Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Friday 27 OctOber 2017

Companies are looking for diverse ad teams to avoid blunders

By ALEXANDRA OLSON director at Unilever, said
Associated Press her former company “al-
NEW YORK (AP) — CoverGirl ways had the best inten-
executive Ukonwa Ojo was tions,” but “as humans we
struck when the team from always have the opportuni-
an ad agency entered ties to make a mistake.” She
the room to pitch ideas for added: “It can minimize
revamping the cosmetic the chances if you have
company’s image. For the the right people around
first time in Ojo’s more than the table.” Having more
20-year career in business, diversity around the table
she found herself working is seen as a safeguard at a
with an African-American time when companies are
creative director. under pressure to produce
That meeting would ulti- lots of video and other mar-
mately result in a marketing keting content quickly and
campaign that challenges cheaply for Twitter, Face-
conventional ideas about book, Instagram and Snap-
beauty. It features celebrity chat, often with no time to
women from a spectrum test everything out on focus
of races, ages and profes- groups.
sions, including Issa Rae of “In the good old days,
HBO’s “Insecure,” motorcy- In this Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017, photo, members of the Droga5 team behind the recent CoverGirl you would have the time
cle racer Shelina Moreda, campaign talk about that campaign during a meeting at the advertising agency’s headquarters, to take your TV ad or print
celebrity chef Ayesha Cur- in New York. campaign and do further
ry and dietitian Maye Musk, Associated Press testing. You would see how
69. “To have an African- makeover, which replaced story, right and really pres- a white woman, who then they are rating A and B
American creative director the company’s familiar sure-testing. Is it authentic? removed her top to reveal ad,” said Gene Fischer, se-
walk in the room and pres- “Easy, Breezy, Beautiful” Is there anything that is go- a woman with a brown nior vice president of me-
ent this to me, I thought, tagline with “I Am What I ing to be misinterpreted?” complexion. Social media dia innovation at Publicis
‘Oh, my God, this is amaz- Makeup,” the team from On Wednesday, Kellogg users accused Dove of sug- Health Media. “The world
ing,’” said Ojo, who is Nige- the ad agency Droga5 apologized after the art- gesting black skin is dirty. of social media doesn’t al-
rian-American. “I think we had two black creative di- work on its Corn Pops ce- Dove pulled the video, low for that.”
can see the power of the rectors, Shannon Washing- real boxes was attacked while Kellogg said new art- Aside from trying to diver-
work because of that.” ton and Ray Smiling. as racist. The box shows work for the cereal box will sify their own ranks, some
Diversity in the advertis- “The team that worked cartoon Corn Pops hang- soon reach stores. Neither marketers are turning for
ing industry is becoming on this idea and this cam- ing out in a mall. The only Unilever, the company that help to small agencies
a higher priority for con- paign came from very dif- brown one depicted is a owns Dove, nor Kellogg has that cater to specific eth-
sumer product companies ferent backgrounds — from janitor scrubbing the floor. said who was behind the nic groups. Being Latino,
as they try to reach a new a male and female point Dove was similarly criti- content. a social media marketing
generation of customers of view, different races, dif- cized earlier this month Other brands, including company, has crafted ads
with evolving sensibilities on ferent ages,” Droga5 CEO over a commercial for a Pepsi, Gap and Nivea, for Bud Light, Snickers and
ethnicity, age, gender and Sarah Thompson said. “I body wash. A short version have faced similar contro- Coca-Cola.
sexuality. think that more than be- of the video on Facebook versies. “My entire company, every
Many companies have fore, what’s important is showed a black woman Ojo, who before joining employee comes from the
come to believe that hav- getting that narrative, that taking off her shirt to reveal CoverGirl was senior global culture that we are trying
ing people with a variety of to appeal to,” said Being
backgrounds in the room Latino founder Lance Rios.
can not only produce a “We know the do’s and the
smarter marketing cam- don’ts.”
paign but also help avoid Tiffany R. Warren, chief di-
the kind of blunders Kellogg versity officer at Omnicom,
and Dove were recently the parent of the some of
accused of in today’s po- the nation’s biggest ad-
litically combustible envi- vertising agencies, got her
ronment. start in 1997 through an in-
Despite efforts by Madison dustry program to recruit
Avenue to ramp up recruit- top minority students out of
ing of minorities, just 7 per- college. Since then, how-
cent of the 67,000 people ever, she has often been
working as advertising and the only black woman in
promotion managers in the the room.
U.S. in 2016 were African- “I know my presence in the
American, less than 5 per- room had led to a lot of
cent were Hispanic, and meaningful conversations
about 1 percent were of and led to creative prod-
Asian descent, according ucts that were more cultur-
to the U.S. Labor Depart- ally sensitive,” said Warren,
ment. Women accounted who is also founder of the
for about 56 percent of nonprofit group ADCOLOR,
managers in the industry. In this Monday, Oct. 23, 2017, photo, people walk by the advertising for a Gap store on New York’s which promotes diversity in
Fifth Avenue.
In the case of CoverGirl’s Associated Press the creative fields.q