WFA’s Global Equality, Diversity and Inclusion survey aims to highlight opportunities and challenges facing the advertising industry

One of the many unfortunate byproducts of the global pandemic is that the strains and pressures it has generated have made it harder for many organisations to prioritise their diversity and inclusion efforts. Research has additionally found that many women have considered leaving the advertising and marketing profession.

However, just how much impact it has had on the advertising industry, has been hard to gauge.

One of our key partners, The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), has launched the world’s first global census of the marketing and advertising industry, designed to provide hard data on the people who are working in the profession.

As the region’s leading advertising and marketing self-regulatory body, and given the dearth of data in our region, the ABG has confirmed its participation in this research to help prepare a baseline for MENA. The ABG therefore encourages all industry stakeholders to participate and provide feedback as the results will also be used as the basis for an action plan devised and led by WFA’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. The WFA intends to team up with Kantar and Campaign again in 18 months’ time to measure progress.

The Equality, Inclusion and Diversity survey will assess where the global advertising and marketing industry is in relation to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The results will be compiled and analyzed by Kantar and the key findings will be published by Campaign’s global network of editions later in the year and presented at leading industry events in October.

As well as looking at the workforce composition across the industry, it will assess people’s perception of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, including their sense of belonging and perception of progress.

The initiative builds on work already carried out in the UK as part of the All In Initiative as well as the many efforts led in the US by ANA and 4As and in other markets, with the aim of establishing a tangible baseline for the global industry.