The Struggle For Agency Diversity

Recent Efforts Aside, Many Believe Integration Is Slow Coming BOSTON--Despite the seemingly tireless efforts of the Advertising Club of Greater Boston over the past decade to foster diversity in New England's agency marketplace, most observers agree the region has a long way to go to catch up with the rest of the country. In general, advertising in Boston is more conservative than advertising in other large metropolitan areas, said Khari Streeter, a partner at The Heat, one of Boston's few minority-owned agencies. "A lot of people make a living at it the way it is right now, and it's slow to change," he said. DeMane Davis, also of The Heat, echoed her partner's sentiments. "I've lived here my whole life. I know what it's like. Everybody has a big meeting about trying to make ad agencies more diverse, and then everybody feels good but nobody does anything. It needs to be as important to everyone else as it is to" people of color, she said. In response to a survey it conducted last year that revealed only 4-6 percent of employees in Boston's ad industry are nonwhite, the Ad Club Foundation has been using its $1.3 million endowment to create a more integrated and culturally diverse agency market. Last summer, the unit of the Ad Club of Boston placed 33 minority interns at 25 local companies, said executive director Juliette Mayers. Ad agencies themselves also have attempted to foster minority hiring and internship programs. Despite these efforts, many in Boston's ad industry believe more still needs to be done. According to Ian Dowe, an African American who serves as director of business development at Larry Miller Productions in Boston, it is not easy finding minorities in positions of responsibility at local ad agencies. "There are few at the executive level. You get a lot of junior-level-type people," he said. In addition, a perception exists that there is greater opportunity in other markets for minorities at both established shops and specialty firms, Dowe said. "Given what you'd call the [greater] minority buying power in other cities . . . it makes sense for young [minority] people to work up through the ranks" in New England and go to other markets to start up their own shops, he said. "Until we get middle managers and senior managers [established], it will be difficult to retain young people," said Elizabeth Cook, president of the ad club. In an attempt to reverse this trend, a team of human resource executives from several Boston agencies--including Ingalls Advertising, Arnold Communications and Bronner Slosberg Humphrey--recently visited two Southern colleges to encourage minority students to consider working in New England. "We were there to raise awareness," said Mayers, who stressed that the trip was a pilot initiative that she hoped would eventually include more companies and lead to hiring minority students.

Brand Marketing

The Struggle For Agency Diversity

Sarah Jones

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Sarah Jones