Big advertising agencies are trying to recruit talents with more cultural diversity

Partly in response to calls from the New York City government and other entities for the ad industry to be more inclusive, big agencies like Publicis and BBDO are implementing strategies aimed at changing predominance of white male staff to hire in a more diverse manner. They are also hiring vendor and supplier companies whose owners or workers belong to a minority.BBDO is currently promoting its own group of non-white creatives through the program Creative Residency, while Publicis allied with Year Up, an organization that helps young people in the U.S. reach their potential through professional careers and training.The Creative Residency -conducted in alliance with One Club- “is part of a broader initiative that we have across the agency” said John Osborn, President and CEO of BBDO NY. They also have a Diversity Council and ensure that part of the their partner firms are minority owned. “This agency handles diversity as if it is a client” stated JD Michaels, Creative Engineering and Diversity Director at BBDO, who is Afro-American.”Paradoxically, what they bring is the same thing everybody we hire here brings: pure, raw, great talent” said David Lubars, Chairman and CCO at BBDO. “This isn’t anything about a quota, this is about talent” he added.