Brands might be paying more attention to diverse suppliers, but many marketers are still not putting their money where their mouth is, suggests a new report from the Association of National Advertisers.
The report, which surveyed 89 diverse suppliers in the fourth quarter of last year, showed that although 56% of suppliers said they’ve gotten higher levels of interest from marketers, only 38% said that this interest resulted in increased spending last year.
Although the 38% jump is “a significant increase,” this disparity shows “a gap between intent (measured by interest) and action (measured by investment),” according to the report. It also found that 46% of suppliers expect investment to increase this year, a figure that ANA characterized in the study as showing that “respondents are therefore optimistic about the future.”