Good afternoon marketers,
We’re halfway through Black History Month and several brands have released questionable to flat-out racist products and/or campaigns. Some, like Prada, are asking for the help of black creators (Prada is now working with director Ava DuVernay). Others are hoping you’ll forget.
That this is happening at all speaks to larger issues within the brand marketing community—issues that brands and agencies claim to address in myriad ways, and yet, the same problems crop up again and again. We know that it’s not just about hiring diverse talent but making sure that they feel comfortable bringing up issues and that managers—specifically white managers—hear what they have to say and make changes accordingly. Are there other ways brands and agencies should be working to address these issues? Anything we should be reporting on? Please let me know: Kristina.Monllos@adweek.com.
This week, to highlight the positive initiatives and campaigns from brands and agencies to celebrate Black History Month, social editor Kimeko McKoy, community editor Nicole Ortiz and agencies editor Doug Zanger, put together an extensive round-up of what agencies across the country are doing. Reporter Diana Pearl also put together a roundup of brand-specific initiatives from the likes of Lyft, Instagram, Twitter and more.
Nicole and Kimeko also did a Q&A on diversity in leadership with our newly appointed chief brand officer, Danny Wright, and later this month we'll have a Black History Month-themed episode of our podcast, Yeah, That’s Probably an Ad.
Quote of the Week: “It’s not the Nascar of 10 years ago,” said Jill Gregory, Nascar CMO, during an interview with Adweek’s news editor Jameson Fleming ahead of this weekend’s Daytona 500. “You’ve got some young phenoms that are coming up and trying to establish themselves. And then you’ve got these drivers that are in the middle of Hall of Fame careers.”
Say What? Amazon ditched its plans to move to NYC with HQ2 on Valentine’s Day. Allegedly 70 percent of New Yorkers supported the plan, Amazon said, according to reporter Lisa Lacy.
Thanks for reading!
Have a great week,
Kristina Monllos
Brands Editor
