Everything we do needs to be grounded with the right intentions

Lindsay LaBennett of Wasserman shows that for genuine lasting progress, the work must be ongoing, not just when there's a holiday to celebrate

出自 India Fizer , AdForum

 

Laundry Service
广告/全方位服务/整合传播
Brooklyn, 美国
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Wasserman
Los Angeles, 美国
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Lindsay LaBennett
AVP, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Wasserman
 

Leading Laundry Service's DE&I resources, Lindsay LaBennett, AVP of Equity and Impact at Wasserman, explains how she helps clients cultivate health environments of equity, inclusion and cultural awareness/appreciation year-round.

Please talk about your role and your approach to improving diversity and inclusion internally. Do you think that industry as a whole has genuinely created pathways for equal opportunities, starting with graduate hires through to senior roles?

As the AVP of Equity and Impact, I’m responsible for developing systems, policies, programs and initiatives to move our business and our clients forward in the space of equity, inclusion and cultural awareness/appreciation. My approach is to help lead our company from a position of transparency, acknowledging the small wins and progress while working towards addressing more difficult gaps and challenges. Our industry has definitely achieved strides in certain areas – campaign representation, storytelling from diverse POV’s – which speaks to more intentional hires and thoughtful creative. But there are still gaps when it comes to career pathing and growth from middle management to leadership for Black marketers and creatives. Pathways can be created, but if the follow-through of hiring, retaining and nurturing Black talent isn't prioritized, genuine progress is jeopardized.

 

How are you advising your clients to connect their brands with BIPOC communities?

We ensure that first, our clients are informed. You cannot connect with the Black community – or other marginalized groups – if you aren’t educated or exposed to the real issues impacting their daily lives. And people with lived experiences within those communities enhance your marketing strategy, comms approach, and beyond. Building a real relationship with people of color goes beyond ads and the cultural moment acknowledgement. Policies, investment and  ongoing conversation drive change, even when there isn’t a holiday to celebrate.

 

What are some steps companies can take to avoid appearing as though they are pandering rather than authentically improving their inclusivity?

Avoid leveraging the moment for commercial gain and be thoughtful about what this holiday means to your employees and the community. Companies also need to be careful to not singularly feature Black culture imagery during February ONLY, and think about how Black culture, creatives, perspectives can be connected year-round. Lastly, companies should avoid the idea that they have it all figured out – that everything they say and do has to be part of addressing a larger issue or fixing a societal issue. The issues that impact the Black community are nuanced, layered and have a very complicated history. A brand won’t have the solution; to present as if they do is tone deaf and counterproductive.

 

What efforts has your agency offered to support the BIPOC community in the ad industry?

The most important Black community we offer support to has to be our Black employees first. As an agency, we are only as good as our work product. So, we make sure our house is in order before we can make a greater impact on the outside. For our Black employees, we create spaces where they can build community, feel supported in career pathing and be properly rewarded and appreciated for their contributions. That happens through our monthly Black ERG (FUBU) check-ins; resources we provide during Minority Mental Health Month and throughout the year; providing opportunities for our employees to build their personal brands via conferences like ADCOLOR or CultureCon, and more. We know the best creative is produced in healthy environments; the more we can contribute to making sure our copywriters, creative directors, producers, etc. can feel safe, supported, and encouraged, their work will continually inspire the greater ad industry.

And that’s important to the ethos of Laundry Service, specifically – being creative thought leaders. So, the environment at LS must encourage creativity to bloom from a state of freedom. What better way to create that space than allowing our team to show up authentically?

 

Is there anything else you’d like to share about what your agency is up to this month?

Part of our Black History Month acknowledgment has been to inform others in our industry of the dos and don’ts of using Black History Month as a calendar focus for marketing, along with educating our workforce on the lesser-known contributions of Black creators and geniuses. Celebrating the great accomplishments, old and new, of Black people is a dynamic task – and everything we do to be grounded with the right intentions.