Why the PR industry must do better when it comes to representation and inclusion

When I made the leap from journalism to set up my own PR and content agency eight years ago, DE&I wasn’t as much in the public consciousness as it is today.

Inclusion of underrepresented communities in the work you produced just wasn’t as high on the agenda. As an industry, we weren't doing it as well as we should have, and I was as guilty as the next person as not making it a priority. Not consciously, but because of a lack of knowledge and awareness.

Thankfully, the world has changed. 

Social activism has pushed the importance of representation and inclusion into the mainstream – now, the majority of Brits agree with so-called ‘woke’ liberal views on issues such as racial equality and sexual identity.

But when it comes to PR, it seems we’re still not thinking enough about this in our work. We’re still very focused on internal hiring and internal comms when it comes to DE&I but that’s only part of the picture. It goes without saying, you need to be getting it right there, but there’s still a massive weakness in ‘the work’ that agencies and brands are creating. 

From the bigger brand campaigns that showcase diverse talent, experience and voices, to the things we can do every day (as simple as putting Alt Text on content), and crucially including underrepresented people in the creative process. But this is where we are failing. Yet this is how we improve inclusion. 

Your best work will come from no longer alienating large portions of our society but if this isn’t enough to inspire you, then perhaps reputational damage is? 

Just last week, clothing brand Boohoo were slammed for putting out a sexist tweet after the news that Cristiano Ronaldo was leaving Manchester United, saying: “No need to watch the footy now girlies…” – and offending 51% of the population.

Or earlier this year when SSE Energy sent a press release suggesting customers do star jumps to keep warm amid surging energy prices, totally ignoring physically impaired and wheelchair-using consumers. 

The lack of representation of underrepresented communities in mainstream communications was brought home to me in 2019 when in my pregnancy, tests showed my unborn child may have Down's syndrome. I realised that because I rarely saw people with Down's syndrome in mainstream media, I knew nothing about it. As it turned out, my child had a different syndrome (Patau’s) and devastatingly, didn’t reach full term. 

While on maternity leave after a different pregnancy with my son, now aged two, I couldn’t help but reflect on the lack of visibility of people with disabilities and other marginalised groups in our industry.

When I returned to work, I made it my mission to push for inclusion in PR and marketing to be the norm – basically, to put all people at the heart of everything we do. It’s what we should all be doing, isn’t it?

My experience led me to totally rethink the ‘why’ behind my agency. Today, we have refocused and underlined our commitment to delivering inclusive comms, helping others to create truly representative work without prejudice.

But this has to be authentic. Our diverse communications consultants are all advocating for the communities they represent, advising brands on inclusive comms and ensuring that all work is authentically representative and inclusive.

Earlier this year, a survey revealed that while 70% of brands want to improve inclusivity in marketing and communications, 64% were afraid of getting it wrong.

No one is expecting everyone to get it right all the time, but the PR industry needs to start doing something. Ask yourself and your clients, why is there not often alt text on social posts? Why don’t videos feature BSL as standard? These are easy wins.

There are huge benefits to doing this. It attracts talent if people can see you’re being more inclusive. It also engages the people who are working with you already and you’ll be more appealing from a customer point of view as more people will see themselves represented. The benefits are clear.

At the very least, have one person on your team championing it. Start asking questions but crucially, just start. 

Taking a leap can be scary, as I found when refocusing my agency last month, but change is always an opportunity. It’s time for the PR industry to take the leap too and put true representation at the heart of everything it does.

Sharon Flaherty is the CEO of Folk.

Main image by Yuliya Soklakova on iStock