UK ad industry urged to take part in census to show true diversity of adland

What does the All In Census hope to show?

• Hundreds of British agencies, brands, media owners and tech platforms are being quizzed in the first census of the UK advertising industry, designed to establish the need for greater inclusion in the workplace.

• Responses will be collated to provide a definitive record of how diverse and inclusive today’s advertising and marketing sectors really are, as well as identify any deficiencies that will require to be addressed.

• This will be subject to a follow-up action plan, set to be unveiled at an industry summit this summer, which will outline steps for improving diversity in the workplace.

• Championing the survey, AA commercial director Sharon Lloyd Barnes said: “It (All In) reflects the industry’s commitment to inclusion and diversity and an understanding that we need to work together to create the inclusive workplace we all want.“

• Leila Siddiqi, associate director of diversity at the IPA, added: “Our ambition with today’s All In Census is to create a single source survey on diversity and inclusion across all UK advertising and marketing services professionals. For the first time, we will have data on certain strands in the D&I spectrum that we don’t have much data around currently, such as disabilities, sexual orientation and social mobility."

Who is participating?

• Industry stalwarts such as Dentsu, Havas, Omnicom Media and Publicis Groupe will take part in the endeavor, alongside big corporates including Asda, British Airways and NatWest and media giants such as Facebook, Google and Sky Media.

• Each participant will submit information in full confidentiality to inform an aggregated pan-industry census in a process managed by Kantar.

• To further encourage engagement, CEOs and MDs have personally committed to sharing the link with staff to illustrate the seriousness with which the exercise is being taken.

How you can take part

• Open to any advertising and marketing professional, the census can be accessed via the Advertising Association’s dedicated All In page, with many employers granting staff 30 minutes to give the survey their full attention.

• Participation will also be promoted by a bevvy of trade bodies, such as the IPA, Isba and IAB, to ensure the results are as representative as possible of the reality on the ground.