Diversity
Ingram’s has heard the complaint on more than one occasion that the industry group photographs featured on the cover of these sections are insufficiently diverse. This is a question that Ingram’s threw back to those assembled.
At Kuhn & Wittenborn, as Julie
Robinson explained, diversity is a “huge
concern” in part because it plays into the
relevance the agency will continue to have
with its clients. She added, “It does
need to be a joint effort among agencies,
and it’s an educational issue.”
“There is a regional issue there too,” added Ethan Whitehill. Others concurred, among them Arlo Oviatt. Given the relative homogeneity of the Kansas City region, he acknowledged that even large agencies like Bernstein-Rein find it difficult to pull candidates from the more diverse markets on the coast.
A decade or so ago, Sullivan, Higdon & Sink established a minority scholarship for advertising, which included a full ride and a job upon graduation with the firm. John January noted, “We had extreme trouble getting candidates to even apply.”
With relatively few minorities in the
Midwest, Two West has had its best success
recruiting international students.
“Not only is it ethnic diversity,” said
Whitehill, explaining the value of such
a strategy, “it is diversity of cultural
perspective.”
Bernstein-Rein often partners with agencies that specialize in African-American or Hispanic marketing. “We’re a business that finds the niches,” explained Arlo Oviatt. “That has been true for ethnicity and cultural diversity as well.”
Corporate Culture
Historically, advertising has cultivated a high-anxiety, high-performance environment, perhaps more so than any other industry. The question was raised as to whether this continues to be true.
Arlo Oviatt traced some of the historical tension to the subjectivity of the creative process. An individual can have a strong personal work ethic and a good attitude, but if his creative output does not hold up to the admittedly “subjective standard” around him, it can be difficult for everyone.
"It’s an unforgiving business,” affirmed John Harrington. “If you’re not delivering what needs to be delivered, you’re not going to be there for very long.” That much said, he has seen a trend towards more humane treatment of employees in the recent past.