Summer is winding down and the familiar back-to-school rhythm is in the air. For many of us in the advertising industry, the end of summer signals a return to the grind (if it ever stopped). There are endless pitches, tight deadlines before the holidays kick in and the relentless pursuit of the next big idea.

But before we dive back into it all, let’s take a moment to exercise our various brain muscles, recenter our roles as storytellers and open a fresh notebook to plan how we will refocus on DE&I in our industry.   

 At the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival for Creativity, we saw top categories awarded to inclusive campaigns targeting a historically marginalized community and highlighting/solving for the needs of the underserved. 

This indicates the strides the industry has made in diversity, equity and inclusion. However, we continue to lack sustained representation in senior decision-making roles. Imagine if we treated DE&I with the same urgency and creativity we apply to our campaigns. What if we approached it as a strategic imperative, not just a box to tick or a nice service project?

It’s time to double down on commitments made a few short years ago and push back against the notion that DE&I is dead and that we don’t have the resources, talent, or support to make our industry as diverse as our world.    

DE&I, in fact, needs a reboot on how we advance our strategies, discussions, investments and outcomes of DE&I. It is time for DE&I to be integrated into our businesses in order to reflect a rapidly changing world.

Prioritize accessibility

One concrete step is to prioritize accessibility. This means ensuring our work is inclusive of people with disabilities by implementing simple yet impactful measures like adding alt text to images or conducting accessibility audits on our campaigns. These and other accessibility actions, such as captions and audio descriptions for video advertising, can easily bring new layers of creativity and intersectionality to the work.

Raise your hand to work on creative that targets the disabled community or includes an accessibility component. Taking into account how other people experience your creative work will make your work more effective. Talk to your clients and your agency partners about how they are incorporating accessibility into their communications and workstreams.  

Understand marginalized communities

Let’s recommit to learning more about the experiences of marginalized communities and supporting them.  Just a few years ago, agencies and brands held multiple training courses, open discussions and developed solutions for inclusion. Some of us were quick to act and embarked on big plans to diversify the workforce and amplify our work for marginalized communities.

Some of those plans came to fruition, but others stagnated because of shifting economic priorities or talent moves that focused the energy and resources elsewhere. But that doesn’t mean we can’t pick up our pencils again. It can be as simple as participating in the programs your employee resource groups are hosting or conducting research on cultural shifts/meta trends for poly-cultural communities that relate to your scope of business.

You can also attend annual industry gatherings that prioritize these topics, including The One Club’s “Where Are All The Black People” conference, the 3AF’s annual “Asian Marketing Summit and the AdColor Conference. These provide valuable insights to learn from industry expert speakers and partners and the chance to connect with diverse professionals.  

Achieve personal growth

Lastly, meaningful personal growth is essential for all leaders. Books such as “The Waymakers: Clearing the Path to Workplace Equity with Competence and Confidence” by equity strategist Tara Jaye Frank can equip you with tools to foster equity, remove biases and create a more inclusive environment for the success of the teams’ goals. Previous, stereotypical DE&I strategies are no longer up to the task.  

Remember, progress isn't linear. There will be setbacks and challenges. But by committing to continuous learning and improvement, incorporating people with diverse voices in your strategy session and changing your personal behavior, we can create a more equitable and representative industry.

It's time to hit the reset button on DE&I and approach it with the same level of innovation and passion we bring to our client work. Connecting the back-to-school season and advertising shouldn’t just suggest school supply campaigns and the frantic morning rush. This seasonal shift presents a moment for our industry, and each of us, to reflect on, recognize and embrace new learning pathways, teaching opportunities and camaraderie in celebrating differences and goals to set toward advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.  

Let’s make this the year we truly move the needle on DE&I in advertising.