Association of National Advertisers (ANA) client-side marketers are making strong progress in achieving gender balance among CMOs, but in stark contrast there remains significant work to do in attaining ethnic diversity.
Those are the findings of the ANA’s inaugural CMO “scorecard,” an annual exercise designed to highlight marketers’ progress at establishing gender equality and ethnic diversity at the most senior marketing position in each member company. The tally identifies the profile of the CMO/CMO-equivalent at each of ANA’s 747 client-side marketer company members, and the findings were announced this week at ANA’s Brand Masters Conference in Dana Point, Calif.
In gender equality, the ANA reported that among its client-side member companies, 335 (45 percent) of the top marketer positions are female while the balance, 412 (55 percent), are male.
However, despite the acknowledgment of and significant emphasis on the necessity of having more marketers of color occupying the top ranks, the data suggests a material shortfall in fulfilling diversity objectives. Only 13 percent of CMOs and CMO equivalents are people of color:
- White: 655 (87 percent)
- Asian: 35 (5 percent)
- Hispanic/Latin: 34 (5 percent)
- Black/African-American: 23 (3 percent)
“Industry progress begins with understanding the facts about our marketplace,” said ANA CEO Bob Liodice. “For too long, we’ve relied on inference and innuendo rather than hard facts and data. We’ve now planted a ‘stake in the ground’ against which we can begin to track our progress annually. But knowing these results is just the first step. We need complete commitment throughout our industry to create lasting change.”
For the ANA, there are two major initiatives underway that are designed to engineer greater progress:
The ANA’s Alliance for Family Entertainment (AFE) has championed the #SeeHer campaign to promote the accurate portrayal of women and young girls in advertising and the media. One critical goal of #SeeHer is to achieve a 20 percent improvement in women’s portrayal by 2020, the 100th anniversary of women receiving the right to vote in the U.S. As this campaign has spread, the effort has sparked a broader movement to pursue gender equality across many fronts. The #SeeHer movement counts more than 60 companies as members and is growing rapidly.
The ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) is working to unite the industry to elevate diversity and increase multicultural marketing as strategic marketing imperatives. With business and brand growth lacking, aligning ethnic-focused marketing with the demography of the U.S. is critical to fundamental growth objectives. Nearly 70 companies from all corners of the industry have joined the ANA in this movement. AIMM brings together senior thought leaders from the Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latin, Asian, LGBTQ, and general market communities to create a united blueprint for the evolution of multicultural and diverse-segment marketing in the U.S.
“We want to position AIMM as a powerful voice in diversity and multicultural and inclusive marketing,” Liodice said. “We want to engage senior marketing executives throughout the country in this conversation. That is why it is so important to have diverse leadership at the top of marketer companies.”
As part of its focus, AIMM:
- Shares multicultural marketing examples through distinctive forums
- Drives ROI, primarily through audience targeting and segment relevance
- Provides leadership alignment and collaboration
- Develops unique, growth-focused insights through joint research and the creation of the Multicultural Marketing Knowledge Center
- Creates alternative approaches to addressing industry diversity
- Disseminates best practices for marketing to multicultural and diverse demographic segments through a robust communications program.
Industry breakdown
Here’s a breakdown of ANA member client-side CMOs by gender and ethnicity in different industries:
Banking and Financial Services: 88 CMOs
- Female: 47
- Male: 41
- White: 82
- Asian: 4
- Black/African-American: 2
Food and Beverages: 77 CMOs
- Male: 52
- Female: 25
- White: 65
- Hispanic/Latin: 6
- Asian: 3
- Black/African-American: 3
Technology: 50 CMOs
- Male: 27
- Female: 23
- White: 44
- Asian: 4
- Hispanic/Latin: 2
Sports and Entertainment: 45 CMOs
- Female: 27
- Male: 18
- White: 42
- Asian: 1
- Black/African-American: 1
- Hispanic/Latin: 1
Consumer Packaged Goods: 42 CMOs
- Female: 21
- Male: 21
- White: 32
- Asian: 6
- Black/African-American: 3
- Hispanic/Latin: 1
