Outvertising tells brands: Stand your ground this Pride Month
Outvertising remains resolute in continuing our pursuit to make marketing and advertising completely LGBTQIA+ inclusive. With Pride Month upon us, we invite the industry to join us in that pursuit.
Anti-LGBTQIA+ groups are relentlessly attacking brands that demonstrate allyship with our community.
As part of their efforts to halt and roll back LGBTQIA+ inclusion in society at large, these fringe groups are attempting to erase our community in the media, including in the ads people see.
The Trans+ community are weathering the brunt of this targeted campaign of hate and they must be protected. But this hate is not limited to our Trans+ friends – the whole LGBTQIA+ community are feeling the effects.
There’s no room for performative gestures or empty commitments in 2023: love is love, but money talks.
Our message this Pride Month, and every month, is clear:
The LGBTQIA+ community will not be silenced, and we will not be erased.
Our community will remain visible. LGBTQIA+ people belong in ads. Trans+ people belong in ads.
How to stand your ground:
Brands with Pride ads: Run them.
Brands working with LGBTQIA+ talent: Protect them.
Brands with Pride event plans: Keep them.
Brands with Pride products: Display them.
Brands with rainbow logos: Back up this declaration with meaningful actions.
Brands that come under attack: Brave the backlash.
Brands with media spend: Invest in media that match your values. Divest from media that spread disinformation.
This is a time that calls for commitment and courage.
If your brand’s allyship comes under attack this Pride Month, we advise you not to waver in your resolve because of a hateful few. Your action can be made in the sound knowledge that you have the majority behind you. 2 in 3 under 60s (66%) think it’s important to fight discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.*
Stand your ground.
You can find more advice on how to confidently stand your ground in the Outvertising Guide, in The Media Guide and in the Employer Guidance on the resources section of our website.
*Portland - Generation A - Z report
Organisations calling on all brands to stand their ground this Pride Month:
Advocacy group
Bloom UK
Brixton Finishing School
Media for All
WACL
Agency
Across the Pond
BCW
Born Social
Bountiful Cow
Carat
dentsu X
distillery
EssenceMediacom
EssenceMediacomX
Grey
LondonHarvard PR
Hill + Knowlton Strategies
Lightboat Media
Mindshare
mSix & Partners
Ogilvy
RAPP
SHARE Creative
Teamspirit
The&Partnership
the7stars
TransMission PR
VMLY&R
Wavemaker
Mullen Lowe
Havas London
The Social Element
Pocc
Landor & Fitch
iPROSPECT
Propeller Group
CMI Media Group
Barkley
OMG UK (including agencies OMD, PHD, Hearts & Science, MG OMD, DRUM and Fuse)
Media Bounty
Weirdo
Be The Fox
D&AD
CLICKON
adam&eveDDB
Gaybors Agency
The 3% Movement
David&Goliath
We Are Rosie
TMW Unlimited
Media.Monks
We Are Social
Weber Shandwick UK
Association
Advertising Association
Conscious Advertising Network
DMA - Data and Marketing Association
IAB
UKISBA
The Alliance of Independent Agencies
The Marketing Society
The World Federation of Advertisers
Charities
Mermaids
NABS
Not A Phase
Stonewall
The Film and TV Charity
#TransPeopleAreLoved Campaign
Switchboard LGBTQ+ Helpline
Community Groups
Global Butterflies
InterMedia UK
Intersex
Equality Rights UK
Queer Britain
Trans In The City
Trans+ Adland Community
TransActual
GLAAD
DEI Consultancy
Indigo Inclusion
Creative Equals
Do the WeRQ
Diversity Role Models
The Unmistakables
ERG
MRSpride
OPEN Pride UK (The Omnicom LGBTQ+ ERG)
Publicis Groupe Egalité UK
TruePride Alliance at McCann Worldgroup UK
WPP Unite
Havas Pride
Holding Group
dentsu
OOH Specialist
Kinetic
Pride
Medway Pride CIC
Pride in London
Rainbows Over Medway
Platform
Queer AF
Medway Pride Radio
Good-Loop
Union
Creative Communications Workers
Publications
WARC
Diva
Gay Times
Media Owner
Clear Channel UK
Supporters
Interpride
European Pride Organisers Association
Galop
Asians in Advertising
Recruitment
Major Players
Production Studio (OOH)
DOOH.com
Specialist Research Agency
The Diversity Standards Collective
If you are interested in endorsing/supporting please drop us an email.
Outvertising Welcomes a New Director
Cassius Naylor (he/him/they/them) - Advocacy Co-Director
Cassius is an independent D&I advisor and freelance software engineer, with a diverse client-facing career history spanning journalism and publishing, communications, consultancy and enterprise technology. Most recently he was global communications coordinator at the Financial Times, where he also led the organisation's award-winning LGBTQ+ employee network Proud FT. He served on the steering committee of Intermedia UK in this capacity, and has advised media, advertising and technology sector decision-makers on LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace throughout. He has been working with Outvertising in various capacities since 2018, including having helped launch the second edition of the Outvertising Guide in 2019.
“Outvertising has always, to me, been an organisation with two aspects. One points inwards, towards the community and the membership, and forms the beating heart of our group. The other points outwards, towards the industry and the public, and represents our ability to guide the sector towards an inclusive future. We are entering a new phase in corporate D.E.I. strategy, where the expectations of the community towards business are more robust. Love is love, but money talks, and an ever greater population of consumers are becoming wise to that. The advocacy team exists to help leaders and allies in brands, agencies, adtech and media to disempower bigotry in the advertising supply chain, and I’m thrilled to be leading this critical work alongside Ant Jackson.”
Outvertising Welcomes 5 New Directors
After saying goodbye to several longstanding directors we are happy to welcome 5 new directors across various work streams.
Nikky Lyle (she/her) - Community & Culture Co-Director
Nikky Lyle is a Creative Recruiter with conscience and a decade of creative recruitment experience.
She’s also founder of Graphic Design Jobs UK, Vice President of Hope at Post Quarantine, TEDx Speaker, The Dots list of 100+ Rising Stars, past D&AD Judge, Side Hustle Cheerleader and Domestika Teacher.
“I’m super excited to join Outvertising as Community & Culture Co-Director. I marched with the team for London Pride last year and found everyone I met so friendly and supportive. My experience as an Outvertising mentor last year also cemented my admiration for the organisation. I’m looking forward to helping to grow the community and spread our mission. ”
Luke Millican (he/him) - Commercial Co-Director
Luke has been an agency side digital leader at Dentsu and GroupM. He is now a Client Partner at Meta where he works with FMCG business across EMEA. He’s passionate about developing future generations of LGBTQIA+ talent in the industry and spends time mentoring and supporting their development.
““I felt inspired to join Outvertising having witnessed first-hand the powerful work and advocacy the the team has delivered over the past few years”
“I’m passionate about helping businesses not only make their marketing fully LGBTQIA+ inclusive because it’s the right thing to do but also proving the business value that it delivers””
Dr Rodney Collins (he/him) - Intelligence Co-Director
Dr. Rodney Collins is the Global Head of Human Sciences at McCann Worldgroup. As a professional anthropologist, Rodney believes in the urgency of culture to drive meaningful action, whether that is in a protest march or a board room. He is committed to partnering with leaders to architect models for cultural and social change.
Daniel Sinclair (he/him) - Commercial Co-Director
As an Advertising Sales Manager at WeTransfer, Daniel collaborates with brands and agencies to deliver outstanding digital campaigns. He has a wealth of experience in various roles within the advertising world that require a commercial mindset. He’s also had the pleasure of being a mentor through the Outvertising mentorship scheme and has a passion for all things automotive in his spare time.
“I’m very pleased to be joining the Outvertising board of directors, having been inspired by and exposed to the brilliant work being undertaken, through the likes of Outvertising Live and other events. I’ve been in the industry for the last eight years and there’s been some positive change, but there’s still much further we need to go. I believe that Outvertising is a great vehicle in which to contribute towards that change. Advertising feeds into many parts of our everyday lives and we need to ensure that that it’s being used to positively influence attitudes towards the LGBTQIA+ community. I look forward to helping drive success in all of Outvertising’s aims.”
Naresh Subhash (he/him) - Creative Co-Director
Naresh is a Deputy Creative Director at MadeBrave - a global brand and creative agency based in Glasgow and London. He was also a mentor for DnAD shift, a contributing writer at Creative Moment as well as a judge across several creative awards across the industry. He works closely with clients and agency to elevate diversity and equity in brand and creative work ensuring that together they authentically represent people and communities.
“I joined Outvertising to help drive true inclusion in the creative departments and increase visibility for POC queer creatives across our industry.”