6 Immediate Actions Ad Agencies & Brands Can Take In Support Of Black Lives and Black Business Right Now
The copy, logo signature and black background posts have been made. Your Diversity & Inclusion executive(s) and community managers are officially overworked. Donations have been made and matched. But, if you read the comments, people want to see action not just words. We are not in a time of simple reactions to a moment but a movement for change. Let’s get to work.
Here are six IMMEDIATE actions agencies and brands can do right now to show they are committed to the words on their Instagram posts and the inclusion webinars they are attending. In no way are these long term strategies required for systemic change but they diversify the creative process and raise up black voices, employees, and business. In this movement we keep going. Black Lives Matter.
1. Subscribe To & Buy Black Stock Photography
Up your stock; bring in Black life imagery to the genesis of an idea, by setting up accounts at Stock Photography companies specializing in diverse images . Both of the below options in particular are Black owned businesses offering subscription and individual pricing. Stock photography is rampant with bias imagery and a lack of diverse humans in their offering. As this is one of the first stops of a creative concept, it’s the place to insert immediate change.
Founded by Karen Okonkwo & Joshua Kissi 3+ years ago, TONL is your stock photography source for editorial and commercial use with a focus on “displaying images of diverse people and their stories.” Get a year subscription on your books now and make sure your teams use it.
Unable to find representative images for her lifestyle blog, Neosha Gardner founded CreateHER Stock which offers diverse representation stock photos for individual purchase.
2. Start Reading Resumes
Say bye to AI and start reading resumes. Artificial Intelligence may create efficiencies but it fosters unethical bias. This means if you use any digital portal for talent recruitment that is vetting candidates, the front door of your agency/brand has bias written right across it.
Like everything in AI it only works better the more you engage it. Solutions are a part of the long game. In the immediate, read the resume, and speed date candidates. There’s not a code for solving systemic racism but we can address how we answer the knock at the door by being more human.
3. Set Up Corporate Accounts at Black Businesses
From catering for meetings to retreat locations and happy hours, make sure you are not just supporting black owned businesses this week but taking action to insure your supporting year round. At every agency there are the handful of companies that are the go-tos for catering, cupcakes, flowers, gifts, car service, etc. Set up corporate accounts with Black-Owned businesses in these areas. This means you specifically call and set up a corporate account don’t just bookmark a menu or put it in a folder. To find businesses near you there are a number of Apps listed here, go to Support Black Owned for options in your zip code, and in LA Black Book LA.
4. Get Mindful On Microaggressions
“Brief and commonplace daily verbal , behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults…” Derald Wang Sue, author of Microaggressions in Everyday Life.
While the Karens and Nationalists may feel obvious, microaggressions are the subtle foe that creates a taxing, exhaustive, toxic workplace for Black employees (and others). Workshops vary from 1 to 3 hours, and all are available virtually via YWBoston, she+ geeks out, and Stanford Medicine & Berkeley’s Racial Justice Center offer full breakdowns of workshops to host independently.
5. Buy & Show Off Black Art
Art in an agency speaks to it’s creative spirit, values — the ideals of leadership. Art in an agency is also a business move for new clients, inspiration for ideas, and talent attraction. You can immediately make sure there is representation around the office while supporting individual artists economically. Add to the walls with Black art. Beyond the above shop Black links, you will find Black artist’s work for sale at Black Art In America and Saatchi Art in particular with awesomely curated collections. Support Black artists.
6. Admit You’re Wrong
Attention leaders, team members, colleagues, clients — You will not be perfect.
Don’t ask to be absolved. Learn from your mistakes. Starbucks chose for no BLM items to be featured on workers, 24 hours later that changed. Admit you’re wrong; in a creative review that doesn’t feature Black voices, re-open roles if you don’t have a Black candidate in consideration, rectify the wage gap between Black staffers and White. You will make mistakes, but we are not committing to a moment, we are in a movement.
At some point in the last week you most likely saw in that Instagram post “We hear you” “We’re committed to change” “We have made a sizable donation” “We are looking at our hiring practices.” The global Black Lives Matter movement is here to abolish the policies and institutions that keep Black Life down. This is a marathon, one where each of us is being called to do our part. Both at home and at work, we all have a role to play.
At agencies and brands, tackling systemic racism can seem like a mountain. A business rooted in the stories of brands across identity, value, and promise, has to recalibrate. There is a significant role for agencies and brands to play in this movement as our communications over the next few years will be rallying cries, and stories that offer a unified identification of this time where the globe changed.
It is time to climb. Whether you take on all of the above or begin working towards the abolishing of brand safety and whitelisting which keeps unethical bias in our media distribution or lose the term “urban” in your marketing org it is one foot in front of the other. We are on the right side of history. Keep Going.
