… it would be identical in almost every way except the female roles would be filled with Asian men and women.
Don’t believe me?
Have a look at the photos from the Campaign Asia Magazine launch party.
Lot of white men there aren’t there.
You could say an excessive amount of white men – even though the ones I can recognise are genuinely good, decent and clever guys.
Putting the people in the photos aside, I should point out I’m not suggesting [all] Westerners in Asian advertising are like their Mad Men counterparts – philandering alcoholics who rule by fear, dominance & arrogance – however it does disturb me how many of them/us are in positions of power when we are never going to know this culture as well as a local.
Of course there are some valid reasons for having an expat ad community in Asia – plus it’s always great to have people with experience guide and nurture the next generation of talent, [which in adland, at this moment in time, is probably more likely come from the West] but sadly I fear that when that next generation take their seat at the table, it will still be disproportionately filled with expats than Asians and probably expat males to boot.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we should give a high ranking job to someone just because of their ethnicity rather than their ability/talent, however I find it hard to believe in a population of 1.3 billion people – a population who are smarter, more dynamic and business savvy than most of us Westerners – there are only a few that have been deemed capable of running a department, let alone the whole bloody ad agency and even if that is the case, then I know some training would change all that because the ability is there even if the experience currently isn’t.
Saying all that, I don’t subscribe to the view that you must be part of the target audience to understand the audience.
As long as you put in the effort, don’t think you can ever understand it all and collaborate with a wide range of people who have experience in different – yet relevant – areas, I believe you can make a big impact regardless of how different your life and situation is from your ‘target audiences’ … and I know there are many of Western, agency bosses who subscribe to this view and live by this view – but it still makes me feel vey uncomfortable that so many agencies have white guys in senior positions with locals supporting them.
I should point out that not every agency is like this – but sadly they, like Asians and women in senior roles – are in the minority.
Hell, even my agency has 4 middle aged, white guys in the top 4 positions – though we’re pretty lucky given the local talent we have in the place is of such a high standard, they’re going to unsurp us from out seats any day and I am actually quite pleased about that fact.
This isn’t a view I’ve just started to have.
I remember writing to Campaign a few years ago saying it was ridiculous a [then] bald 30 something from Nottingham was in charge of the planning for the region … and whilst I think I am pretty good at my job, the reality is my real skill is being able to help people separate societal reality from cultural prejudice and spot a good insight from an average one … which is why with some training and exposure, I will hopefully hand over the reigns to some talented bugger from this region rather than another expat.
There’s a lot to be said for diversity, but when the majority are in the minority, it’s time we looked at what we were doing.
[PS: I have used the words ‘local talent’ in this post. I hate that term – it sounds condescending and does not reflect what I really mean so please note when it is used, it is meant in terms of talented people from this region rather than talented people from this region, but not quite as talented as Westerners]