Marketing Campaigns Grow In Diversity While Diverse Leadership Shrinks, Report Shows. Here’s What You Need To Know

Advertising has a diversity issue. This is not new news. However, a recent report from the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the U.S. trade association for advertising agencies commonly called the 4As, has given us new reasons to revisit the issue.

The report reveals that the number of agencies owned or run by white CEOs increased from 73% in 2021 to 90% in 2022. For context, this period followed the great awakening, when white America realized the injustices of the Black Americans—and other marginalized communities — in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.

This was an era when brands donned black Instagram profile pics as an act of social solidarity, corporations raced to hire more DEI professionals, and ad agencies mandated more representation in their offices and on production sets. Yet, during this same period, leadership inside these organizations became more white — not more diverse.

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