Just over fifty years ago, an episode of Star Trek broadcast the first interracial kiss on American television.

The episode aired just one year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loving v. Virginia decision struck down state laws against interracial marriage. At the time, Gallup polls showed that fewer than 20 percent of Americans approved of such relationships.

It’s impossible to overstate the significance of this moment. And it almost never happened.

A year before, Nichelle Nichols had considered quitting the role to star in a Broadway show. But at a NAACP fundraiser in Los Angeles, she ran into Martin Luther King Jr.

“You must not leave,” King told her. “You have opened a door that must not be allowed to close…you changed the face of television forever. For the first time, the world sees us as we should be seen. As equals, as intelligent people.”

Representation in the media is crucial. People of all walks of life should be able to look at their screen and see aspects of themselves looking back. And this is as true in advertising as it is in entertainment.

At System1, we produced a report in partnership with ITV and DECA, diversity media specialists, called Feeling Seen – examining the importance of diversity and inclusion in advertising and advertising’s role to truly understand the needs and lives of those featured.

The report explored 30 ads from the last few years which aimed to be diverse and inclusive - and uncovered five key insights into what makes inclusive advertising effective.

Feeling Seen Feels Good                      

Across every diverse group we sampled, we saw the same thing. There were ads which scored significantly higher among the diversity segment (eg Black British, LGBTQ+) than among the general population control group. In almost all cases these were ads which already scored well - gaining 3-Stars or more - but saw a big uplift among the specific groups included in the ad.

This is a win-win – these ads are both commercially effective for the general population but also score even higher among the diversity segment they represent. Representation improves emotional response: feeling seen feels good.

Diverse Advertising Unites Us

While we regularly saw the level and intensity of emotion increase for our diversity segments, it’s important to stress that in other ways there was very little difference in the responses of the diversity segments and the control group.

Nothing in the results suggested that brands should be making different ads for different audiences – instead what came through is that diverse advertising unites us. In most cases, different groups respond to the same things in the same way – it’s only the magnitude of that response that shifts.      

For example, with every advert we tracked the moment by moment response so we could see which elements in the ad triggered the most emotion. We found that these “emotional journeys” were the same among the diversity segments and the general population group.                              

Celebrate Lives and Cultures  

What do advertisers get wrong about diversity? They often go to one of two extremes. At one end is shallow representation - showing people from an under-represented group but in a way that feels inauthentic and diluted.                                                                      

When we talked to people from the diversity segments, something they really noticed was when brands did or didn’t go beyond simple representation into a more authentic space, by reflecting the way clothes, home decor, mealtime behaviour and other cultural touches differ across groups. Those little details can be so important.                                                          

At the other end of the scale, brands wanting to show allyship or their commitment to different communities often look to make an impact by addressing a specific issue and making ads that are hard-hitting. There’s a place for great campaigning and educational work by brands and agencies, which can generate vital publicity and attention. But broadcast advertising doesn’t have to work this way, and there’s a tension between reflecting real issues and showing only stereotypes of struggle and pain among under- represented groups.                                          

Different People. Same Rules.    

Lots of the ads we saw told stories - but not all stories are told well. The best inclusive ads also have wider appeal. The uplift effect among diversity segments is worth far more to brands if the baseline response to an ad is also very positive.

McCain’s “We Are Family” ad, which prominently featured a pair of Muslim women, is a heart-warming, celebratory ad which scored an excellent 4.7-Stars among the general population. That served as a springboard for the fantastic 5.8-Star score the ad achieved among British Asian viewers.                         

At the other end of the scale there’s an ad like FIFA’s “Ramadan Football”, which tells a very interesting story about young Muslim men getting together to celebrate breaking their Ramadan fast with a kickabout. The general population audience found the ad a bit murky and confusing, and only gave it 2.1-Stars. We did see an uplift among British Asian viewers, but only to 3.3-Stars. So some viewers felt more seen, but even for them that wasn’t enough to make it a truly great ad.

Diverse Is Not An Identity

We’ve outlined the four general insights we uncovered in the study. But there’s a fifth, which is that generalisation in the area of diversity isn’t always useful.

“Diverse” is not an identity - it’s an outcome which you only get by understanding and respecting identities. The different groups we looked at certainly did not all react the same way to the ads which attempted to include them.

Each group contains multiple identities, and each group also has had a different history with advertising. Black viewers liked the IKEA ad, for instance, because it celebrated Black happiness and showed a range of skin-tones - rather than one lighter-skinned Black person or biracial individual, as they felt happened a lot.

Diverse groups don’t think or act as one – it’s better to tell someone’s story well than try and tell everyone’s story badly.

The world has changed a great deal since Captain Kirk kissed Lieutenant Uhura. But there is still much more to be done in progressing diversity and big opportunities for brands to deliver genuine representation in our media. Advertisers have a significant responsibility to drive this agenda - and have the opportunity to create more engaging, effective work in the process.

Feeling Seen has clearly proven that advertising works when brands create positive associations and strong emotions. Advertising that creates sustained emotional response, and that makes people feel good, drives brand growth. And when people feel seen, they feel good.