Extreme Reach, a global leader in creative insights released one of the most relevant reports of 2022. Their “Diversity in Ad Creative” report collates research from January 2019 to October 2022 and explores gender, age, race and ethnicity benchmarks in North American advertising.
Described as “the first-ever, large-scale diversity and accessibility benchmarks for the advertising industry,” the research has yielded unexpected results about the global advertising ecosystem.
The research analyzed 1 million creative assets in North America over four years intending to provide advertisers with the necessary information to establish precise goals and benchmarks in accessibility practices and diverse representation. Despite widespread discussion around diversity in the past few years, their insights prove that there is still work to be done.
The “Diversity in Ad Creative” report reveals that 73% of the voices we hear in ads are male, as well as that 73% of actors appearing in advertisements in 2022 were white (an increase compared to 2021 and 2020). It seems that ageism may too be on the rise – 78% of actors in advertisements belonged to the 20 to 39-year-old age group, despite them making up only 27% of the US population.
When it comes to skin color, it seems that advertising representation in 2022 is closer to what it was in 2019 than last year, indicating that discussing diverse representation is not the same as making it a priority.
Extreme Research utilized a combination of machine learning and artificial intelligence to achieve results of 96% precision, according to chief marketing officer Melinda McLaughlin’s interview with The Drum.
The true power of brand advertising lies in the way they reflect the world in which we live today, influencing in turn the way we perceive the world. The Extreme Research “Diversity in Ad Creative” report sets an important resolution for 2023, we must do better.
