The Business Case for Diversity in Advertising with Imogen Tazzyman

26 Jul

This week meet Imogen Tazzyman, Executive Creative Director at McCann Manchester, a 370-strong marketing and communications agency.

A few months ago, Imogen emailed me about the lack of diversity in the top roles in advertising. Despite the diversity and inclusion initiatives that many companies have rolled out over the past few years, the default leaders still tend to be white, male, straight and able-bodied.

The truth is that that profile doesn’t represent the broad demographic of consumers in the UK and globally. As a result, both brands and advertisers are risking tone-deaf campaigns and potentially isolating the very audience they are trying to target. Bad PR is bad for business, so fixing the lack of diversity in leadership positions is in everyone’s interests.

Imogen sheds light on her path to becoming an ECD, where she is one of just 3% of female talent in this role. We discuss examples of great campaigns that have benefitted from diverse experiences and teams, and on the flip side, campaigns that have been bred in echo chambers.

We also talk about women’s internalised misogyny and that, regardless of gender, we all need to work hard to understand our bias and blind spots. I know from my own experience that just by being a woman, that doesn’t make me the oracle of women’s experiences.

Tell us what you think

Want to share your view on something mentioned in the podcast? Send us an email or tweet us.

Listen Now

Episode available to stream now on your favourite streaming platform.

“Gen Z won’t engage with a brand unless they’re seen to be doing the right thing, and not just for the publicity, but authentically and consistently.”

— Imogen Tazzyman