The advertising industry has become less representative across the board in 2024 – that’s according to Spark Foundry’s latest ‘Insights Accelerated’ report, which indicates a 7% decline over the past year.
This decrease in people’s sentiment towards representation in advertising has reportedly been most felt by people from BAME backgrounds, the LGBTQ+ community and neurodivergent people.
A glint of hope was shown by the over-55 market, which did say it felt more represented than in previous years – although it should be noted that this was the only audience segment that felt this way.
Across the board, TV and YouTube were hailed as being the most representative media channels, making top of the list for 57% and 56% of participants respectively.
Speaking to the Media Leader, Thinkbox CEO Lindsey Clay said: “While it’s disappointing that advertising generally isn’t living up to expectations, it’s encouraging to see that the good work being done in and on TV is moving things in a better direction.
“But 57% still isn’t good enough — and there’s a lot more work to do.”
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This marks a considerable uptick for both mediums compared to Q2 2023, rising by 11% and 17% respectively. Additionally, there has been a 10% increase in people feeling represented across ad-supported VOD platforms.
Encouragingly, representation throughout radio ads has also seen considerable improvement, with 49% of the survey’s respondents now believing the format to be representative compared to 32% last year. For younger age brackets, this rose as high as 57%.
Spark Foundry head of technology and innovation, William McMahon added: “Leveraging social platforms like TikTok to create cohesive and engaging experiences that resonate with audiences, making them feel recognised and connected, should be a key focus when planning campaigns.
“Additionally, the consolidation of TV formats provides an opportunity for brands to develop single, impactful TV ads that tell representative stories, driving better brand lift and sales success.”
