Verizon is rolling out a new set of set of goals around how it approaches diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in every aspect of its marketing operations.
The carrier’s new responsible marketing action plan ties together various ongoing initiatives and lays out concrete objectives across four areas ranging from diversity within the creative supply chain and an inclusive work environment to bias and stereotypes within the advertising content itself and brand safety. At Adweek’s Sustainability and DEI Summit today, CMO Diego Scotti discussed the reasoning behind the effort and how it fits in with Verizon’s larger ambitions around corporate social responsibility.
Scotti said the challenge in designing a set of guidelines for an issue as wide-ranging as DEI across a massive marketing business is ensuring they are both broad enough to avoid common blind spots and specific enough to include tangible and measurable goals.
“It’s about representation, it’s about inclusivity, it’s about the creative supply chain—the problem is that it is about all of the above. So you have to really work in a very holistic way to create a plan that attacks all those different factors,” Scotti said. “The other issue is that even if you do that, the problem is that sometimes the efforts have no continuity.”
To avoid the latter pitfall, Verizon’s plan includes a number of specific actions the carrier intends to take this year, including a commitment to spend 30% of budget on diverse-owned video, experiential and print production firms and the creation of training materials for internal teams and partner agency teams that take into account an industry-wide gender equality measure.
The effort will also span Verizon’s three biggest partner agencies: IPG, Publicis and WPP. The company plans to form groups called Inclusive Work Panels, made up of diverse team members at each of those agencies, who will advise on campaigns and pressure-test creative materials. Verizon is also expanding on its AdFellows program, which aims to train and place diverse entry-level workers in the ad industry, with a new program called AdDisruptors, a similar course aimed at retention for mid-career talent.
“It’s about sending the right message to the market—that we’re only going to do business with those media partners, suppliers, content publishers that adhere to this very, very strict guidance,” Scotti said.
Verizon’s responsible marketing action plan is one prong in a more ambitious effort Scotti helped introduce last year called Citizen Verizon, which formalizes the wireless giant’s corporate social responsibility goals across several areas.
“Corporate social responsibility isn’t the thing you do on the side in terms of philanthropy—you must move it to be central to your strategy,” Scotti said. “[That idea] completely changed the conversation inside the company.”
