Page 24 - rr-2020-diversity-advertising-marketing-industry_Neat

CREATING A CULTURE OF INCLUSION AND BELONGING

Our Actions snack brand, stepped up to elevate Black teen
We’ve developed several initiatives intended to voices during the summer of 2020 by teaming
create an inclusive culture that encourages all up with four TikTok creators and turning their
employees to share their unique perspectives posts into fundraisers. Matching likes for dollars,
and ideas in a safe and respectful environment. Gushers donated $400,000 to the NAACP Youth
and College Division, further incentivizing viewers
Consumer Inclusion to support muted voices and empowering Black
Our brands and products consider the needs of teens in harnessing their voices for change.
an increasingly diverse consumer and customer
base around the world while creating consumer Courageous Conversations
messages that are respectful of that diversity. Since 2016, General Mills has hosted Courageous
Conversations to bring employees together to have
In 2019, General Mills was a proud signatory to candid discussions in a safe and supportive setting
the Association of National Advertisers Alliance for about important issues affecting our work and our
Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing’s #SeeALL lives. The conversations are designed to build
campaign. The #SeeALLcampaign is an industry- empathy, productive discourse, and employee
wide movement to increase accurate representation engagement.
of multicultural and inclusive segments in ads and
programming. The discussions begin with a keynote speaker,
followed by small group dialogues, each led by a
And our loved trained General Mills facilitator. During a conversa-
and trusted brands tion, employees learn from experts, each focused
continue to par- on a specific topic, such as Islamophobia, trans-
ticipate in the gender inclusion, and unconscious bias.
conversation. For
example, Wheaties, These conversations take place globally in a
“The Breakfast of variety of formats and settings, from large gather-
Champions,” has ings to smaller team interactions. In 2019, we
redefined what expanded the initiative to production facilities,
it means to be a sales business centers, and online conversations,
Champion and to and routinely have more than 1,000 employees
champion, reserving registered for each event. As a result of the
the coveted cover pandemic, Courageous Conversations became
of the Wheaties box virtual-only sessions, with conversations on mental
for athletes who are health, well-being, and COVID-19.
using their sports platform for something greater.
For example, both Serena Williams and LeBron The killing of George Floyd in our hometown of
James adorned the box in 2020. Uniquely, along- Minneapolis, Minnesota also created the immediate
side James on the box is a collage of kids and need for a much broader conversation around
families from the LeBron James Family Foundation’s the complex picture of systemic inequality that
transformational I PROMISE program in Akron, Black people face in America. To date, this was
Ohio that serves the district’s most at-risk students our most well-attended Courageous Conversation,
and their entire families. Gushers, the popular fruit with more than 3,000 employees participating.

24 // A Diversity Report for the Advertising/Marketing Industry