All In Census returns to measure marketing industry’s progress on inclusion

The Advertising Association, ISBA and IPA have launched the second All In Census today (15 March), two years on from the first industry-wide diversity and inclusion survey.

With support from Kantar, the Census returns to measure the industry’s progress towards becoming more inclusive and more diverse. It will also ask additional questions around issues that emerged during the pandemic, such as hybrid working.

The first survey attracted 16,000 responses from individuals working in brands, agencies, media owners and tech companies. This year workers are once again encouraged to “stop the clock, take 15 minutes and have your say”, with the backing of leaders from the likes of Boots, Specsavers and Channel 4.

All responses are anonymous and the data will be used to shape the industry’s actions around inclusivity. Employees can take part in the survey here.

Last year’s survey helped to inform the All In Action Plan, a series of nine action points businesses can use to improve workplace representation and experience.

Nearly 100 organisations across the marketing industry have adopted the action plan and been named All In Champions, including British Gas, Britvic, Direct Line Group, Smart Energy, Specsavers and Tesco. Brands make slow progress in tackling ethnicity pay gap

Chair of the All In Working Group and CEO of Pearl & Dean, Kathryn Jacob, says: “Now’s the time to have your say. Help us get the very best sense of the make-up of our industry by giving us 15 minutes of your time.

“The data we can gather through this Census will underpin the next wave of actions we need to take as an industry, to make sure we are building a workplace where everyone belongs. We want to hear the experiences of every single person working in UK advertising and marketing services today.”

In 2021, the first All In Census revealed some stark truths about the industry. Nearly a third of black people working in advertising said they were likely to leave the industry due to a lack of inclusivity, alongside 27% of Asian respondents, and 22% of the disabled workforce.

Marketing Week’s Career and Salary Survey this year shows there is still plenty of progress to be made, client side. A quarter (24.1%) of the 3,000 marketers surveyed believe their company is not doing enough to offer career opportunities to people from a variety of socio-economic and demographic backgrounds.

Marketers from ethnic minorities working on a full-time basis are paid, on average, 10.3% less than their white counterparts, the survey found. Likewise, female marketers working full time are paid 16.5% less than their male counterparts.