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The NFL is the most profitable sport in the United States. Viewer ratings are also top class. The league has a very diverse audience, and in recent years the NFL has begun offering some of its programming in an effort to be more inclusive of various underrepresented and underserved communities. Masu.
But the NFL has a problem. About 70% of players are people of color, 56% of whom are Black, but when you look at head coach and general manager positions, those numbers are far from representative. Entering 2024, there will be a record 9 people of color (about 29%) out of 32 head coaches. Six of the head coaches, or 19%, are black.
The numbers are moving in the right direction given the NFL’s demographics and composition, but this progress is reaching a high point after more than two decades of encouraging teams to diversify their recruiting at top positions. . Part of the effort to make the team more representative included the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview at least one person of color when searching for a new head coach or general manager.
Although the NFL has worked to involve and support marginalized communities through programming and funding, their inability to build a representative team at the higher levels of the league looms over them. Their numbers send a signal that people who are part of minority communities are good enough to play in the league, but not good enough to hold the league’s leading senior positions.
Regardless of whether this message is true or not, it is a message that many consumers who are part of underrepresented communities often receive.
Many companies talk about their desire to increase the diversity of their teams. These efforts were further intensified in response to the murder of George Floyd in 2020. It’s been nearly four years, and many companies still haven’t built a team that represents the customers they serve.
As more brands begin to engage in inclusive marketing, consumers from underrepresented and underserved communities are becoming more skeptical. I’ve seen too many brands talk about the importance of diversity and inclusion without actually taking action to prove it. They’re tired of brands that only seem to care about getting attention or getting credit cards, without actually doing anything to positively impact the community at large.
Why who’s on your team matters to consumers
Just because a brand targets a diverse group of customers doesn’t mean it actually values those customers as human beings. Dollars and people are two different things. Brands may be happy to take money from customers, but that doesn’t mean they care about them any more.
Consumers increasingly want to buy from brands that share their values. According to one study, 71% of consumers want to buy from brands that share their values. And a growing percentage of consumers value diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
One of the most influential ways to find out what a brand (or anyone, for that matter) really values is to look at where and how they spend their money.
As a brand, our wallets are the primary way we demonstrate how much we value diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Who you pay as an organization, especially your team, partners, and even suppliers, makes it clear whose voice, experience, and approach you value.
The logic from a consumer’s perspective is clear. “If you say you value me, my culture, and my community, it makes sense that people from my community should join your team at every level of your organization.”
But unfortunately that is not the case. The marketing industry as a whole is not representative of the communities it serves. A study conducted by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) revealed that the marketing industry continues to lack adequate representation. Jerry Dakin, Beam Suntory’s global head of media, said the data shows that “nearly every minority you can name is underrepresented in the industry and is likely to have a poor experience working in the industry.” It has become clear that the cost is high.
A follow-up to this study revealed that despite the challenges being recognized, not much has changed in recent years.
Dakin went on to add, “We could probably do a better job if the industry was properly inclusive and representative of everyone.”
If marketers aren’t careful, it will end up like the NFL. They are aware of the problem and have indicated an intention to fix it, but no real progress has been made. Or in the NFL, it would probably take him 20 years to make any real progress.
The key for marketers is to engage in comprehensive marketing. Be proactive about building inclusion into every part of your marketing mix. But also know that to become an inclusive brand, you need to build a representative team.
Consumers look to it as a way to demonstrate a company’s commitment to serving consumers and their communities, rather than just extracting. They also need it as a way to receive authentic, relevant, and effective marketing.
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