How to Test Your Creative Content for Diversity
Brands must take a committed and authentic pledge to understanding and implementing diversity. The decision to be more diverse should be seen as an opportunity to improve and grow on a personal, organisational and creative level! What’s not to like?
According to the Design Council (2022), designing for diversity means having a process which considers the following audience attributes:
Size
Age
Gender
Sexuality
Ethnicity
Education levels
Income
Spoken languages
Culture and customs
Diet
These factors shape the way they see the world. It’s a long list, and that’s because we humans are all so different and varied!
Approaching consumers with a “one size fits all” approach is not only an unethical way to think about design, it doesn’t make sense commercially. By appealing to a diverse audience you increase your customer base, improve customer satisfaction, increase brand reputation and improve staff morale (Design Council, 2022).
We can understand why it might be difficult to know where to start, as there is a lot to consider. To get you started in assessing the diversity of your creative content, it’s helpful to think about two key things (Project Inkblot, 2019):
The intention for the design
The impact of the design
If you consider both the intention and the impact, you will make your goal of diversity a more practical reality! Below, we have outlined how to do this:
Intention – it starts with you.
Before even beginning the creative process, brands must be conscious of their own intentions, and the choices they make to designing for diversity! Is diversity prioritised from within your organisation, or are you taking a tick-box approach? You could ask yourself: “does our budget go to a diverse creative team?” “Are the people within our organisation a diverse representation of society?”
After all, “if you do not have diverse teams, then you can't authentically make diverse work” (Wheen, 2021).
Moreover, are you holding your organisation accountable for the goals that you put in place? Putting diversity at the forefront of everyone’s minds is important, and it might be useful to consider how you can motivate your team to dedicate themselves to the issue. For example, at McDonald’s and Starbucks, the bonus’ of executives are tied to the results from their pledges to important issues (Lundstrom, 2021).
Impact – representation is key.
Once you’ve made a genuine commitment to diversity (from an organisational and a service level) it’s then important to think about how you’re communicating this to the world. Is your content or product relatable to your audience? It’s important that you allow a diverse range of people to connect with what you’re sharing!
Careful consideration should be taken as to how you represent a wide audience, too. The following tests should be reviewed as a guide to help you do so:
Bechdel Test: Race representation
The Riz Test: Muslim portrayal and representation
The BEATS Test: British East and South East Asian representation
The Waithe Test: Black women representation
Often, these models are used within the media industry, but these models can be useful in all situations. For example, you could assess your social media, brand collateral, your website and your products. The consideration of all your creative content is important!
Brands must commit to being inclusive and diverse, and do so transparently. After all, if your content is inclusive, you will build long lasting relationships with consumers who appreciate your approach and your purpose (Wheen, 2021).
You hold the power to inspire and be leaders! If diversity becomes truly ingrained within your organisation and your creative outputs, it will become something that you do automatically and authentically.
Do you still feel muddled? Don’t worry – we’re here to support. Please do get in touch to learn more about Buttercrumble’s creative solutions. Alternatively, check out our article: Three Steps to a Family-Friendly, Diverse and Inclusive Brand Strategy for more guidance on the topic.
References
Design Council. 2022. Designing for Diversity. [Online]. [Date accessed: 14th March 2022]. Available from: here.
Lundstrom,K. 2021. Ad Week. “Finding Solution to Advertising’s Diversity Problem”. [Print].
Project Inkblot. 2019. Creative Independent. “How to Begin Designing for Diversity”. [Online] [Date Accessed 14th March 2022]. Available from: here.
Wheen, S. 2021. WARC. “Why brands must embrace diversity and inclusion in video content”. [Online]. [Date Accessed: 14th March 2021]. Available from: here.
