FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAY 17, 2022

 

TRADE GROUPS OFFER NEW GUIDELINES FOR WORKING WITH DIVERSE SUPPLIERS

Recommendations from the 4As, the ANA, and AIMM Seek to Help

 Marketers and Agencies Partner with Diverse Media Outlets

 

NEW YORK (May 17, 2022) — The ANA and the 4As today unveiled a comprehensive list of guidelines designed to help marketers partner with diverse media suppliers, strengthen their DEI strategy, and drive brand growth.

The recommendations are listed in Guidelines for Buyers (Agencies and Marketers) When Doing Business with Diverse Media Suppliers, which was created collaboratively by the 4As, the ANA, and the ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive & Multicultural Marketing (AIMM).

The guidelines were created with input from the trade groups’ respective members, along with diverse suppliers. They were designed to build upon the work of the ANA’s CMO Growth Council, which was established by the ANA and Cannes Lions to focus on driving enterprise growth.

“DEI issues are at the top of every marketer’s list of priorities, and this report offers solid advice on how they can improve their relationships with diverse media suppliers,” said ANA CEO Bob Liodice. “These guidelines directly address how marketers can overcome some of the longstanding obstacles that have prevented successful partnerships with the diverse media community.”

4As CEO Marla Kaplowitz added: “Our responsibility as an organization is to continue to challenge the status quo across all areas of DEIB [diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging], including support to increase the investment in diverse suppliers and diverse audiences. These guidelines provide the tools to help make the advertising and marketing industry as diverse and inclusive as the populations we serve.”

There will ultimately be two complementary sets of guidelines issued by the trade groups. The first, being released today, is for buyers (agencies and marketers) doing business with diverse media suppliers. The second, to be released at a later date, is for diverse media suppliers conducting business with buyers (agencies and marketers).

The report offers a total of 20 guidelines for working with diverse media outlets. Among them:

 

• Accept Alternative Media Metrics: Standard metrics such as CPM, reach, and traditional third-party measurement may need to be substituted with other metrics when evaluating diverse media suppliers. Diverse media is likely to have higher CPMs and less scale, given they often have more targeted audiences, but such factors should not preclude inclusion. Engagement metrics that measure messaging environment, connection with the community, and cultural connection may be more important.

 

• Payment Terms: Marketers and agencies should avoid extended payment terms for diverse media suppliers unless there are unique circumstances for doing so. Extended payment terms can cause severe financial hardship for diverse media suppliers who do not have the cash flow or cash on hand to weather extended payment terms.

 

• Certification Requirements: Certification authenticates, via a third-party vetting process, that a supplier meets the criteria as a “diverse supplier.” It removes the burden to confirm legitimacy from the buyer and is instead handled by the certification organization. The report lists five major certification organizations.

 

• Identify Diverse Suppliers: The 4As, the ANA, and AIMM have developed resources that can be called upon to locate diverse suppliers. They include:

 

• The 4As Diverse Owned Media Companies Resource List
• The ANA/AIMM list of Certified Diverse Suppliers
• The MAVEN MC&I Media Ownership for Marketers Report from AIMM and Media Framework.

 

• Hike Investment to Increase Inventory: Inventory is limited in the diverse media marketplace; there simply are not enough eyeballs and impressions to satisfy demand. When marketers increase media investments, it allows suppliers to create additional content and therefore increase inventory.

 

The guidelines also cover topics such as marketer leadership buy-in, legal requirements, creative messaging, the RFI/RFP process, procurement, and media buying parameters.

The complete Guidelines for Buyers (Agencies and Marketers) When Doing Business with Diverse Media Suppliers can be found here.

###

 

ABOUT THE ANA
The ANA’s (Association of National Advertisers) mission is to drive growth for marketing professionals, brands and businesses, the industry, and humanity. The ANA serves the marketing needs of 20,000 brands by leveraging the 12-point ANA Growth Agenda, which has been endorsed by the Global CMO Growth Council. The ANA’s membership consists of U.S. and international companies, including client-side marketers, nonprofits, fundraisers, and marketing solutions providers (data science and technology companies, ad agencies, publishers, media companies, suppliers, and vendors). The ANA creates Marketing Growth Champions by serving, educating, and advocating for more than 50,000 industry members that collectively invest more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually.

 

ABOUT THE 4A’S

The 4As was established in 1917 to promote, advance, and defend the interests of our member agencies, employees and the advertising and marketing industries overall. We empower our members to drive commerce, spark connections, and shape culture through infinite creativity. With a focus on advocacy, talent and the value of creativity and technology to drive business growth and cultural change, the organization serves 600+ member agencies across 1,200 offices, which help direct more than 85% of total U.S. advertising spend. The 4As includes the 4As Benefits division, which insures more than 160,000 employees; the government relations team, who advocate for policies to support the industry; and the 4As Foundation, which advocates for and connects multicultural talent to the marketing industry by fostering a culture of curiosity, creativity and craft to fuel a more equitable future for the industry.

 

ABOUT AIMM

ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) was established in 2016 to provide corporations with viable solutions for growth by addressing opportunities in Multicultural and Inclusive marketing. AIMM comprises senior-level advertisers, media/publishers, research and data companies, agencies, and trade organizations, to spotlight the missed growth potential in General, Hispanic, African American, Asian-American and LGBTQ markets. This extraordinary working group of industry leaders is transforming the way multicultural and inclusive marketing is seen and understood via an industry-wide reboot – the largest ever in this space. Beyond simply identifying where growth potential lies, AIMM shows its members (and the industry) how to best maximize this potential towards positive bottom-line impact. AIMM is the leading authority in the space.

 

MEDIA CONTACTS:

ANA

John Wolfe

Director of Communications

Office: 212.455.8011

Cell: 914.659.8663

Email: [email protected]

 

4As

Jennifer Risi

Founder and President
The Sway Effect
P: 917.887.8865

Email: [email protected]