Why Publicis Groupe Canada Helped This Canadian Non-Profit Reclaim the Hoodie
As racially diverse as Canada is, unfortunately, systemic bias has not yet been erased. Be it in major metropolitan centres, or smaller towns scattered around the country, it’s fair to say that, simply put, those who aren’t white will not receive the same opportunities and privileges as those who are.
This is especially prominent when looking at hiring practices across the country, particularly with regard to Black demographics. Consider these following statistics:
- According to Statistics Canada, in January 2021, the unemployment rate among young, Black people (aged 15 to 24) was a staggering 30.6% (almost double the national average for the same age group).
- 76% of Black Torontonians experience racial discrimination at least a few times a month, according to this recent survey.
It’s a grim picture, and one which The CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals (CEE), a Toronto non-profit that focuses on providing free career skills training and support to Black youth, is determined to change with the release of its new brand platform, ‘Black Youth Can’, as well as its first-ever major marketing campaign, ‘Who I Really Am’.
Created in partnership with all the agencies in the Publicis Groupe Canada network, this endeavour took two years to bring to life, culminating in a firm reminder that indeed, Black youth can accomplish anything they set their minds to. Featuring the success stories of nine CEE alumni, all of whom are pictured donning custom-made hoodies that act as resumés of their accomplishments, the creative flips the narrative of what Black youth are presumed to be. Moreover, it serves as a firm reminder that racial discrimination of any kind is built upon bogus, invalid foundations.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with Publicis Hawkeye SVP, executive creative director Scott Pinkney, Publicis Groupe Canada head of diversity and inclusion, and VP, HR director at Leo Burnett Canada and Saatchi & Saatchi Stephanie McCrae, North Strategic SVP Nicole Grant, Leo Burnett associate creative directors Natee Likitsuwankool and Appanna Chetranda, and CEE’s executive director Agapi Gessesse, to learn how this massive undertaking came to life.
LBB> Tell us about the long term partnership between CEE and Publicis. How did this get started, and what does it mean to each establishment?
Agapi> Our initial engagement with Publicis began with a relatively modest request to update our website. However, after witnessing the dedication and time it invested into learning more about our organisation and the opportunities it presented, we were inspired to aim higher. Publicis Groupe Canada didn't just help us update our website; they proposed a comprehensive brand platform and awareness campaign. Its passion for our mission and its ability to think creatively made it the perfect partner for this ambitious endeavour. This partnership is the kind of partnership we thrive for, because they challenged us to think bigger.
Stephanie> Our partnership with CEE really emerged from Publicis Groupe Canada’s DE&I mandate. It’s built around four pillars - ‘Education’, ‘Outreach’, ‘Talent Management’ and ‘Giving Back’ - each with its own partners and programmes to foster growth, support and understanding within and outside the Groupe. We launched a new initiative under our ‘Giving Back’ pillar that would see us select one Canadian non-profit organisation doing critical work in the DE&I space each year, with an offer to create and deliver a pro bono campaign – harnessing the collective talents of all our team members.
CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals (CEE stands for ‘Careers, Education, Empowerment’), was the very first organisation selected for this initiative; its impact, team and critical work in the space made it an ideal partner.
From there, we gathered a group of 40 people from across every one of our agencies in Canada to tackle this pro bono work. This was a first for us - Leo Burnett, Publicis Hawkeye, Publicis Toronto, North Strategic, Saatchi & Saatchi, Starcom and Publicis Sapient all brought our talents to the table for CEE under what we call our ‘Power of One’ model. We didn’t want to drop in, build a quick campaign, and leave. Many in this CEE working group have been deeply invested in this initiative for more than two years.
LBB> What was the brief, and what immediate ideas came to mind?
Scott> The brief was clear and focused on what its goals were: to amp up the awareness about CEE among young, Black people so they’d know they aren’t on their own. Seeing as CEE had the track record to back it up, with successful alumni on their way to creating careers for themselves and making waves out in the world, our goal was to deliver a powerful and platform-based creative idea that would elevate both CEE and the incredible alumni this campaign needed to represent. We held an open brief with creatives from different disciplines, allowing for multiple creative teams to collaborate and help land the right idea.
In the beginning, there were multiple jumping off points, but it’s the shocking unemployment stats among Black youth that we kept coming back to. Canadian employers viewed them completely differently. It was like a filter of bias would appear whenever a young, Black person applied for a job. We dove deep into this POV problem in the Canadian workplace and tapped into something we see in the news every other day – bias based on nothing but a first impression.
LBB> In addition to this, the campaign highlights key statistics including the fact that 76% of Black Torontonians experience racism regularly. Overall, what was your research process like?
Agapi> Our research process was meticulous, and data driven. Specifically, we got this stat (and others) from the recent 2022 Toronto Social Capital Study, which not only served as a reflection of the experiences of the Black community, but also highlighted a universal truth that transcends geography.
Nicole> Another thing we did to ground this effort in research was to conduct live, 360 stakeholder interviews with the CEE staff, its board, corporate partners, students and alumni. We wanted to understand how each one understood CEE as an organisation. That brand vision exercise in and of itself was very powerful for CEE, and helped it further shape its own narrative. It’s also how we helped build the right creative brief, and the main objective for a broad awareness campaign for CEE. We believed more people – specifically employers and HR/DE&I decision makers - needed to know about this organisation and the talent and power in its alumni. We wanted to tell a positive story and show Black youth for who they really are: qualified, determined and ready to make their mark on the world.
LBB> Where did the idea of reclaiming the hoodie come from, and what made it the right creative approach for the job?
Appanna> The thing about bias, which is such a deep-rooted emotion, is that it’s often brought out into the open by something that society brands as wrong, suspicious or dangerous. For decades, the hoodie has been a controversial and misguided symbol, specifically for Black youth. So, we wanted to turn this on its head – making it a showcase as well as a declaration for Black youth that, given the opportunity, they can do anything they set their minds to.
Natee> This was also the perfect way to put CEE’s own alumni front and centre, and give them a physical embodiment of their accomplishments, talent and aspirations. No matter where they went in the hoodie, they were reminding everyone, this is ‘Who I Really Am’. In a way, the hoodies served almost as wearable resumes, showcasing all their accomplishments - literally - on their sleeves, and allowing the viewer to see beyond the preconceived bias and skin colour.
LBB> You worked with Grandslammer$ on the design. What was this process like, and how did you make sure each one was custom for the nine stories?
Scott> When we learned that Jason Blackwood, one of CEE’s very first alumni, had gone on to found Granslammer$, an amazingly successful apparel company here in Toronto, we jumped at the chance to collaborate. Jason is still a huge CEE advocate and supporter, and was a true creative partner on this project. In fact, Jason even starred in the campaign alongside eight other alumni, with his own story and hoodie very much a part of the effort.
In terms of the design, we conducted deep interviews and got to know each of the nine alumni we featured in the campaign – including Jason – to get to their true talents, aspirations and stories. Those became the blueprints for the hoodies, each of which is totally unique to every one of our alumni. We also knew we had to have a real focus on the quality, detail and craftsmanship for the clothing, and what Jason and Grandslammer$ delivered is unparalleled.
LBB> Included in this campaign was a hero digital video, social and influencer content, as well as out-of-home placements in Toronto. What made these the right platforms for the job, and what was this like as a whole?
Natee> Our choice of platforms was driven by our core objective: ensuring that this campaign wouldn't go unnoticed. From early on, we knew it was important to showcase the brilliance we all saw in real CEE alumni, and share it on the biggest stages - in the city and online. The Zenith Media team took our brief and the creative concepts and came back with an incredible strategy and these high-impact placements. All told, we had to create 20 unique versions of the creative with variations across OOH, digital and print, so it was a huge undertaking.
Nicole> Regarding the OOH placements, we were fortunate to have a number of media vendors come to the table to donate premium out-of-home space. In fact, it ended up totalling to an impressive $500,000 in in-kind placement value for CEE (something that blew all of us away). As such, we targeted local HR/DE&I decision makers in the core industries where CEE trains students (film and entertainment, building trades, technology, finance and hospitality). This is why we blanketed Toronto with placements in iconic locations such as Yonge Dundas Square (basically our Canadian version of New York City’s Times Square), Union Station (like Grand Central Station), as well as high-impact highway and transit billboards, and corporate elevator screens all over the city.
LBB> Do you have any memorable lessons learned from the making of this new campaign? And how long was the process from start to finish?
Stephanie> We worked for over two years with the CEE team, involving more than 40 experts across our agencies. Involving strategy, creative, accounts, media, production, experience design, communications, influencers, social media, digital, DE&I and many others, we have demonstrated that harnessing these diverse talents together allows us to wield the power of being one for good, in the most impactful way. As such, we hope this will demonstrate the benefits of a new way of collaborating with non-profits.
Agapi> One of the most unforgettable takeaways from this campaign was the astounding complexity of executing a project of this magnitude. However, the most profound lesson we learned was just how crucial it is for our community to witness themselves positively represented on such a grand scale!
LBB> What has the initial response been like?
Nicole> Very positive. We have received substantial interest and coverage from major news outlets like CP24, CTV National News, Canadian HR Reporter and NOW Toronto. Likewise, we’ve seen a lot of engagement on social media and from the CEE community; there’s been incredible pride in sharing it widely, and we’re seeing lots of excitement.
That said, it’s important to look beyond vanity metrics and ensure this is not only bringing awareness to the hiring bias issue, as well as CEE’s services and work, but ultimately helping unlock employment opportunities for young, Black talent in Canada. We hope to see an uptick in job postings on the site, donations, student applications, and ultimately, more qualified and skilled alumni being hired into meaningful positions.
Agapi> While we are still in the early stages of gathering comprehensive impact statistics, we've received qualitative feedback from alumni, partners, the board, and the wider community that highlights the campaign's emotional resonance and its ability to spark meaningful conversations. People have been seeing the ad across the city, they have been posting and tagging us, and this, as well as the campaign as a whole, has really been a source of pride for us.
LBB> Will this campaign be built upon in the future? And if so, how?
Agapi> We are excited to have such a powerful and emotionally-charged initiative to keep our brand and mission at the forefront of Canadian consciousness. In addition to this, we plan to expand the reach of the ‘Who I Really Am’ hoodies, potentially hosting annual showcases for our graduates, with each donning their own personalised hoodies.
Stephanie> This is not a quick, one-off campaign designed to win an award. At an industry level, this is a massive pro bono undertaking from the Groupe to make an impact in society. It’s been a two year initiative for many in our working group, and as part of that, we built CEE a powerful brand platform, ‘Black Youth Can’, that can live on for them for years to come.
In terms of continuing this forward, while it isn’t campaign specific, at the Groupe, we’re working on launching an innovative skills development program for young BIPOC creatives interested in the advertising industry in collaboration with key training partners POV Film and the Miami Ad School Canada. We have also created ‘This is the Job’, a program that aims to change the complexion of the marketing industry and inspire racialised teens and young adults to consider a career here. And not only that, we’ve posted job positions with CEE and made hires via our mentorship relationship with the IMDOINGIT program as well.
LBB> Finally, tell us more about CEE! What should Canadians know about you, and how can they support you?
Agapi> CEE, the Centre for Young Black Professionals, is dedicated to empowering Black youth by providing them with essential tools, mentorship, and opportunities to succeed in the Canadian workforce. Canada has a labour gap problem where there are too many jobs, yet not sufficient quantities of people to fill these gaps. Black youth are an untapped resource that can contribute to the Canadian economy.
With this in mind, we would like Canadians to be aware that CEE is committed to breaking down barriers and fostering inclusivity and equity by championing Black talent and fostering career development. Canadians interested in supporting our work can visit our website at BlackYouthCan.ca. Here, they can learn more about the campaign and CEE, explore alumni profiles and their inspiring ‘Who I Really Am’ stories, make a donation, post employment opportunities, or even consider hiring talented, Black youth who have benefitted from our programs. We believe that through collective efforts, we can create a more inclusive and equitable future for all.
