Will #AdlandCommits deliver for Black History Month? You decide
For Black History Month, we ask:
are we making history?
Today is the start of Black History Month.
The collective's work with #AdlandCommits is firmly on the government's radar. Yesterday, our Partnerships Director, Steph Matthews delivered our report from 199 companies on how they have honoured their 10 commitments to MP Nadhim Zahawi, the Minister for Business and Industry.
This Black History Month, we aim to celebrate Black excellence within every company and throughout the wider industry. This month (and every month) is a time to educate, build awareness and keep companies accountable.
Has #AdlandCommits made an impact? Join us on Tuesday to find out the results.
Listen to:
Stephen Woodford, CEO Advertising Association
Plus a special guest...
@AdvertisingWeek - today
Join a speed-mentoring session for working parents
Are you a parent and feeling locked down, locked out of the workplace, overloaded or overwhelmed? This one is for you. We have a STELLAR line up of mentors, including: Luke Southern, Global MD, The Drum; Emily Fleuriot, CD & Consultant, Ete Davies, CEO Engine, Lucy DoubleDay, Managing Partner, We Are Social, Niki Stoker, COO, A Million Ads, Lianre Robinson, Head of Client Services, Codect, Regan Warner, CD, Ogilvy, and Sagina Shabaya, Head of I&D Raconteur.
To attend, simply send an email to rachel@creativeequals.org and gain a FREE pass for this session and the whole of AdWeek (thank you, Rachel - we are all indebted).
Let's #RewriteTheScript with charter for creative work
As an industry, we are only as good as our poorest piece of creative work. We know from stories around the industry, our creative agency teams are being asked to remove diverse characters from scripts, based around race, faith or sexuality. Making assumptions around a market and or target audience can perpetuate outdated - and dangerous - stereotypes. Advertising shapes culture, society and the way groups of people are perceived, so what’s our point of view as an industry? How can brands collaborate closer with our agency partners to ensure our advertising is authentically representative?
Join a high-powered line up on October 15, 10-11am for ISBA members only.
Hear from:
Nathalie Lam, Head of Global Sponsorship, Philips
Gráinne Wafer, Global Brand Director, Guinness (pictured)
Stephanie Matthews, Partnerships Director, Creative Equals
And special guest...
WATCH & WEEP: the Jo Malone car-crash shows why #RewriteTheScript is so important. Why did this creative director think it was acceptable to censor actor John Boyega from his own London narrative and replace him with a Chinese stand in for the 'local market adaption'? See the comparisons here.
THE NEWS: Every day, it feels hard to wake up and read the news. Yesterday, Trump failed to condemn the right wing group, 'Proud Boys' in a presidential election debate and refused to disavow white supremacy. He has also banned bias training as being 'Anti-American'. We have no words.
CELEBRATE: To end on a high, we urge you to check out blackhistorymonth.org.uk for resources and ideas on celebrating Black Excellence. We love the recent Royal Mail campaign to paint postboxes Black to honour Sir Lenny Henry, nursing pioneer Mary Seacole, artist Yinka Shonibare and footballer Walter Tull. There were four painted. Next year, we hope there are 1,000.
Enjoy Black History Month!
The Creative Equals team