| Good morning Marketer, welcome to Wednesday.
As civil unrest continues to seize the country following last weekâs murder of George Floyd, itâs crucial to remember that we, as marketers, advertisers, and brand creators, have a platform. Whether youâre a senior marketing executive, social media strategist, a paid search professional, or otherwise, we as an industry must continue challenging the racism, inequality, and injustice of a system that disproportionately targets and harms communities of color. And while a social media post with a brand message declaring solidarity might be a good first step, it doesnât end there. Below are just a few ideas and stories to consider, share, and talk about. Itâs time to keep the conversation going with your fellow marketers. Begin at the team level. âIf diversity is like growing a flower garden, you have to prepare the soil first, so the best way is to start with your team,â wrote CMO of Visiture Ronald Don in a column for Marketing Land. âDiversity-centered hiring practices are a subject unto themselves, and if you havenât yet embraced them, thatâs something to work on first. If you donât have representation on your marketing staff, your representation in your campaigns will suffer.â READ MORE > Minority employees are not client bait. âBusinesses that already have a diverse team in play should remember that their minority team members arenât there to rubber-stamp marketing materials as âcertified unproblematic,ââ Don wrote in the column linked above. For example, Digiday last year reported the story of Ollie Olanipekun, a black person working at a large ad agency, who said he was âsick of being that person because of the way I looked. It felt like a gimmick they rolled out. Every time we had a brief about youth culture, the creative director would ask, âIs Ollie free?â as if I was the only person in an agency of 160 people who had a view.â READ MORE > Agencies have a responsibility to act, too. âI feel like a lot of agencies give the excuse of, âWe donât know what to do, we donât know how to fix this,â a source at an agency holding company told AdWeek this week. âAnd a lot of people let that pass and give the agencies the benefit of the doubt because they also feel like they donât know what to do. To me, that feels incredibly lazy. But thatâs the entire nature of the work we do: We get problems, donât know what to do with them at first, and then solve them.â READ MORE > We want to hear and share your own experiences: the work youâre doing, the conversations youâre having, and suggestions for the community to continue addressing issues of diversity, racism, and inequality at work. Have something to share? Send me a note at tpeterson@thirddoormedia.com. Taylor Peterson,
Deputy Editor | 