Ogilvy has pledged to rope-in more women to its Senior Leadership team, with the aim of recruiting 20 women into its highest-level creative roles by the end of 2020.
Speaking at Cannes Lions, Ogilvy worldwide Chief Creative Officer Tham Khai Meng said he’s committed to hiring more women and revealed the network is developing a pipeline for senior women of colour globally over the next two years.
Ogilvy has teamed up with ad woman and entrepreneur Kat Gordon and the 3% Movement to kick off the initiative. The creative department will be surveyed every 12 months to track the progress.
“We are big believers in metric and the big reason we have to put our heart and our head and our gut to this and commit to this publicly is that we want this to be measured. That’s why we’re partnering with Kat and the 3% Movement,” Khai said.
“Obviously this is the right thing for us to do, but it also makes business sense. Diversity will improve the work. But the trick is to hire the right senior creative women. Our industry is so competitive. The women themselves have to be great.”
Gender diversity has been a hot topic at this year’s Cannes Lions with several panels addressing the gender pay gap and the need for more women in creative agencies.
