Marketing leaders have urged the industry to recognise and respond to the climate of fear in the creative industries, both as organisations and individuals.

Speaking at the Courageous Leaders Live conference, Efrain Ayala, Global Creativeness and D&I Director at Reckitt, explained: “You can’t not see news about DEI roles being rolled back. We have seen horror stories of brands getting it wrong.”

This is creating an ecosystem which, according to Ayala, is contributing to a climate of fear. A climate which means that marketing and agency teams alike are struggling to make decisions, or relying too much on making decisions by committee. Ayala adds: “I can feel marketers receding into their familiarity bias.”

In this environment pushing for progress is in itself a courageous act. “When I am trying to create change and harness the power of iconic brands to create change I have to agitate. I think I need to be more disruptive,” Ayla explained to the audience.

Ayala pointed out that in the DEI sphere the phrase ‘meet people where they are’ is unhelpful in creating meaningful change. Ayala joined Reckitt in 2020 and has led a transformation of D&I at the business. A career choice driven by a desire to meaningfully contribute to society.

This ‘steep learning curve’ has led to some industry-defining work, such as the ‘See My Pain’ platform for Nurofen, created in partnership with McCann London. A revolutionary advertising message which underlined the lived experience of the gender pain gap.

Ayala urged the audience to embrace persistence and patience. Pointing to the example of Reckitt’s internal guidance to support production staff on set as one example of successfully playing the long game. “If a production company or an agency can’t create a space where people can feel safe, we don’t work with them,” Ayala added.

Explaining that the average marketer is doing a million different things, Ayala explained how important it is to ensure they understand the business benefit of DEI.

For Reckitt, the responsibility to tackle stereotypes of marketing was rooted in the fact that not only does the brand have lots of products in the home it also has a huge media spend. Ayala explained: “We have a responsibility in a world where young girls are losing their confidence at such a young age. We have a huge impact with our media spend.”

From a marketing perspective standing still and not tackling harmful stereotypes would create a ‘capability gap’ between the brands and its competitors.

The power of ‘fuck it’ energy

In a creative ecosystem in which decisions are being delayed and procrastination can so often trump progress the panel discussed the importance of taking action.

Maria McDowell, Operations Director at Publicis Poke and Founder of Lollipop Mentoring, urged the audience to embrace the courage of ‘fuck it.’

“I was paralysed by fear for much of my career,” she shared. Today she faces challenges head-on with passion, rather than letting fear hold her back.

McDowell urged the audience to embrace transparency. “One of the bugbears I have is people that sit on the fence,” she explained. She added that sometimes: “It is better to make the wrong decision and quickly pivot rather than sit in indecision.” She added, “If you are honest and open it will be ok.”

“I was always worried about how I would be perceived as a black woman, as being too aggressive.” A lens that meant she was consistently seeking validation from others. Her experience of founding Lollipop mentoring, a mentoring programme for black women, enabled her to challenge the status quo with action.

“I wanted to do something to help people but I was so scared of people judging me,” she added. A fear which meant that while she launched Lollipop quietly, it grew quickly. Despite not sleeping for a week when she did her first panel discussion, her persistence has eclipsed her fear.

“We should all do things that scare us,” she explained, adding that she ensures Lollipop mentees speak at Lollipop events so they can shed that fear early in their careers.

Embracing Trust

Lizi Hamer, Global Executive Creative Director at Octagon and No2ndPlace, urged the audience to critically think about trust and how to build it as a team. “You want to be challenging and to push. I am bold and I am loud and that doesn’t fly every time,” she shared.

Hamer believes that it is important to create an environment in which people can be honest about the fears that might be holding them back. She shared that intentionally setting up a ‘pre-mortem’ as well as a ‘post-mortem’ of a creative project where everyone can voice their fears, helps to create a culture in which people aren’t afraid to fail.

Hamer continued that to be brave in a situation you have to know who you are. “When you put in the time to be prepared for a tough conversation. You have been invited to the table because you can look at something in a different way. We have to be OK with that difference,” says Hamer.

The most important thing is to meet the challenge of creating connection and psychological safety in a hybrid working world. “It is a long-term play and investment you need to make,” added Hamer.