Australia – ‘Only One In The Room’, a local agency collective, has launched an open industry brief called ‘Destroy This Brief’ to aid the marketing and advertising industry to think of ways of creating a more diverse advertising community.
The collective was founded in June last year by BMF ECD Pia Chaudhuri, Cocogun’s Creative Partner and Co-Founder Ant Melder, and Dentsu Creative’s incoming CCO Avish Gordhan.
Two briefs will be released every year, with each relating to a specific area of diversity. The briefs will include topics such as, attracting and hiring diverse talent at all levels, preventing diverse talent from leaving the industry, and inclusivity and authenticity in our work.
With final submissions due on 31 October this year, the first brief asks participants to find ways to open the industry up to, and attract, diverse talent.
Each brief will invite anyone from, or interested in, the industry, to submit their ideas for the chance of having them brought to life by the #OOITR collective and their partners. The briefs will encourage people to think beyond traditional advertising and into all kinds of media, be it digital platforms, regulation changes, new products, apps, among others.
Judges will consist of a series of industry heavyweights including Greg Hahn, CCO and co-founder of Mischief USA; Sunita Gloster, non-executive director and advisor at Gloster Advisory; and Faycal Benabdellaziz, head of group brand at NAB.
Cindy Gallop, founder and CEO at MakeLoveNotPorn, said, “It’s about time that an industry that claims to want equality, diversity and inclusion but is spectacularly failing to deliver on those claims, brings the full force of its creativity to bear on how to make change happen a damn sight faster. At its very best, what we do is transformative. I can’t wait to see our industry use all of the extraordinary creative brilliance our top talent possesses, to transform ourselves.”
Meanwhile, Terry Savage, global chair of The Marketing Academy and London International Awards added, “Broadening the mix of people working in advertising and marketing, across all levels, is one of the most important issues facing the industry today. This is a very important stride towards real change. I implore agencies and creatives to get stuck in.”
