Young Glory Unconscious Bias in the Advertising Industry Brief: ColourFull
** This project was completed as part of a school assignment and is not meant to be a direct comment on, or reflection of, the corporate cultures, diversity, and commitment to equality of the agencies included. Agencies were chosen based purely on the recognition of their names / logos as well as their client list, many of which were chosen because they have signature colours associated with their brands. **
Brief
Come up with an idea, campaign, or a movement that will make employers and hiring managers come to terms with their own unconscious bias in the workplace. Beyond awareness, we want them to act and start correcting the situation.
Solution
We created a “Guerrilla B2B” campaign on behalf of the Canadian Centre For Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) and Ad Standards Canada that targets advertising agencies using their own language: client focus. This is a three channelled campaign that uses ambient / OOH advertisements, direct-mail, and a “watchdog” style website. It’s called "ColourFull".
Rationale and Execution
The advertising industry, despite employing some of the most dynamic, creative individuals working today, is still largely perceived as white-male dominated as a result of the unconscious bias of hiring managers. Given that creative professionals are mentally trained to take in visual stimuli and seek out the unusual, we decided on an intentionally subversive, ambiguous approach to pique curiosity. By challenging their identity in a direct, visual manner, we hope that creative directors and hiring managers will stop to reflect on the biases they may or may not have.
For the print campaign, we chose brands with trademarked or recognizable colours, as their “white” presentation would give the greatest sense of contrast. By rendering brand logos in white, we rob them of their “voice” and character.Creative agencies that lack this same sort of diversity can be seen in much the same light. They lack impact. For the sake of this campaign, white is a metaphor for sameness and bias, whereas colour is a metaphor for diversity and creativity. By placing posters with logos specific to the clients that the included agencies work for near their workplace, we hope that employees will recognize the altered marks and explore the campaign by searching #ColourFull.
The “white” agency-logo card, to be mailed to corresponding agency employees, is a more direct call-to-action, meant to force a recognition that, even in a metaphorical sense, their agency / identity simply isn’t interesting when it’s “all white.” Upon searching the hashtag, they will come across the “ColourFull Project” watchdog site, revealing the “competition” wherein agencies can monitor their own progress and those of other agencies to see who is actively acknowledging unconscious bias, address it, and restore the identity that they have spent so many years building.
Mockups of the poster coverage that will be placed near agencies with their corresponding clients / accounts (McCann, Ogilvy, Cossette, and John St.)
Mockup of the business cards that will be sent to agency employees the same day as the poster launch. The cards will be waiting for agency employees as they come into work, having just seen their street covered in their clients' "whited out" logos and accompanying copy.
Mockup video of the ColourFull site's landing page becoming active once the theme has been revealed
Mockup video of how the agency list page will look, and the overall progress agencies are making towards completing the initiatives. Industry insiders can keep track of their own agency as well others, adding an element of competition and accountability.
Upon clicking on an agency's logo, a new window opens up to show which initiatives the agency has completed and how it directly relates to the re-colouration of their logo.
