No Intent. No Transformation.

The year is 2023 and it’s the 70th anniversary of the Cannes Lion awards, the respected global benchmark for creative excellence. I, a black South African is counted amongst the group of individuals who are now a part of history as this year, Cannes Lions boasts the highest ever representation from Africa and the Middle East. Countries such as Bolivia, Egypt, Honduras, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Zambia have judges on the panel for the first time. Kudos.

But this is not a Cannes Lions story. It’s rather, a story of intent, because just a year ago the Cannes Lions CEO had written a message saying, “We are doing the work to view everything we do through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion and we’re committed to our juries being more representative of society, year on year.” This was in response to Paper & Caneta (Paper & Pen), a non-profit collective for change who penned an open letter to the organisation highlighting the lack of black Brazilian representation in last year’s jury.

A lot has happened in a year.

I am not implying that all is well with one master stroke because there is still a long way to go, but I am stating that it is refreshing to see, that still a year later there appears to be a clear intent to ensure more representation for a diverse jury that is reflective of the world we live in. It lives up to what I believe, that when there is intent a lot can happen very quickly.

Intent

noun: intention or purpose.

adjective: determined to do (something), showing earnest and eager attention.

That definition was for the naysayer, who may be thinking, “Intention is not enough.” Or more earnestly, “Safa ama-good intentions.” I highlight the adjective; intent is not intent without action. That must be emphasized.

To bring it home, here in South Africa, we have the MAC SA Charter that’s been active to combat slow transformation efforts in an industry that is over R40 billion in value and is estimated to be nearly 80% in foreign hands, with the goal to have a truly South African industry beaming with creativity and transformed organisations at every level. Implemented, it’s designed to ensure that from ownership to management (executive, senior, middle and junior), skills, and suppliers there’s diversity with more black people, women and the disabled getting opportunity and contribution in every facet of the industry. It’d be more than what we need to see CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CCOs and all their Exco’s, including line managers show intent to go above and beyond the minimum requirements so that year on year we can keep rewriting history with ever-growing representation in our offices and in the entire value-chain leading up to the output of the work itself.

The motivation isn’t transformation from economic points of view alone, but that of business results. Teams that are more transformed are proven to outperform less transformed teams by up to 30%. This is why at McCann Joburg we are proud to keep pushing to advance from our current position where we are about 54% black owned, with 44% of that in the hands of black women. The Exco who steers the ship is 60% women and 80% black. The creative team alone, that I am a part of is 65% black and 53% women, of which its leadership is 75% black and 50% women. I think I may even be the first black CCO for McCann in South Africa. More history in the making in an industry that like I said needs to rewrite its history still. Simple policies such as ensuring we always invite a diverse set of directors to pitch on the film work we do across our clients is important, with up to 55% awarded directors being women and 64% black. It’s broader contributions like this that helped the Nahana Communications Group to win the Transformation Award at the Financial Mail AdFocus Awards in 2022.

Like I said before, a lot can happen in a year. Let’s hope to see a lot more happen industry wide.

Intent is something not only I, but many professionals within the advertising industry would love to see more of. Above credentials, criteria, scorecards, and all other kind of number metrics that keep us bound to more often than not doing just enough to meet the minimum requirements. That is the opposite of intent. That’s reluctance, and we’ve seen far too much of that.

My final words, “To intent!”

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