GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, is partnering with A+E Networks to secure a first look for its clients on all of the media company’s sponsorship slots for its diverse programming. The goal is to speed up the pace on projects that otherwise might slip through the cracks with the help of brand sponsorship dollars. 

The deal is between A+E and GroupM Motion Entertainment, which funds, develops, produces and distributes TV and digital content worldwide, and will support GroupM’s Diverse Voices Accelerator, which specifically aims to bolster diverse creative.

“Across media and entertainment, projects can be slow to get off the ground. With brands’ additional funding to support minority-owned production companies, we’re able to expedite the production and amplification of critically important stories from diverse storytellers,” said Chet Fenster, chief content officer, programming and strategy, GroupM Motion Entertainment, North America.

Under the partnership, A+E’s content opportunities—for its platforms including A&E, Lifetime and The History Channel—will have to meet GroupM’s DE&I standards.

“For us, what’s really important is who's behind the camera and giving more opportunities in that realm because we know when that happens, it cascades down, not just through the crew, but also through the types of stories that are being told,” Fenster said of the agency’s standards for diverse content.

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This is the second such type of deal GroupM has struck with a media company. 

Warner Bros. Discovery, which has formed an entire dedicated team tasked with helping brands better connect with multicultural audiences, launched the diverse voices accelerator program with GroupM Motion Entertainment in March.

Domino’s is one brand that has been brought in already to A+E’s content through GroupM’s Diverse Voices Accelerator, said Peter Olsen, president of ad sales for A+E Networks.  

As a founding partner of the diverse voices accelerator program with A+E, Domino’s sponsored The History Channel’s “761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers” documentary last month, which was produced by Revelations Entertainment, the production company founded by actor Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary, his business partner. The documentary highlights the first Black tank unit to serve in combat during World War II, and the major battles they faced overseas and at home in the U.S. with racism.

“Domino’s has made a continued commitment to champion diverse creators through partnerships like this one,” said Kate Trumbull, the pizza chain’s chief brand officer. “We’re proud to continue our media investment as an extension of the brand’s overarching mission to drive equity in entertainment. And it’s really to support diverse voices and stories.”

Domino’s increased its TV investment in diverse-owned media properties to 4% from 2% of its overall budget this year, Trumbull added.

Earlier this year, GroupM upped its commitment to diverse-owned and focused media to 5% of clients’ budgets after hitting its initial 2% pledge made in May 2021. The new pledge also expanded beyond Black-owned media to include Hispanic, Asian and Pacific Islander and LGBTQ+-owned and -focused media.

The Association for National Advertisers’ Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing called on marketers to boost their national spend in diverse media to 4% by 2025 at its inaugural GrowthFront.

But industry leaders say progress remains slow and that some brands are not spending enough of their ad budgets with diverse-owned media. Media entrepreneur Byron Allen, for example, filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s alleging that the fast food giant is not on track to meet a 2021 commitment to spend more of its advertising budget with Black-owned media companies. Last month, McDonald’s filed a motion for sanctions against Allen’s companies and stated that it remains on track to meet its goals for Black-owned marketing investments by the end of next year.