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October 2008 - Strategy Magazine
Biz

Inclusion in advertising

by By Rakshande Italia
page 12

Strategy recently received an email with the subject line: "Racism in commercials." It asked why there were rarely people of color in commercials in anything but secondary roles. Good question. The consumerscape in Canada continues to diversify, but have marketing departments and ad agencies kept pace with the change? Do marcom programs reflect the new multicultural mix? What can be done? We decided to find out.

Panel

Barb Tilly is marketing communications manager at Ford of Canada, where she oversees multicultural communications, as well as Lincoln marcom. Previously she led multicultural research with a focus on opportunities to grow Ford's image within the Asian communities in Canada, and oversaw its Chinese-language TV and print executions.

Jacquie Hood is sales development manager at OMNI TV, whose remit now includes Roger's new OMNI channels in Calgary and Edmonton.

Tony Pigott is president and CEO, JWT Canada. In 2001, he launched JWT Social - now Ethos - a service specializing in strategic marketing for non-profit institutions. He has chaired the Committee on Diversity in Advertising, which researched Canadians' perceptions of how the industry is doing on the inclusion front.

Saul Gitlin is EVP strategic services, Kang & Lee Advertising in New York. He spent nine years in senior marketing roles overseas - seven in China and two in the Middle East. He serves on the Asian American Advertising Federation board and the Advertising Research Foundation's Multicultural Research Council.

Prasad Rao is business director and partner at Toronto-based Rao Barrett and Welsh, with experience in integrated multimedia campaigns. The agency has worked in Asia and Africa, and specializes in communicating to the South Asian and Chinese communities. Its clients include TD Canada Trust, CBC, Bell Mobility and Diageo. Rao was also formerly CEO of Ammirati Puris Lintas in Tanzania.

Mark Childs is VP marketing at Campbell Company of Canada, where he leads the Canadian soup, beverage and cracker brand portfolios and participates on the Canadian senior leadership team. Childs is active in the company's diversity programs, and launched OPEN - Our Pride Employee Network, an internal GBLT affinity network.

Moderator:

Joan McArthur is a partner at 27 Marbles Training, where she teaches courses for advertising and marketing professionals. She also teaches at OCAD, and has 20 years of experience at agencies including Ogilvy & Mather and McCann Erickson (now MacLaren McCann).

When a leading paper in Toronto pictured five toddlers from different ethnic backgrounds on its front page, it echoed Statistics Canada's prediction of the country's cultural composition in the near future. The 2006 census data reveals that from 2001 to 2006 the number of visible minorities grew at a rate of 27.2% - five times that of the population as a whole. Of these ethnic groups, the two largest, South Asians and Chinese, already account for 8.5% of the population, and are pegged to constitute 15% by 2017.

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