Diversity in advertising and media expressions

I think we all remember Pepsi's terribly failed campaign with Kendall Jenner. In addition to Pepsi, there are many other brands that have a place in the list of monumental failed campaigns. But why do many advertisements and media communications fail? And can they easily avoid this? In a nutshell, it often has to do with diversity.

It's 2018, but many marketers are still clinging to what they learned 100 years ago. Not being diverse in advertising is the old way of marketing. Different messages resonate with different audiences. To avoid becoming the next downer or leaving money on the table by failing to appeal to a broad audience, it's important to understand why diversity in advertising matters and how to diversify your content. In recent years, 'diversity' has become a dirty and divisive word. It is full of meaning. It's a word that provokes extreme reactions from the political left to the political right, and every political graduation in between. But what we mean by diversity is culture, ethnicity, gender, faith-based beliefs, sexuality, socio-economic outcomes, educational attainment and more. Diversity is reflecting the world we live in without prejudice.

Why is it so important?

Besides being the right thing to do, from a business perspective, a diversity of advertising has the potential to generate tangible benefits. Not only do minority groups have enormous purchasing power, but these groups are tight-knit communities that wield social media influence among their peers.

New markets equal new revenue streams. For example, Fenty Beauty, a cosmetics brand founded by Rihanna, launched forty shades of foundation for men and women of all shades. In the world of makeup, such an extensive launch, especially for a new brand, is rare. In the first month of launch, the brand saw $72 million in earned media value and over 132 million views on YouTube. To the surprise of other cosmetic companies, foundation shades at both ends of the light and dark spectrum sold out first. People with a very light skin color and people with a very deep skin color do not have access to the right colored products from other make up brands. That's why they turned to Fenty for their cosmetic needs.

This is just an example. But besides all the bad examples of failed campaigns, we can all take a great example from campaigns like Fenty's. So do you as a company want to do the right thing and also increase your turnover? Then make sure that you also use diversity in the right way!