Why tell companies to stop figuring out the work of including people? The motivation is not compromise; if you’re lobbying against inclusion that builds business, you’re asking companies to reject the discomfort of change at the expense of their futureproofing. You’re selling the past as the future, to marketers perhaps more comfortable with the past.
And so, people increasingly discuss whether or not DEI as a concept needs a rebrand. If we suspect it does, adland needs to provide our expertise to embrace its evolution, shaping a tomorrow where we effectively assert its proven value for an ever more diverse world. What elements of the DEI “brand” must we champion to preserve its essential impact?
Shift from sentiment to business metrics
In the interest of profitable business, DEI must be a metrics conversation more than a values conversation. For some campaigns, sentiment metrics are meaningful—but the more you prove the connection between sentiment and conversion, the better. Instead of relying on metrics showing that messages will attract LGBTQ+ and ally attention, close the loop in the consumer journey; connect inclusive ad placements and creative messages to the sales they drove.
Instead of relying on metrics that prove all companies benefit from diverse leadership, run analysis to explore how your company directly profits from inclusion policy. For every program you develop and policy you institute, state the direct financial reward you expect for that reward—and over what time period. That way, if any lobbyist says, “You’re not profiting from DEI,” you have a foundation in place in terms of what you fiscally expected to begin with.
Shift from specialization to innovation
While DEI bears very specialized skill sets, that’s led to siloing more than integration. DEI pros and ERGs too often get welcomed in only for specialized problems. But given that DEI is the general practice of applying new perspectives for business growth—the very promise of advertising—the DEI brand must feel less like specialization and more like an innovation driver.
You would never run a campaign without inputs from business and agency leadership, creative, and strategy. They treat those areas as proactive growth engines, while DEI is regarded as a safeguard for those other areas. So DEI must reinvent its value. That’s actually great; lots of smart businesses thrived because of pressures to reimagine. Highlight and promote fresh DEI tactics being invented across your teams, versus relying solely on established methods like diversity training and hiring policies. If established practices could fix all our problems, they’d have worked by now. What’s next?
