diversity and inclusion

E.l.f. Beauty’s “So Many Dicks” campaign targets corporate leaders via contextual advertising with the goal of increasing diversity in corporate boardrooms.

According to CreativeX, ad creative is responsible for nearly half of sales lift, which is more than reach, recency and targeting combined. So why doesn’t creative get the credit it deserves? Until recently, says Anastasia Leng, CEO and founder of CreativeX, technology wasn’t advanced enough to measure creative decisions at scale.

Wishing you a meaningful Martin Luther King Jr. Day! This classic AdExchanger comic first ran in July 2022.

A weekly comic strip from AdExchanger that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem… Happy Juneteenth! This classic AdExchanger comic was originally published on July 22, 2022.

Bob Evans Farms has been working with an AI tech startup since last year to help evaluate ad creative and campaign concepts through the lens of diversity and inclusion.

Brands that don’t invest in diverse media are missing out on revenue. “Audiences in those communities reward you for noticing them,” says Mark Walker, CEO of Direct Digital Holdings.

Advertisers often talk about supporting Black- and minority-owned media companies. It’s Mark Prince’s job to help them turn those pledges into action. As SVP and head of economic empowerment at Dentsu Media, he pushes brands to consistently diversify their media mix – and move away from one-off investments.

A weekly comic strip from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem…

A weekly comic strip from AdExchanger that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem… Happy Juneteenth! This classic AdExchanger comic was originally published on June 19, 2020.  

Small mid-sized publishers often have trouble “getting connected into the programmatic ecosystem, says Mark Walker, the CEO and co-founder of ad tech and martech holding group Direct Digital Holdings. That’s why he founded the company in 2018, to help. Now, Direct Digital Holdings is a public company and its stock is popping.

Brands and their agencies have been declaring their DEI pledges from the rooftops. But how much of that money is actually going to BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) influencers and creators?

Historically, many industries and verticals have tended to overrepresent white men. Finance is one of them. Voya Financial, an investment company that helps its clients prep for retirement, is trying to bridge that gap by making the messaging in its ads more inclusive. On January 13, Voya launched two new commercials, both in thirty-second and […]

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Navin Thadani, CEO and founder of Evinced. To say that interest in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts is growing would be an understatement. If you hop onto LinkedIn, your feed […]

There’s a talent crunch bearing down on the digital advertising ecosystem. Agencies, brands and publishers are struggling to manage an ongoing labor shortage that’s been exacerbated by the pandemic, a demand for more flexible working environments and elevated expectations for diversity, equity and inclusion practices. “Everyone’s heard of ‘The Great Resignation,’ and we’re really seeing […]

Emoji have entered the lexicon. Two of Holler CEO Travis Montaque’s favorites are the upside-down smiley face and the dizzy face with spiral eyes, new on iOS 14.5. He breaks out the latter “when I’m on Zoom calls for six hours.” Although there was a time when emoji might have seemed like a facile, even […]

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Rekha Gibbons, Head of Multicultural Marketing & COO of Raare Solutions. According to the US Census Bureau, by the year 2045, the minority population of America will become the majority. The historical white […]

While diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts to work with minority-owned media companies and hire a diverse workforce are important, brands also need to address a rapidly changing cultural landscape in the United States, according to Isaac Mizrahi, co-president and COO of Miami-based multicultural ad agency Alma Ad Agency (no relation to the fashion designer). […]

The prevalence of algorithmic bias is more lamentable than it is surprising considering the dearth of diversity in the computer science field specifically and in STEM professions more broadly. “The impact of algorithms is something that’s hiding in plain sight, but many of us are only just becoming aware of the effect it has on […]

The pandemic accelerated the shift to ecommerce for everything from groceries, exercise equipment, furniture – and art. Artsy, an online marketplace for buying and selling fine art, saw its ecommerce business grow 150% last year as people looked to beautify their homes or make some extra cash by selling art on consignment. Galleries and museums struggled […]

IPG’s marketing intelligence firm Kinesso has hired Dr. Femi Olu-Lafe as the SVP of culture and inclusion. Olu–Lafe was brought on to push the needle on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across Kinesso and its sister IPG companies, Acxiom and Matterkind.  Olu-Lafe – previously a senior leader and DEI consultant at YSC Consulting and […]

The brand client has become the agency CEO. In mid-December, former Electronic Arts marketer Belinda Smith was appointed as CEO of the Americas at media agency m/SIX, a joint venture backed by The&Partnership and GroupM, and also one of EA’s external agency partners. That’s how Smith met the crew at m/Six, where she’ll now oversee […]

“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s column is written by Shona Pinnock, director of diversity and inclusion at Meredith Corp. The horrific murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland (who died under extremely suspicious circumstances) and too many others […]

If agencies, media companies and ad tech firms are going to fulfill their renewed promise in recent months to diversify their workforces, they’ve got to reach out to Black students and recent college grads early to explain why a career in advertising is something worth pursuing. With that in mind, Steven Golus, a DoubleClick and […]

Havas Media and GroupM each launched curated media marketplaces representing black, Hispanic, LGBTQ+ and other minority-owned publishers, as well as publishers that create content specifically for underrepresented communities. Havas Media’s social equity private marketplace, which went live last Friday, represents roughly 250 publishers with minority and LGBTQ+ owners, including Blavity, MadameNoire and Black Enterprise. Moen […]