Ant Melder, an advertising vet who most recently served as executive creative director of Host/Havas Sydney, describes himself as the world’s only “Cockney Bangladeshi ECD" (though he hopes to be proven wrong). At the Cannes Lions Festival last year, in interactions that might be familiar to other non-white folks in the industry, he says he was mistaken for another creative with brown skin—Ash Naidu, executive creative director at BWM Australia, who grew up in South Africa and is of Indian descent. This happened, he says, no less than three times.
The thing is, they don’t look alike.
The first time it happened, at a pool party full of tipsy revelers, Melder says he laughed it off.
“I actually found it hilarious, although perhaps not so hilarious when it happened again outside Le Palais and then again on La Croissette the next day," he says. He told Naidu about it and “seeing the funny side, but also with a concern that perhaps the industry only has space for one non-Caucasian ECD in its consciousness, we coined the hashtag #TooManyBrownECDs.”
The experience also inspired Melder to create “Brown Riot,” a podcast that explores the work and lives of creatives and other industry execs from a range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. It arrives at a time when agencies and marketers are increasingly under the microscope for the lack of diversity in staffing and in their messages.
Appropriately, Melder’s first podcast guest is Naidu (who last year won the Grand Prix for Good for “Project Revoice"), followed by Avish Gordhan, executive creative director of M&C Saatchi, and then former 72andSunny Creative Director Pia Chaudhuri. Both are of Indian descent and based in Australia.
Upcoming guests have Indigenous, Chinese and Greek backgrounds. Going forward, says Melder, the lineup will become even more diverse. He’s planning to broaden to execs in the U.K. and the U.S., and among those on his wish list are Quiet Storm founder and Creative Director Trevor Robinson; Leo Burnett U.K. Chief Creative Officer Chaka Sobhani; Omnicom Chief Diversity Officer Tiffany Warren; 72andSunny Executive Creative Director Keith Cartwright; and HP Global executive creative director Jayanta Jenkins.