Tag Warner, CEO of GAY TIMES and Anna Dalziel, Founder of 40 Over Forty explore how the industry’s obsession with age is undermining progress.
The dual narrative at the heart of the conversation about ageism is that, on the one hand, the industry fetishes youth but doesn’t want to listen to their voices whilst simultaneously ostracising those over the age of 35 to the point where many are forced out of the industry altogether. So, too old or too young, but what is just right?
Anna Dalziel, Founder of 40 Over Forty and Director of Brand at Momentum Worldwide and Tag Warner, CEO of GAY TIMES joined Izzy Ashton, Deputy Editor at BITE to explore how the industry’s obsession with age is undermining progress, highlighting the dangers of pervasive stereotypes, shifting the narrative and empowering communities to speak up rather than be spoken for.
Look to leadership. “Do you have a healthy leadership and is your leadership diverse and inclusive?” For Anna Dalziel, Founder of 40 Over Forty and Director of Brand at Momentum Worldwide, her first piece of advice underlines the fact that an inclusive culture comes from the top.
Accountability drives change. Tag Warner, CEO of GAY TIMES points to the need to have KPIs within businesses to hold people accountable. He explains: “You see so many different brands and agencies signing up to this and that, pledges for this pledges for that, but I think ultimately we need to make sure that we're holding ourselves accountable to really make change.”
Assumptions are the death of creativity. All too often advertising is guilty of relying on stereotypes. The notion that age is the defining characteristic of any given consumer group is woefully out of touch. So too is the assumption that the right to have an opinion automatically equates to your tenure or position.
Embrace the radical act of active listening. As Warner explains: “A great way to approach this is just by respecting and placing the same value on that person's voice than on your own. This listening is particularly vital within business.” Dalziel urges companies to ask truly open-ended questions rather than seeing feedback as a box-ticking exercise. She adds: “It's really important to have an open and honest space, a safe space to have a two way conversation.”
To read a full write up of the event, visit the dedicated BITE page, Too young to have an opinion, too old to be relevant?
We address ageism in the industry and much more around the dangers of stereotypes, as BITE LIVE continues to push progress forward. BITE LIVE 2020 is completely virtual this year, and free to attend, so discover more interesting events in our full line up below.
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