Destroy This Brief: The Deadline for Diversity Is Yesterday

I was listening to Dua Lipa’s excellent At Your Service podcast recently, when I came across the Riz Ahmed episode. In it, he talks about how his brilliant Oscar-winning short film The Long Goodbye is like a break-up letter with the UK. If you haven’t seen the film, see it asap, it’s profoundly important; if you have, you’ll understand what I mean when I say it’s a pretty brutal break-up letter. In the podcast, he talks about his love-hate relationship with Britain and how Brexit had made him – a proud British Muslim – feel estranged.

This feeling got me thinking about my relationship with the Australian advertising industry. It’s an industry I love, but an industry that’s crying out for change in some fundamental ways. And I always think change starts at your own doorstep…

A couple of years ago, in the wake of the George Floyd murder and the Black Lives Matter protests, I got a phone call from the awesome creative leader/force of nature/BMF ECD Pia Chaudhuri. The crux of the call was this: we need to act, and the time is now. I wholeheartedly agreed. A couple of phone calls later, our brilliant friend, the former M&C Saatchi ECD/current Dentsu CCO, Avish Gordhan was on board. None of us were naïve enough to believe we could solve all of the huge societal problems in the world. But we did think we could tackle the relevant problems in our corner of the world, the Australian ad industry.

Very soon, we brought together a bunch of ultra-talented people who all agreed on one thing: for too long the industry had been talking about diversity and inclusion, and it was time for action. In a country where 48% have a parent born overseas, and 27% were born outside Australia, only 16% of people in the ad industry are culturally diverse. Which means the work we create is nowhere near as authentic or representative as it could be; and the industry is far less inclusive, interesting and – let’s be honest – fun. A movement of tangible change was needed.

In the ensuing months, Nadia Ahmad and Ellie Jones - now Senior Creatives at Wieden & Kennedy Portland - came up with the name and idea for #Onlyoneintheroom. It worked brilliantly as a handle because it was based on a truth that each of us had experienced in creative departments, conferences and boardrooms throughout our careers. We also loved it because it was self-liquidating: if we did our job right, the name would no longer be true or relevant in years to come.

Launched with a film lovingly crafted by Versus, #Onlyoneintheroom was always intended to be an umbrella under which multiple initiatives could come to life, driven by many talented people. Proof of concept was achieved when Ogilvy copywriter (now account exec) Wilson Kwong came to us with the idea for Destroy This Brief. In a nutshell, the thinking was: as an industry, we spend our lives addressing briefs to solve big, thorny problems for brands; what if we turned our brief-cracking skills to one of our own biggest challenges, the ad industry’s lack of diversity? 

Destroy This Brief launched in September, with a brief carefully crafted by TBWA Strategy Director Katherina Wynne, that inspires entrants to think about how we make it easier for our industry to not only consider, but attract diverse talent.

Ideas will be judged by a panel including:

• Legendary industry firestarter, Cindy Gallop
• Co-founder of TwentyFirstCenturyBrand and former CMO of Airbnb and Coke, Jonathan Mildenhall
• Global chair of The Marketing Academy and London International Awards, Terry Savage
• Non-executive director and advisor at Gloster Advisory & B&T Industry Champion of Change 2022, Sunita Gloster
• Head of group brand at NAB, Faycal Benabdellaziz
• CCO and co-founder of Mischief USA, Greg Hahn

Bringing together such a stellar panel of judges underlines the importance of the initiative. In discussions about what kind of ideas we’ll be looking for, each of the judges has brought their own passion and perspective to the table. The overwhelming consensus is for ideas that bring about real change across the entire Australian ad industry, rather than polished but potentially ineffective ads.

Destroy This Brief is open to anyone who has an idea that can crack this nut for us. Among entrants so far are many of the network agencies, as well as a handful of independents. We’ve been interested and inspired to see themes that might seem tired – such as mentorship – given new life with fresh, provocative spins.

The aim for Destroy This Brief – and everything we do under the #Onlyoneintheroom banner – is to drive meaningful change. At pace. One of the keys is bringing everyone on the journey, so it’s been exciting to see support coming from all areas of the industry. I don’t have all the answers – perhaps no single person does. But I strongly believe that together we can solve this. Which is why I love Destroy This Brief and urge everyone to get involved.

The dream scenario is, as I alluded to earlier, an industry in which #Onlyoneintheroom doesn’t exist, because it’s no longer relevant – none of us feels like we’re the only one in the room any more. Because the ideas and solutions that flow from Destroy This Brief have changed things. If that’s a vision you’re on board with, as Gandhi - a bloke who knew a thing or two about change - once said: be the change you want to see. By sharing this article, telling your friends, colleagues and peers about the initiative and submitting ideas. Thank you.

To read more about Destroy this brief, see the original release here.

Further details are available here. The extended deadline for submissions is 14/11/22.