WACL (Women in Advertising and Communications, Leadership) was founded back in 1923. Yet over a hundred years later it feels that the work we do has never been more needed.

Our mission? To accelerate gender equality in our industry for the good of all. Our aim? For 50% of CEOs to be women by 2045, doubling the current rate of change. But it’s a long road, in 2024, less than 6% of CEOs in the FTSE 350 were women.

In just a few short months the world has shifted on its axis – DEI is not just under threat but in serious danger of disappearing completely. We are faced with gargantuan corporates panicking in a Trump 2.0 world, and as they feverishly roll back we see the sun set on years of hard-fought progress.

That’s why now, more than ever, we need advertising to be a beacon of positive representation.

How the North fuels systemic change

I discussed this existential moment and much more at MAD//Fest’s recent Manchester debut MAD//UpNorth. With a powerful panel of the UK’s top marketing leaders from brands headquartered outside of London, featuring Co-Op’s Chief Membership and Customer Officer Kenyatte Nelson, Channel 4 CMO Katie Jackson, and On the Beach CMO Zoe Harris, we demonstrated that the North is truly leading the way in inclusion.

The panel explored the role our industry can play in defending the line in DEI - fueling representation in marketing and communication. What does good look like and how do we get there? How can we unlock better representation not just in our creative work but also in how we work to foster more inclusive creative practices across every axis of representation?

All of this theme sits in one of the five core WACL Levers for Change - the aptly titled “Work Like The World is Watching”. It’s all about creating workplace cultures where women can really thrive, and ensuring we’re properly representing all the women who make up our consumers and audiences, too.

Because inclusive advertising creates better outcomes for society and business. That was the resounding message from my panellists.

Kenyatte talked powerfully about social mobility and how Co-Op, the UK’s first retailer to report on its socio-economic pay gap, has made socio-economic belonging a protected class. “We’re just doing the right thing - serving our audience and members by truly reflecting them”, he said.

Relatable representation was at the heart of Zoe’s perspective, as she talked about how bringing real and authentic families into her advertising has fueled huge brand and sales growth.

And Katie inspired us with the wonderful work Channel 4 is doing to help advertisers re-wire the very fundamentals of inclusivity with initiatives such as “Inclusive by Design” – which serves to encourage more brands to innovate in the craft of advertising, and make it possible for all consumers to fully experience and engage with brands.

The need for change

Yet inclusion isn’t just an ethical imperative. There’s also a clear business case: it’s good for business and for society. It’s not some zero sum game; to quote art of the deal parlance, it’s a win-win.

Recent global Unstereotype Alliance research shows that inclusive advertising drives both sales and brand equity. In fact, there’s a whopping 16% lift in sales for brands with inclusive advertising.

But despite this overwhelmingly positive evidence, there’s still so much more to be done. The same research shows that only 1% of ads featured someone with a disability, compared to the reality of 15% of the global population. There is also ongoing discrimination based on age, with people over the age of 40, particularly women, woefully underrepresented, with only 21% of ads featuring this demographic

And we can’t ignore the regional and social mobility bias. According to UM research, 56% of non-Londoners feel that how they’re portrayed in ads doesn’t resonate with who they are. 

Driving positive change

Representation is at the beating heart of WACL - and we know that we have more to do. Not least our own focus on promoting different types of female leaders and communities, from places outside of London and working class backgrounds, with more focus on social mobility.

We used our presence at MAD//UpNorth to announce the development of WACL North which I’ll be helping to drive, building on events we’ve done in Liverpool and Manchester in recent years and the fabulous work in WACL Scotland, another amazing community of female leaders in the worlds of advertising and communications.

At WACL, we believe passionately that the work we do in advertising and communications, can play a vital role in the world today to shine a light on the brands that continue to do good and show diversity and inclusion in all its beautiful facets.

Let marketers, creatives and indeed businesses, use this moment to take a stand and show what we’re made of. Ultimately, “Deeds not words” uttered by Emmeline Pankhurst has never been more resonant.