For Diversity Officers, No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Those Struggling to Increase Minority Head Counts Come in for Criticism
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- It's not easy being a chief diversity officer. Some of the insults hurled at those taking the job have included "pimp," "Uncle Tom" and "window dressing." In fact, as the executives themselves note, having a thick skin and a healthy dose of perspective can be essential to the role.
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| Photos from the AAF Most Promising Minority Student Program and Recruiters Expo |
The ad agencies who've hired diversity officers are likely praying that they do figure out a way to make a difference -- and quick. Civil-rights attorney Cyrus Mehri is knocking on the door, after all. Last month, he released research in partnership with the NAACP that is believed to be the groundwork for a race-discrimination suit against the ad industry.
Nancy Hill, president-CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, said after reading the report: "The numbers speak for themselves."
Ask the companies that hired diversity officers -- only Interpublic and Omnicom have done so at the holding-company level -- and they say the fact that they have appointed chief diversity officers shows their commitment to improving diversity, a massive task that requires sweeping organizational and cultural changes. What's more, they say, these individuals are responsible for some measurable strides -- from rising awareness to rising numbers of minorities in agency ranks.
Making strides
Interpublic Group of Cos., for example, reported to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that between 2004 and 2007, it increased minority head count across various ethnic groups by 25% overall, and by 50% in terms of total "officials and managers."
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Second in a series |
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"When I got here, all there was a desk and a chair and a telephone," said Heide Gardner, Interpublic's chief diversity officer. Ms. Gardner was plucked for the role by David Bell back in 2003, and these days reports to Interpublic's chief human resources officer, with a dotted line to Interpublic head Michael Roth.
But the self-reported improvements and the hiring of diversity officers don't convince critics. Industry observers have pegged such positions as a convenient way for agencies to run interference for criticism. Activist Sanford Moore has gone so far as to publicly label chief diversity officers at agencies and holding companies "pimps," who amount to nothing more than "window dressing."
"That type of position is certainly admirable, but it has to be in direct line with the rest of the corporate structure," said Jason Chambers, associate professor in the department of advertising at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and author of "Madison Avenue and the Color Line: African-Americans in the Advertising Industry."
"Where are you in the organizational chart? Are you even on it? Who was your appointment made by? If your only role and responsibility is to be the company's face in the diversity issue of black enterprise ... what really are you accomplishing?"
A 'Band-aid'
In the business world at large, the percentage of folks in chief-diversity-officer roles is growing. More than 20% of the top 50 chief diversity officers report directly to the CEOs or are one-direct report removed, according to Diversity Inc. magazine.
In the case of Adland, chief diversity officer roles are "are a Band-aid over a gaping wound," said Luke Visconti, the magazine's co-founder.
"There is no question in my mind about why Cyrus Mehri is coming after the ad agencies," Mr. Visconti said, noting that ad shops have been absent from Diversity Inc.'s annual ranking of the top 50 most diverse companies, many of which, ironically, coincide with the top 50 advertisers in the country.
Talk to agencies and holding companies and they will concede there there's much work ahead to boost minorities in the ad business. Still, they are quick to defend themselves too, saying there has been measurable progress in the last few years.
"I feel good about what we have accomplished over the past five years," said Ms. Gardner. "I don't think anyone expects that we're going to go from having the gaps that we do today to closing them overnight. No other industry has done that. "
"We've still got a ways to go, but we're on the right path," said Sallie Mars, senior VP-director of creative services and director of diversity at Interpublic's biggest agency network, McCann Erickson. Ms. Mars also chairs the American Association of Advertising Agencies' diversity committee. In her diversity role, she reports to Marcio Moriera, vice chairman and chief human resources office of McCann Worldgroup. "Where we have made huge inroads are in the areas of awareness and commitment," Ms. Mars said.
Outreach
To that end, Ms. Mars has set up an "affinity group," dubbed Mc2 that's made up of about 75 McCann New York employees who enjoy and want to promote a multicultural workplace. Among other things, the group does community outreach, which largely entails hosting groups of New York City public-school kids for a day of exposure to working in an agency.
"Individuals of color today have so many more choices ... if there's not an affinity group or internal-networking group that might cause that person to go and look for opportunities elsewhere," said Ms. Warren, who said that attracting the talent is a challenge, but the bigger obstacle is keeping them in the ad business.
Another area she plans to work on is engaging mid- to senior-level executives in the diversity effort. While Omnicom is still working out the details of her newly created role, Ms. Warren reports to counsel. She adds, though, that she didn't have a direct report to the CEO at Arnold. Of the agencies targeted by the New York City Commission on Human Rights, Arnold was among those that met its hiring goals.
Ms. Warren acknowledges that there are entrenched problems in Adland, but says the entire ad industry doesn't deserve a black eye. If nothing else, she is convinced that as a black woman, she is proof that it is possible for minority talent to thrive in this business.
"I will never say this industry is racist because I have succeeded and been in this industry for 12 years," she said. "I came in making $22,000, and what got me through every sort of professional test is that I was so passionate about this business."
And the criticism?
"I've seen a direct impact from the work I can do, and hopefully five years and 10 years from now I can look to those individuals I've mentored quietly ... and see that they have risen in this industry."
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Contributing: Marissa Miley
Sanford Moore speaks out
For 40 years Sanford Moore has been an advocate for racial parity on Madison Avenue, particularly for African-Americans. He's been a thorn in the side of the agency structure, a chief cheerleader of government attempts to intervene and a critic of other African-Americans whose methods he doesn't agree with.
Ad Age: How did the Madison Avenue Project come about?
Mr. Moore: I was introduced to Cyrus Mehri, and I presented the case and supporting documentation. He saw the injustice of the situation and agreed to undertake the effort.
One of the things that Cyrus does in his settlements is that he puts in place certain ongoing mechanisms that monitor where there's accountability from the top down to change the corporate culture from discrimination and exclusion. I'm not going to be here forever and unfortunately, if I hadn't gotten this done, Mad Ave would have gotten away scot-free.
Ad Age: What motivates you to take on the industry?
Mr. Moore: I've never liked bullies and I don't like mendacity and obfuscation. Madison Avenue is like a plantation where the slave owners, the heads of the holding companies, benefit from the labor and the profits generated by the slaves and sharecroppers. I'm not finished with them yet! Before it's over, Madison Avenue will pay the price for its historical discrimination.
Were it not for black consumer spending, many of the icons of the American marketplace would not enjoy the advantages and profits that they do. Black consumers are the profit margin for many of Madison Avenue's clients, yet Madison Avenue refuses to acknowledge and give the correct value and importance that these consumers play to the overall success of their clients.
Ad Age: You've called chief diversity officers "pimps." Why?
Mr. Moore: Let's call them diversity parasites. They do nothing to help. If they do any good, where are the black executives in the organizations that they're hired to? Besides themselves, who else is there?
The diversity officers, I mean they're window dressing. They don't have power, they can't hire. But it's not just diversity officers. It's lawyers and diversity consultants and people that feed off of the exclusion to black people. It's like blood diamonds. These people profit off of the blood that black people have spent trying to break into and achieve success on Madison Avenue. They do nothing to help. They just get paid to run interference, to create meaningless dialogue.
Ad Age: What are you doing these days?
Mr. Moore: I collaborate with the Madison Avenue Project in developing the case. I also bring these issues to the public attention via the radio show that I do. I continue to advocate on behalf of African-Americans and their media with bodies like the New York City Council and also work to bringing this case before other governmental and regulatory bodies.
Ad Age: What keeps you going?
Mr. Moore: I do these things by myself. Nobody pays me. I don't ask for money. I'm not looking for a job. I'm only interested in the agencies and their clients doing the right thing. I'm interested in black institutions and black people getting parity for the economic contributions they make in terms of their consumer spending. I want to see them get their fair share.
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How dare any diversity officer cry about standing alone while there are plenty of minorities just trying to find a job? I can see how people can come to view diversity officers as window dressing at best. I don't agree with the view but Tiffany your comment didn't help.
You are standing alone because the agencies will not hire people of color. Blaming us for not standing with you, even out of frustration, is a bad move. At least you are getting paid. And when was the last time you took your show on the road and visited any of the other advertising markets? When have you gone to Dallas or Milwaukee or Columbus?
The problem is that even at Arnold, you barely looked at existing professionals, the major thrust of your efforts has been college graduates. That's nice but there are plenty of experienced professionals that should be getting some of your attention. Hire some of them and you would have people who could stand with you. Please take your show on the road, you'll discover that there are plenty of us standing with you, just not in NY.
And Mr.Moore, please keep up the fight. We need someone to hold their feet to the fire. Tiffany, be strong, until we see results this is all words we have heard before. Good luck.
di•ver•si•ty (d -vûr s -t , d -)
Noun:
a. The fact or quality of being diverse; difference.
b. A point or respect in which things differ.
In the Thesaurus: The quality of being made of many different elements, forms, kinds, or individuals.
In Wikipedia: Diversity (Business)
The "business case for diversity", theorizes that in a global marketplace, a company that employs a diverse workforce (both men and women, people of many generations, people from ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds etc.) is better able to understand the demographics of the marketplace it serves and is thus better equipped to thrive in that marketplace than a company that has a more limited range of employee demographics.
From this article (and several previous ones published in Ad Age on the same topic) it seems to me that the job of these "diversity officers" is to increase the African-American population in the advertising world; hence, please stop calling these individuals "diversity" officers as it is quite obvious that their recruitment efforts do no go beyond an African-American constituency to embrace the larger meaning of "diversity."
This is my resume:
"Well first I worked for Berry Gordy and then I worked for Helmut Krone and Mary Wells. Well actually, both Mary Wells. And then Berry Manilow, Mike Becker and I created the longest running campaign in advertising. I pioneered the way Sun Mirosystems goes to market and helped put the producers of "The Matrix" and "Survivor" work on-line. Matt Ives gave me credit in the New York Times for pioneering the hot new trend of User-Generated Content.
I run 9 blogs and I am in the process of Reinventing Advertising. Lately? Let's see? I think President Barack Obama's team just turned my White House Office of Creative Affairs proposal into the White House Office of Public Liason. But thant could just be my active imagination.
Now, with a resume like that do you think I might here from any one of you about the benefits of joining your firm. Harry@HarryWebber.com
I'll be back next week to report on how many diversity officers made contact. So far, during the above years it's been a grand total of...none.
San Antonio, methinks you're rightly confused by Ad Age's decision to categorize this story under a Black History Month header. However, it should be noted that the role of Diversity Officers – as well as the intent of the diversity pacts signed by Madison Avenue shops – is to increase the overall diversity of agency staffs. That is, it's not just African American. Otherwise, none of the agencies would have met their goals. At the same time, it is true that much of diversity discussions are focused on African Americans, but for different reasons than you might realize. It has to do with the reality that African Americans have been officially fighting for change since at least the 1930s. Additionally, key players in the New York drama continuing the fight are doing so for African American representation. Plus, Cyrus Mehri is focusing his class-action lawsuit on the inequities faced by African Americans in the industry.
Grand Prairie, you make some great and spirited points. But is it really correct to attack the Diversity Officers – even if they did make a questionable statement? The real annoyance should be directed at the individuals with hiring authority who make the final calls. A Diversity Officer can make recommendations, and even create awareness, but like leading a horse to water, you can't make them drink. Let's focus our wrath at the people who use Diversity Officers to deflect their own responsibility in the dilemma. Ms. Warren doesn't need her critics standing beside her. She needs her fellow associates and bosses joining the cause versus hiring another minority to help them find minorities that they ultimately won't hire.
Harry, you're too smart for most of these Madison Avenue shops. No senior-level executive is going to potentially forfeit his own position by hiring you.
You know your phone isn't going to ring. You're not what they are looking for. You have experience, you know what you are doing, you're good and you know what you're worth. And you haven't drank the Kool-aid.
Maybe changes in the social makeup of America, we live where "they" live and "our kids" now all play together will help breakdown some of the natural nepotism that occurs. Who knows?
Until clients make it a standard to stop buying services from agencies with no African-Americans in active leadership positions on the businesses (as was done with women), this shell game will continue inevitably.
The reason we are still having this conversation in the 21st century, is because for the most part, the mindset of the leadership at agencies and holding companies as well as some clients has not evolved over the past 3 decades.
The implications reach beyond agency staffing and impacts the viability of communications vehicles and a brand's ability to effectively mine the business potential within the African American consumer segment. The amount of business potentially left on the table is obscene.
As predicted, not one word from any Diversity Officers, Chief or otherwise. So I will try another approach.
I will donate $1000 to the favorite charity of any Diversity officer who sets up an interview with their agency's decision makers for me within the next week.
Let's see if that will get them to do their job. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished? No Good Deed Goes Unrewarded. Once again that email is harry@harryWebber.com.
We know the outcome of this invitation.If I were an agency c-level shotcaller I would be monitoring the results of this straw poll. I'm sure Cyrus is.
Once again the real problem is exposed -those who can help really don't. They talk about the problem, go to college job fairs, hosts panels, do interviews with the media, attend meetings and draw up grand plans, but in the end qualified people do not get hired or even interviewed. Surprise.
Really, how hard is it to decide to interview someone and do it? Harry didn't even ask for a job, just an interview, a call. And diversity officers wonder why we think they might be useless? Prove that you aren't.
This fluff piece, telling the world how hard Tiffany has it was moved off the front page with a quickness. No one expected a challenge to the validity of the claims being made. But this is the state of journalism today, reporters/writers don't take the time to research the subject or seek out alternative sources. The writer could have simply read some of the posts on the Big Tent and contacted some of them for a broader prospective on this issue. That's too much like work.
This is an industry in freefall.
The ANA just gave the industry a "No Confidence" vote on the eve of Economic Destruction. Marc Goldstien the 4A's Media Chair, cites Obama and Invictus to a decidedly unDiverse half-audience @ 4As Media Conference 9000. Pepsico resorts to Gangstachic to sell Gatorade. Bringing death and dishonor to an iconic brand.
And I'm "too smart" to get not one phone call from one Diversity Officer saying, "You have a great story to tell. Here's fifty bucks."
Not even after I offer to bribe their favorite charity.
Pretty amazing stuff, huh?
You would think "smart" would be the order of the day in advertising these days.
Here is something more amazing. How come, with my resume. (check earlier post, if you care) And this response, nobody from AdAge has dropped me a line to say, "So what's the story? Anything yet?" Maybe featuring kids beating up on old men is more their editorial style.
Meanwhile it's going on week four. And the black man responsible for creating one of the most memorable campaigns in advertising can't get one advertising agency representative in America to express an interest in his joining their firm.
On the eve of the biggest civil rights case in the history of American Business...against the advertising industry.
Are you sure there is no place for a smart black guy in advertising? Or just a smart guy? I'll work remote.
Note to Cyrus: Are you tracking the weeks, dude?
Unbelievable.
Operators are standing by.
harry@MadisonAveNew.com