{"id":25743,"date":"2023-04-20T09:03:09","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T16:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/presskitchen.com\/?p=25743"},"modified":"2026-01-28T09:50:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T09:50:20","slug":"improving-advertisings-diversity-starts-with-directors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.techsystintel.com\/press_kitchen_dev\/improving-advertisings-diversity-starts-with-directors\/","title":{"rendered":"Sound Off Film’s CEO\/EP Adrienne Hall says Improving Advertising’s Diversity Starts with Directors, via Shots"},"content":{"rendered":"

The director bidding system comes under scrutiny from\u00a0Adrienne Hall<\/em>, CEO\/EP at\u00a0Sound Off Films<\/a>, who feels that, while it has the ability to bolster both creativity and diversity, it’s currently not living up to its potential.<\/h1>\n
<\/div>\n
Something a bit disconcerting happened to me on a recent pitch for an ad campaign. I found an incredible director, who was a woman, to put forward for a job.<\/div>\n
\n

One of the agency representatives, upon seeing the bid, remarked how strong the creative was and that they were very pleased to see women on the bid\u2026 as if they were surprised.<\/p>\n

Of course, I\u2019m not insinuating a director should be picked for their gender alone. The tone of the scenario, however, implied the clients were more concerned with women being bid than being seriously considered; especially as I later learned the parties involved had the selected director in mind well before the open call was made.<\/p>\n

In my view, this agency missed an opportunity for authentic representation. Improving gender diversity among commercial directors can spur a ripple effect in authentic representation for brand campaigns, particularly as this director\u2019s diverse vision ultimately steers the creative for the campaign. Any director\u2019s unique perspective bleeds into the ad creative – from the brief, to the shoot, to the end results – and audiences take notice. Creating a diverse concept is a part of the job but, until the director and production crew are also diverse, the job is only half finished.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

I know the bidding system can be rife with politics and insider dealings, which is precisely what could be holding back the incredible new potential for creativity in advertising. To bolster diversity – for women and directors of every race and sexuality – I propose considerations to the bidding system that ensure agencies or brands are picking the right talent for the job:<\/p>\n

Empower women in leadership roles<\/h3>\n

I feel like I could have gotten a straightforward assessment of what I felt and saw in my agency example if I had a woman in leadership to speak to within the agency. Alas, the top brass happened to be men.\u00a0According to LinkedIn data<\/a>, women occupy 48% of the media and communications workforce, but just 37% of leadership roles. This impacts the trickle-down decisions that leaders make every day, including in whose vision they\u2019ll trust for their ad campaign.<\/p>\n

If the \u2018room where it happens\u2019 isn\u2019t inclusive of more viewpoints than those of just men, or just white individuals, they may not have the experience or information to consider all the angles of a choice that a leader of another gender or race may suggest. Do we need to bring up the Pepsi\u00a0Live For Now<\/em>\u00a0example again?\u00a0After staffing up, give women the tools and information to make their own decisions. If I have questions about a brief and direct those questions to a woman, I would love for her to feel comfortable answering me directly, and not have to \u201ccheck in with her team.\u201d I don\u2019t hear that phrase very often from male direct reports.<\/p>\n

\n

Pepsi \u2013 Jump\u00a0In<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n