February 17, 2025

Brad Marolf

Business & Finance Wonders

The Second WFA Global DE&I Marketing Census To Run in March

The Second WFA Global DE&I Marketing Census To Run in March

According to the world’s first diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) census concentrating solely on the global marketing industry, 1 in 7 people in marketing would consider leaving both their company and the wider marketing industry because of a lack of diversity and inclusion. That census is set to return in March of next year.

The first census run by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) reached over 10,000 respondents from 27 countries, with the next set to run across 32 markets and will be supported by 10 marketing and advertising organizations—including Adweek.

Other findings included almost half (47%) of women with dependent children said that their family status could be a hindrance to their careers, while women from ethnic minorities felt a lower sense of belonging and that there was a gender pay gap of 13% against C-suite women.

Participating markets in the second wave of the census include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, SAR, Italy, Ireland, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE), and the USA.

The aim of the second census will be to once again look at the state of DE&I across the industry, as well as people’s sense of belonging and monitor progress compared to the results from 2021.

To achieve this, the next census will feature a 15-minute global questionnaire for people to share their experiences of the industry with the results used to showcase progress and areas of decline.

“There is ample evidence that our industry is facing an acute talent crisis and that this is proving a major obstacle for growth,” commented Stephan Loerke, chief executive of the WFA who described talent retention as “an absolute business imperative” for survival.

“The more responses we get, the more it will help us understand where we need to improve as an industry to become a more welcoming place for the wide variety of talent we need—which is why we call on everyone in the industry to support this unique global initiative,” added Loerke.

Alongside the WFA and Adweek, other organizations partnering to support and drive involvement will be VoxComm, Campaign, Kantar, Advertising Week, Cannes Lions, Effie Worldwide, IAA and Global Web Index (GWI).

“We all know that you can only manage what you measure—and measure well. The global support behind the Global DEI Census is a testament to how critical it is to truly understand where our industry stands on diversity, equity and inclusion and then meaningfully address any gaps. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it’s also right for our industry as a whole and all of our businesses,” commented Raja Rajamannar, WFA President and chief marketing and communications officer for Mastercard.

The WFA has unveiled a Global Charter for Change since releasing the first results from the census. These are a set of universal requirements for global organizations to improve their employees’ lived experiences and ideas for initiatives that companies can adopt.