Credit: Vitaly Gariev via Unsplash
Dentsu, Publicis Groupe and the IMAA have weighed in on what progress on the gender pay gap requires, as the industry digests another year of WGEA data showing most of adland remains well outside the target range.
The latest figures placed dentsu among the standouts, reporting an average gap of just 1% and a median of -4.9%, where women's median pay exceeds men's.
Rachael Caruso, ANZ HR director at dentsu, told AdNews the result reflects governance rather than a one-off fix.
"Our gender pay gap reflects the mix of roles and seniority across our workforce, not unequal pay for the same work and we have clear governance processes in place to ensure our people are paid fairly and consistently," she said.
Caruso said the work is ongoing.
"We regularly review our progress and remain focused on strengthening representation at all levels,” she said.
Pauly Grant, chief talent officer at Publicis Groupe ANZ and APAC, told AdNews the group's adjusted pay gap, controlling for role, level and location, sits below 1%, measured using workplace equity analytics platform Syndio.
But Grant said the gap between adjusted and reported figures tells its own story: the real drivers are structural, not a matter of unequal pay for the same work.
"The gender pay gap is primarily driven by representation and structural factors, rather than unequal pay for the same work," she said.
Grant also pointed to the historical concentration of men in senior specialist roles in data and technology, career interruptions from caring responsibilities, and the long-term effect of part-time work on women's progression as mitigating factors.
Grant said sustained senior representation is one of the most meaningful levers available.
Nearly 65% of all promotions across Publicis Groupe ANZ in 2025 went to women, including close to half at senior leadership level.
Grant said the numbers, while important, only go so far.
"This reinforces that the real work is about changing systems and pathways to further support women to assume senior roles,” she said.
On the timeline for industry-wide change, Grant was direct.
"Organisations that take a disciplined, data-led and accountable approach can make meaningful progress much faster than those relying on isolated initiatives or short-term fixes,” she said.
IMAA CEO Sam Buchanan said the independent sector has a structural advantage in moving faster, arguing that smaller, agile businesses can embed inclusive leadership cultures and remove structural barriers more quickly than larger network environments.
"This can't just be a reporting conversation, it has to be an action conversation," Buchanan told AdNews.
Through its Female Leaders of Tomorrow program and structured mentoring, the IMAA said it is seeing measurable outcomes across its member base, promotions into senior roles, expanded commercial responsibility and stronger succession pipelines.
"The key is sustained commitment, not one-off campaigns," Buchanan said.
The commentary echoes findings from TrinityP3's Lydia Feely in the original WGEA data story, who noted the annual release has lifted awareness but called on employers to focus on the pay gap "the other 364 days of the year."
“While we have definitely seen some improvements among some players, there is still not enough being done,” Feely said.
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