Diversity initiative Changing the Face has unveiled the current face of advertising at a launch event held at The Glue Society.
The face is a composite of 62 participating executive creative directors and chief creative officers from around Australia who submitted their face for the initiative.
The event, which was held on November 13, marked the beginning of the initiative and was hosted by talent specialist Esther Clerehan, leading the discussion about diversity in advertising.
The speakers included Jonathan Kneebone, founding partner of The Glue Society; Jasmine Subrata and Ava Frawley, co-creators of Changing The Face; Jenny Mak, creative director; and Dan Adijans; technical director.
Changing the Face co-creators Ava Frawley and Jasmine Subrata said the event was a great opportunity to kickstart the initiative.
“The event unveiled the face of creative leadership in advertising — a snapshot of our industry in 2019. But that’s just the beginning," Frawley and Subrata said.
"Now everyone can create the face of their agency at www.changingtheface.com.au. We can’t wait to see the results in March! It will be great to see everyone working together to change the face of advertising.”
The initiative comes off the back of a project which origniated at D&AD and Rare event called Brief to Broadcast which was also hosted at The Glue Society.
Jonathan Kneebone, writer and director from The Glue Society, helped organise the event which asked 30 students to solve a brief and reate a proactive case study of how their idea would work in reality.
"At the time, we all sensed that if it could be made to happen, it could be a very powerful concept - as it engages agencies and the industry in the solution, as opposed to merely pointing fingers or raising awareness of an issue," Kneebone says.
"The idea of visualising the changing face of our industry - as an ongoing gauge of our diversity and personality is what makes this idea both powerful and inspiring. It proves that every new, distinct and different voice we can add to our community makes us inherently more interesting and valuable."
Kneebone believes the initiative has the ability to expand globally across agency networks and within other industries.
"This is a real project inspiring real change and I hope that the passion and determination that Jasmine and Ava have demonstrated in making it a reality will be shared by the Australian creative industry," he says.
"As Australia has an opportunity here to lead the world - and reap the benefit of a truly diverse workforce. It deserves all of our support.”
Now, you can create the face of your agency at www.changingtheface.com.au.
Next steps:
Changing The Face is about creating an accurate representation of your agency through data. We’ll visualise and break down your agency’s workforce so you can see where you’re at. You’ll be able to track your agency’s progress, year on year, and see how much you’ve improved.
Submit your data at www.changingtheface.com.au and take part in changing the face of advertising.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.