Our commitment to progressive portrayal in marketing

03 Jul 2023 ESGChampion Inclusion and Diversity
Bree Runway performing on set of Captain Morgan Enjoy Slow campaign

Bree Runway performing on set of Captain Morgan Enjoy Slow campaign

As marketeers, we have a crucial role to play in achieving Diageo’s ambitious 2030 ESG goals and we are committed to doing this through the lens of our brands and in ways that resonate with consumers. This is why, as one of the world’s largest advertisers, we’re committed to an advertising and media environment where, from script to screen, everyone sees themselves represented.

Through our progressive marketing approach, we will harness our creative flair to challenge stereotypes and inspire consumers with who we portray in our advertising, ensuring that everything we create is underpinned by deep insight and understanding of cultural context.

We invest in diverse and progressive voices, measuring and increasing our percentage spend with inclusive suppliers, and we work to unlock opportunities in front of the camera, behind the camera and in who owns the camera. More than 1,200 of our own marketers and our agency teams have been trained in our Progressive Marketing framework which puts us at the forefront of breaking advertising in stereotypes for gender, race, sexuality, age, ability, and social status.

To make significant changes in the industry and beyond, we need to work together, which is why our partnerships and training play a huge part in our goals:

  • To drive further inclusivity across our products, advertising campaigns, physical brand experiences, and the wider design and creative industry, we have launched a new inclusive design training programme for our 1,200 marketers and it’s being rolled out to our agency teams across the world
  • We are members of the Unstereotype Alliance, championing the end of bias and harmful stereotypes in advertising. We collaborate with our peers to help create a world without stereotypes, empowering and embracing people in all their diversity, regardless of gender, race, social class, age, ability, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, language or education.
  • We are members of WFA the voice of marketers worldwide, connecting the world's biggest brand owners and national advertiser associations in more than 60 markets, creating a global network which offers a unique source of leadership, expertise and inspiration. We have worked in partnership to create guidance on tackling diversity and representation issues throughout the entire creative process, from defining brand challenges and connecting with audiences to evaluation and analysis.
  • We are Gold sponsors of the Creative Comeback programme, which is setting the standard for global talent regeneration. The programme supports women returning to the creative industries after a career break such as maternity, caring for family or mental health breaks. In 2023, we entered our fifth year of sponsoring Creative Equals, with their newly launched ‘DisabledCreatives’, a programme devised to channel disables and neurodivergent creatives into employment.
  • Our ambition is to increase the share of our global spend with diverse-owned and disadvantaged businesses to 10% by 2025, and 15% by 2030
  • We’ve committed to a multi-million-pound investment to media platforms and publishers who are working to make mainstream media more diverse and inclusive.