Addressing racism in the marketing profession requires a concerted effort from individuals, organizations, and the industry

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

The world of marketing is a dynamic and ever-changing field; it plays a crucial role in driving sales, building brand awareness, and fostering customer loyalty. The world of marketing continues to evolve with advancements in technology and changes in consumer behavior. Successful marketers stay updated with the latest trends, adapt to new platforms and mediums, and understand the needs and preferences of their target audience to create impactful and effective marketing campaigns.

Unfortunately, like many industries racism is a serious issue that has been widely discussed and documented. People of color, including Black, Indigenous, and other ethnic minority professionals, often face challenges and discrimination in the marketing workplace. These challenges can manifest in various ways, including unequal opportunities for career advancement, pay disparities, lack of representation in leadership positions, and microaggressions from colleagues or clients.

One of the primary issues in the marketing profession is the lack of diversity. Many marketing teams lack representation from different ethnic backgrounds, leading to a lack of diverse perspectives in marketing campaigns and strategies.  This is why addressing racism in the marketing profession requires a concerted effort from individuals, organizations, and the industry as a whole.

The Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) made a pledge in 2020 to combat racism, discrimination, unconscious bias, and systemic barriers to inclusion in the marketing profession. One action they have taken is to conduct research to identify actionable insights about the challenges that employees from BIPOC and other marginalized communities face in the workplace and identify steps that organizations and colleagues can take to improve outcomes not only for individuals, but also for the organizations where they work.

In all three years of the research, survey results indicate that having well-diversified leadership makes employees feel: valued, included, and invested in business success. There was near unanimous agreement (96%) — even among organizations whose leadership is not diverse — that a diverse and inclusive workforce is a business growth opportunity.

In diverse and inclusive work environments, there is greater innovation and creativity, a better understanding of customers and clients, and stronger employee morale and engagement. There is near universal agreement that having a diverse and inclusive workplace supports business growth. There is greater innovation and creativity, a better understanding of customers and clients, and stronger employee morale and engagement.

Yet many organizations have not made much progress in increasing the diversity of their senior leadership. In workplaces whose leadership is not diverse, employee disengagement rates are significantly higher than in previous years (60% in 2023 compared to 52% in 2022). When these employees feel disengaged, most (65%) will start looking for a new job.

While fewer respondents report witnessing discriminatory behaviour than they did last year (78% in 2023 compared to 85% in 2022), more than two-thirds (68%) of marketers in non-diversified workplaces say they’ve experienced micro-aggressions.

Employees at less diverse organizations are far less likely to feel included at their workplace and are more likely to be less engaged at least sometimes. By comparison, only few employees in organizations with well-diversified leadership say they feel disengaged (17%) and nearly all (94%) say they feel included.

The Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) released a new discussion guide, DEI in the Workplace: A Discussion Guide for Leadership Teams. The new discussion guide aims to help organizations articulate a commitment and define their scope of activities to create a more inclusive and equitable work environment. The discussion guide identifies conversation starters and addresses a variety of topics, such as: ageism, employing newcomers, and employees’ sentiment and expectations within the Canadian marketing industry.

The conversation starters they introduce are intended to help organizational leaders articulate a commitment and define the scope of activities they will undertake to create a more inclusive and equitable work environment, and to improve employee engagement and morale.

For managers in the marketing space, take a look at the guide and choose which topics are most relevant to begin discussions in your organization. A crucial step in creating more equitable and inclusive workplaces is to create a safe place for employees to have open and meaningful conversations.