‘How can advertising respond to the DEI opportunity’ was such an engaging panel discussion that was conducted on 7th December at Mumbai as part of the D&I Edge Summit hosted by The Advertising Standards Council of India and Unstereotype Alliance.
Do catch this wonderful article by Noel D'souza (he/him) in Campaign India!
The panel was expertly moderated by Prasad Sangameshwaran, Editor, Brand Equity.com with panelists, Ashiish V Patil, CEO & Co-Founder, Isspeshai Stratcon LLP, Sumit Agarwal, DEI Advisor to Fortune 500 Companies, Anjali Madan, Head of Media, Mondelez and Anirban Mozumdar, CSO, Havas Creative India.
✅ They discussed how the narratives within the space of advertising could be reshaped as they looked at ways of how brands could be non-tokenistic and champion authentic representation.
✅ Sometimes more than representation or under representation, wrong representation or mis representation can be more dangerous. Especially when it gives legitimacy to the already existing stereotypes.
✅ They opined that it was critical to look at the product end-to-end – product design, development, marketing, communication - from a diverse, inclusive, representation and accessibility lens.
✅ The panel also deliberated on the challenges of translating brand intentions into meaningful actions.
✅ The dire need for authenticity and genuine and sustained efforts, backed by a deep understanding of consumers rooted in a brand's ethos was highlighted.
✅ There were rich examples of the film industry where misrepresentation of marginalized communities is rampant due to inaunthentic casting.
✅ They reflected on how Inclusivity is hardly ever a table stake at the nascent or brief stage of communication planning and development.
✅ The panel also looked at how the world is moving towards conscious consumption from conspicuous consumption and how important it is to tell authentic stories where inclusion is unobtrusive in the story without coming across as force fitted.
✅ They also looked at the dangers of insincere intentions at D&I being called out by the discerning consumers and other stakeholders if the brand’s voice sounded tokenistic or came across as a ‘pity party’ in the guise of Inclusion.
✅ The importance of normalization of conversations around Inclusion to change the debate was also highlighted.
✅ They deliberated on the importance of accurate consumer data to understand the various hues of consumers to serve them better.
✅ Importance of aligning actions with the brand message, being relevant as against being caught up in tokenism was addressed.
✅ Despite the positive intentions, there sometimes is the fear of unintended consequences and how there should be a delicate balance between progressive advertising and potential societal pushback.
Check the comments for my earlier posts on this summit!
Sports and Multicultural Marketing Professional - Experiential, Sponsorships, Content and Culture
3moCongrats, it took a year where a Minnesota basketball team almost doing something big, but you did something bigger than them. You've always been a rockstar, glad to see people recognize it.