Ascend Campaign 'The Other Side' Combats AAPI Workplace Discrimination

Connected marketing agency Digitas and Ascend, the largest Pan-Asian business professional membership organisation in North America, have teamed up to launch “The Other Side”, a new campaign created to spark much-needed conversation around the invisible barriers that keep AAPI professionals from achieving their full potential in the workplace.

50% of South Asians and 44% of East and Southeast Asians say they face discrimination at work. Digitas and Ascend partnered with AAPI leaders (also known as ‘storytellers’) across various industries to show the world what’s behind the numbers, tell ‘The Other Side’ of the 'Asian success story' in the workplace, and expose the Model Minority Myth. 

The integrated campaign tells the stories of various AAPI leaders, leveraging impactful videos and still portraits across multiple channels. 

Storytellers include Anne Chow, CEO, AT&T Business; Sharda Cherwoo, Board Member of Fortune 1000 companies; Candy Gebhart, general manager, L’Oreal; Soyoung Kang, CMO, eos; and more. 

Upon launch, storytellers will partake in a LinkedIn ‘hack’ by changing their profile headlines and pictures to reflect their “Other Side” experience. Profile updates include headlines, photos, and cover photos, with longer-form videos coming the following week. 

In addition to each storyteller’s video and portraits living organically in social feeds, the campaign will be supported with donated media across OOH and print, including a billboard in Times Square. 

To extend awareness of the campaign, the team has created a self-service toolkit that will allow the wider Ascend network to participate in campaign activations. The toolkit includes assets for download, directions on how to participate, information to share with employers for corporate involvement, and more. 

Employee resource groups within Ascend’s member network will also amplify the campaign internally. 

“‘The Other Side’ asks: What is the impact and cost of not fully supporting the AAPI community in the business world? And how many opportunities have been lost by not supporting it? Workplace discrimination and microaggressions against the AAPI community often because of the model minority myth, and we want to dispel those misperceptions to reveal these invisible barriers.” – Anna Mok, co-founder, president and chairman of the board, Ascend.