overall, as of January 2021 (4% did not disclose):

• 73% white
• 10% Black or African American
• 7% Hispanic or Latino
• 3% Asian
• 2% two or more races
• 1% American Indian or Alaska Native 

Leadership (2% did not disclose):

• 85% white
• 4% Black or African American
• 3% Asian
• 3% Hispanic or Latino
• 1% American Indian or Alaska Native 
• 1% Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
• 1% two or more races

G/O Media

G/O Media’s most recent diversity report was released on September 8, 2020.

In September 2020, G/O Media announced that the majority of its staff and managers was “diverse,” as were its new hires, but the company did not provide more information in its report. The company had not responded to a request for more information as of this writing.

• 63% of staff were diverse.
• 51% of managers were diverse.
• 69% of new hires on-boarded on July 16, 2019 through July 16, 2020 were diverse.

Hearst

Hearst’s most recent diversity report was released on February 2, 2021.

In 2020, white people made up the majority of overall employees and new hires at Hearst, while Black/African American, Asian and Hispanic/Latino people were roughly equally represented in both categories. At the manager-level and above, nearly 80% were white, and there were 4% more Asian people than Black/African American or Hispanic/Latino people in these roles.

Employees overall:

• 73% white
• 8% Black or African American
• 8% Hispanic or Latino
• 8% Asian
• 3% two or more races

Managers and above:

• 78% white
• 9% Asian
• 5% Black or African American
• 5% Hispanic or Latino 
• 2% two or more races

New hires:

• 64% white
• 11% Black or African American
• 11% Asian
• 10% Hispanic or Latino
• 3% two or more races

Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times’ most recent diversity report was released on February 4, 2021.

The Los Angeles Times is one of the few publishers where overall staff was a majority BIPOC, with white people making up 45% of employees in 2020. However, BIPOC were underrepresented in manager roles. When broken down by manager and non-manager positions, BIPOC people made up nearly 60% of non-manager positions at the company, but only 41% of manager roles. A similar trend occurred in the newsroom, with only 38% of manager roles held by people of color.

Employees overall (1% did not self-identify):

• 45% white
• 29% Hispanic or Latino
• 15% Asian
• 6% Black or African American
• 1% American Indian or Alaska Native

Non-managers overall (2% did not self-identify):

• 41% white
• 34% Hispanic or Latino
• 14% Asian
• 6% Black or African American
• 3% multi-racial

Managers overall:

• 59% white
• 17% Asian
• 15% Hispanic or Latino
• 5% Black or African American
• 3% multi-racial

Non-managers, newsroom (2% did not declare):

• 55% white
• 17% Asian
• 15% Hispanic or Latino
• 6% Black or African American
• 4% multi-racial

Managers, newsroom:

• 62% white
• 14% Asian
• 14% Hsipanic/Latino
• 7% Black
• 3% multi-racial
• 1% American Indian

The New York Times

The New York Times’ most recent diversity report was released on February 24, 2021.

Overall at The New York Times, 48% of new hires in 2020 were people of color; the company did not break this percentage down by ethnicity/race. There were more Asians represented than Black/African Americans and Hispanic/Latinos at both the company overall and in leadership positions. Asians made up more of a share of leadership roles at the Times than Black/African Americans and Hispanic/Latinos combined.

Employees overall (4% did not disclose):

• 63% white
• 14% Asian
• 9% Black or African American
• 7% Hispanic or Latino
• 3% multiracial

Leadership (3% did not disclose):

• 74% white
• 12% Asian
• 5% Black or African American
• 4% Hispanic or Latino
• 2% multiracial

USA Today

USA Today’s most recent diversity report was released on August 20, 2020.

As of July 2020, BIPOC people make up 30% of the newsroom and 24% of leadership positions at USA Today, a Gannett publication.

Newsroom employees:

• 69% white
• 13% Black
• 8% Hispanic/Latino
• 6% Asian
• 3% two or more races

Leadership (2% declined to answer):

• 75% white
• 10% Black
• 7% Hispanic/Latino
• 5% Asian
• 2% two or more races

Vice Media Group

Vice Media Group’s most recent diversity report was released on February 4, 2021.

Of all the new hires in the U.S. in 2020 at VMG, a majority were BIPOC, and 46% were white. Latinx people made up the biggest share of BIPOC employees at the company overall in the U.S. and in the news department. At VMG, Black and Latinx employees combined represented twice the share of the company’s overall staff compared to Asian employees, but less than half the share of VMG’s executive ranks, compared to Asian employees.

Employees overall, U.S.:

• 58% white
• 12% Latinx
• 11% Asian
• 10% Black or African American
• 8% two or more races

News department, U.S.:

• 62% white
• 11% Latinx
• 9% Black or African American
• 9% two or more races
• 7% Asian

Executives:

• 67% white
• 17% Asian
• 6% two or more races
• 6% Latinx
• 6% Black or African American

New hires, U.S.:

• 46% white
• 21% Black or African American
• 14% Latinx
• 11% Asian
• 7% two or more races

Vox Media

Vox Media’s most recent diversity report was released on December 17, 2020.

At Vox Media, while overall positions and leadership roles were predominantly held by white people, BIPOC people made up a slightly bigger share of leadership compared to their share of overall staff at the company (35% vs 31%). Asians were the largest group representing BIPOC people in the company overall, as well as in leadership roles and in editorial, compared to other races. 46% of new hires in 2020 identified as people of color, according to the company, which did not break this percentage down by ethnicity/race.

Overall (4% did not disclose):

• 65% white
• 11% Asian
• 8% Black or African American
• 6% Hispanic/Latinx
• 5% two or more races
• 1% Middle Eastern

Leadership (3% did not disclose):

• 63% white
• 12% Asian
• 11% Black or African American
• 4% Hispanic/Latinx
• 4% Middle Eastern
• 3% two or more races
• 1% other

Editorial (3% did not disclose):

• 69% white
• 11% Asian
• 7% Black or African American
• 5% two or more races
• 4% Hispanic or Latinx
• 1% Middle Dastern

The Washington Post

The Washington Post’s most recent diversity report was released on July 30, 2020.

As of July 2020, Black or African American employees at The Washington Post were the largest group representing BIPOC people at the company overall and in news & editorial positions, as well as in leadership roles in both categories, compared to other ethnic/racial groups. News & editorial staff had a larger share of white people than at the company overall, with nearly 80% white people in leadership roles and just 21% BIPOC.

Employees overall (3% did not disclose):

• 57% white
• 20% Black or African American
• 12% Asian
• 5% Hispanic or Latino
• 2% multiracial

Leadership (2% did not disclose):

• 68% white
• 17% Black or African American
• 8% Asian
• 4% Hispanic or Latino
• 2% multiracial

News & editorial overall (4% did not disclose):

• 71% white
• 9% Black or African AMerican
• 8% Asian
• 5% Hispanic or Latino
• 2% multiracial

News & editorial leadership (1% did not disclose):

• 78% white
• 9% Black or African American
• 7% Asian
• 3% Hispanic or Latino
• 2% multiracial

While Google’s bombshell is yet another move closer to the death of the third-party cookie — something marketers, agency execs and ad tech vendors have long been aware of — the lack of clarity about what will actually happen once Google and Apple enact these changes has caused confusion for marketers.

“There is still a lot of confusion and trepidation about building for the future on a foundation of shifting sand,” said Ed McElvain, svp of P3 at Mediahub Worldwide. “Some marketers are eager to learn about and test solutions, others are waiting for the dust to settle. The majority of attention is going into testing targeting solutions, but the ramifications on measurement and attribution are going to require an adjustment period.”

Even with that lack of clarity, marketers and agency execs say the latest news has them wondering if they should be investing more into first-party data. At the same time, marketers are asking agencies how the media mix will need to change, especially for those that have been Google-centric, and whether investing more in first-party data will be a scalable solution.

As marketers focus on first-party data, brands will likely bolster loyalty programs, as well as “offer limited-time-offers, opt-in deals, couponing, and manage affiliate programs to build the volume of consenting consumers,” explained McElvain. As those brands do so they will become increasingly direct-to-consumer, noted Hans Fischmann, vp of product strategy, MVPD Market, at Operative.

“But even for brands with significant scale to their first-party data, there are two major problems with leaning into first-party: First, brands see only a small slice of their customer’s behavior, providing limited data for segmentation and personalization. Second, you can’t grow market share by only marketing to existing customers.” 

Whatever happens next, this past week has been a wake up call of sorts for marketers making them pay more attention to the looming privacy fallout and the impact the changes will have on their advertising. 

“Everyone is finally taking this really seriously,” said John Lee, corporate chief strategy officer at Merkle. “While the attention to the [inevitability] of the third-party cookie going away has been going on for a while, I do think the announcement, and to a lesser extent the IDFA, have finally thrown the cold bucket of water on everybody.”

Simpson echoed that: “The entire advertising ecosystem — in-house media teams, agency teams, publishers, platforms, data providers and more — is at an inflection point and everyone is building towards a more privacy compliant future.”

3 Questions with Zendesk CMO Jeff Titterton

The way we work has changed due to COVID. Has that shifted your perspective or approach to how you work?

[Over the past year,] when we stopped some of the unnecessary yet time-consuming projects that were distracting us from giving our customers what they needed, we quickly realized less truly is more. This year, I am concentrating on how we can do fewer things better, by doubling down on providing the experiences that our customers want and expect, with the knowledge that focusing on meeting our customers’ needs is the key to ensuring my team members hit their own financial targets.

There’s a lot of debate about what makes a CMO. What skills do you think are vital to the role in 2021?

More than ever, businesses are realizing that customer experience (CX) success is business success. To effectively lead a marketing organization that is rooted in CX, it is critical to be both customer-obsessed and data-driven.

What’s top of mind for you right now as a CMO?

Following the continuous change and big transitions that defined 2020, I’ve shifted my energy this year to focus on the idea and discipline of “radical simplicity.” From the way we design, develop, and deploy our products, to maintaining a digital-first lens in the new hybrid world of online and offline work, making things frictionless and easy is the key to embracing what matters, and letting go of the rest. — Kimeko McCoy

By the numbers

After the events of 2020 (re: global pandemic, civil unrest and polarizing politics), consumers asked brands to take a stand and put their money where their mouth is. As Digiday previously reported, many expected brands to act, pushing for more than placating messages and looking for action. Unified CX platform Iterable surveyed marketers on their brand trust strategies, noting ethics and morality will be key in building consumer trust. Here’s what the research says:

• Brands and consumers faced a number of critical challenges in 2020 and the effects it had on customer communications are long-lasting. In fact, 87% of marketers said their company felt the need to change its marketing strategies to better build consumer trust. 
• The most likely proponent of this strong sentiment for change is the COVID-19 pandemic, however, more companies issued public statements on racial inequality (47%) than on public health (40%) in 2020. Even then, 51% of marketers still don’t think their companies went far enough in their initiatives on social issues.
• In 2021 marketers will continue to push brands to be even more socially active with 79% of companies planning to continue campaigns with messaging on issues such as social justice, gender inequality, LGBTQIA pride and climate change. — Kimeko McCoy

Quote of the week

“Women are still looked at to be caretakers first. A lot of people thought we were beyond [that], but we’re not.” — Jen DaSilva, president of the New York City-based creative agency Berlin Cameron, told Digiday for a recent story on the tricky work-life balance many women in advertising are currently facing.

What we’ve covered

• Identity tech providers are trying to make heads or tails of Google’s plan to not support alternative identity solutions, reports platforms, data and privacy reporter Kate Kaye.
• A year into the pandemic, Digiday contributor Tony Case looks at how the art of the pitch has evolved.
• Marketers aren’t in love with Instagram checkout yet, reports commerce reporter Erika Wheless.

The digital advertising industry is in the midst of an identity crisis. Between the third-party cookie’s impending demise and Apple’s mobile app tracking crackdown, advertisers and agencies are having to figure the future of identity in digital advertising. Fortunately, that future has been a long time coming.

“For better or worse, the crystal ball has been decently clear that this is the direction we’re going from regulatory pressures, from a consolidation in terms of who is owning and controlling experiences through the lens of a browser, through the lens of an operating system. So we take solace in that there’s been a bit of a head start,” said GroupM global head of partnerships Kieley Taylor in the latest episode of the Digiday Podcast. Taylor was joined by GroupM global head of social Amanda Grant.

Further helping advertising figure out the identity situation is Apple’s mobile app tracking crackdown. That change is expected to take place this spring and is “giving us really good training wheels for the cookie-based changes that are going to come about,” Taylor said.

However, what that experience is showing so far is that advertisers may want to exchange the training wheels for off-road tires as they try to navigate the bumpy trails ahead. Although Apple has been fairly clear in saying that apps will need people’s permission in order to continue to track them for advertising purposes, “the platforms are all interpreting that very differently as it impacts their platforms. So it’s not like we have a single rules of the road for social activation moving forward,” said Grant.

Here are a few highlights from the conversation, which have been lightly edited for clarity.

Bridging the identity gap

Taylor: A big emphasis that we have with [the tech platforms] is really making sure that we’re helping advertisers who do have appropriate first-party data — CRM, for example — that they are able to use that to the fullest extent with those platforms that have really rich insights and interesting data. Bridging the gap is a big focus of ours to get advertisers to a place where, we don’t know what comes after the cliff of cookies, but we can have some really informed bets and proxies that we can take into the future.

Mapping out the measurement impact

Grant: Everyone is fielding similar questions around measurement and attribution: where there’s going to be limiting data paths and signals, how are platforms approaching attribution modeling, where do you make up for that loss of data? And if you’re a client or an advertiser that has had an expectation with a platform for a certain amount of time, how do you look at reporting post-impact of change, which we expect sometime in either March or April given the updates that we’ve been getting from the platforms?

Expected fragmentation among alternate identifiers

Taylor: The best example that I can pull from is the patchwork of consent management frameworks that happened leading into GDPR and then directly following. I have every reason to believe that there will be similar levels of fragmentation to begin with. Ultimately I think one of the things it behooves advertisers to remember is they’re the ones that vote with their pocketbook. So if they have views about there being more choice, if they have views about there being not one universal standard, there are a number of different industry consortiums and trade groups that are actively seeking participation and input on what this roadmap should look like. No one’s anti-privacy; we’re just trying to figure out the right balance.