Keen Interest in the ANA’s List of Certified Diverse Suppliers

By Bill Duggan

ANA

Last week ANA released our initial list of “Certified Diverse Suppliers for Advertising and Marketing.” The list consists of more than 100 companies — agencies, media, production, promotion, research, and more.

It follows an ANA report released in May entitled “The Power of Supplier Diversity.” That study revealed that a large majority (75 percent) of ANA members have strategic plans in place to hire diverse suppliers for their overall organizations, but only 40 percent have such strategies specifically for marketing and advertising services. Furthermore, according to the study, finding diverse suppliers is a top challenge. The report stated that as a follow-up, the ANA would curate and publish a list of diverse suppliers that work in marketing/advertising.

The release of the list also follows a June letter from the ANA and its diversity initiative, The Alliance for Inclusive & Multicultural Marketing (AIMM), the “ANA/AIMM Commitment to Equality, Inclusion, and Systemic Change.” The letter called for the development of an equitable creative supply chain through strategic investments in agencies, broadcasters, suppliers, and producers owned or run by Black, Hispanic, Asian, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities.

Note that all companies on list have been certified as diverse suppliers by organizations which include:

• NMSDC: National Minority Supplier Development Council
• WBENC: Women’s Business Enterprise National Council
• NGLCC: National LGBT Chamber of Commerce
• WOSB: Woman-Owned Small Business
• MBE: Minority Business Enterprise

We released our initial list of “Certified Diverse Suppliers for Advertising and Marketing” on Thursday, July 23. Since that time, we have been besieged with emails offering congratulations, social email comments, and inquiries about being added to the list – more than 30 such inquires in just a few days. One of my favorite comments was from Sydni Craig-Hart of Smart Simple Marketing:

• “I’m proud to see the ANA impacting a positive (and critically necessary) shift in the marketing industry by encouraging inclusivity and partnership with diverse-owned agencies, consultants, and other professionals. Supplier diversity, when done right, is an effective way to diversify the voices on your team and contribute to the economy.”

Thank you, Sydni — and thanks to the more than 100 companies who have already submitted their certifications to be on the list. We look forward to hearing from others as well at diversesuppliers@ana.net.