June 8th 2022 - EDI Together
Check out all sessions from our EDI (Everyone Doing It) Together Event. We hosted the event on June 8th at The Drum Labs with agency decision makers in attendance to discuss how we go about improving equity, diversity and inclusion in our industry both from the perspective of recruitment but also within the output of work we produce for our clients.
It was great to see so many on the day and we hope to welcome more for future events.
Session 1 - A word from our Founder and Managing Director
Our EDI Together Event kicks off with a word from our Founder and Managing Director, Tomasz Dyl.
He opened the days session alongside Amina Folarin, Global Chief People & Inclusion Officer at OLIVER Agency.
In this session the pair spoke about what ED&I meant for OLIVER, how to attract, retain and include diverse work forces. We also learnt more about OLIVER's incredible Change Makers Programme.
Session 2 - The current state of diversity with The Agency Collective
The second session of the day was presented by Jeni Bond, Agency Relationship Manager at The Agency Collective.
Jeni delivered research findings from The Agency Collectives recent Diversity and Inclusion Survey 2022 for the first time at this event. She highlighted what more the industry needed to do to become more inclusive in our recruitment.
Showcasing research findings such as 39% of agencies in the UK employ NO people of underrepresented ethnic groups.
Session 3 - Where do you start? with our Clients
The first of our panel discussions saw us discuss where and how brands can start in their journey to reaching more diverse audiences.
We spoke to Wojciech Olejniczak, Commercial Director at Pol-Plan insurance about how their brand, dedicated to providing insurance for the Polish community in the UK, reaches their audience effectively by understanding how their audiences behaviours and needs differ because of their ethnic background.
We then spoke to Tomasz Dyl on behalf of Hey! Broadband as their Key Account Manager at GottaBe! He detailed how when launching in Southall taking an understanding of the audience ethnicity within the area has helped to adapt and inform Hey! Broadband’s key messaging and how this approach can be used in other hyper-localised campaigns.
Session 4 - How to reach a diverse audience with media owners
In our second panel discussion we spoke to a few of the over 200 ethnic media channels that exist in the UK to discuss how their platforms provide targeted media channels towards ethnic minority groups in the UK.
The media owners spoke about the importance of inclusive planning and for brands and agencies a like to consider how they will reach diverse audiences earlier in the media planning process.
We were joined by:
- Prif Vis, Head of Sales at Asian Media Group
- Aleksandra Fiddler, Influencer and editor-in-chief, Wiadomosci.co.uk
- Debarshi Pandit, Head of Multicultural Business at Sky AdSmart
- Priya Singh, Director of Amber Radio
- Taz Choudhury, CEO of Channel S and Bangla Post
How a diverse approach can boost agency performance with the IPA
We were lucky to be joined for our EDI Together event by Leila Siddiqi, Associate Director for Diversity at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA).
Leila walked us through some of her best-in-class examples of diverse advertising highlighting how taking a diverse approach can positively impact agency performance.
Leila leads on the iList programme by the IPA and spoke about some of the previous winners, bringing inspirational stories from some of the countries best agencies.
A Final Word from GottaBe!
And that's all she wrote guys! The final words from the GottaBe! team and our partners, who without them, we couldn't have made this event possible. Don't forget to keep your eyes open for more events from the GottaBe! team.