M&C Saatchi Abel supports SA survey on diversity in the industry

Led by the Cape Town chapter of SheSays, the world’s largest network for women in creative industries, the survey engages the local industry on the advancement of gender representation and diversity within the creative sectors.

“Although the advertising industry has made strides to diversify over the past number of years, it is vital to see an organisation such as SheSays actually working to quantify these changes,” says Mike Abel, founding partner and chief executive officer of M&C Saatchi Abel.

Diversity of thought and gender equality form an important part of the culture and mandate of M&C Saatchi Abel. “We encourage a strong diverse workforce, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it leads to far stronger creative ideas, more voices to oppose group think, and disparate employees able to talk to a far larger South African audience,” Abel says. “As an agency, it’s simply not possible to believe you are thinking creatively if all your thoughts are generated by only one half of the population.”

The SheSays survey, done in collaboration with Kantar, collects data anonymously, with agencies having until 28 February 2020 to take part. “We encourage all local agencies to complete the survey to ensure an accurate portrayal of the state of gender diversity in the industry. This is long overdue research that will indicate whether we are walking the talk or simply paying lip service to gender matters,” says Abel.

Alongside their support for the survey, M&C Saatchi Abel will also be a headline sponsor of the next SheSays Cape Town event, scheduled for 10 March 2020. Entitled Get Unstuck. How to reinvent & find your purpose, this free event will focus on practical ideas on how to navigate career challenges.

Makosha Maja-Rasethaba, partner: head of strategy, M&C Saatchi Abel, is part of the panel that will lead the conversation on the day. “I believe there are many women in the industry who are not happy with their current position and don’t know how to address this. I’ve been there myself, so an event like this that starts a more open discussion is crucial,” Maja-Rasethaba says.

The SheSays Cape Town Get Unstuck will be held at Nasdak, 26th Floor, Media24 Centre, 40 Heerengracht St, on 10 March 2020, starting at 5.30pm.

About M&C Saatchi Abel:

Established in 1995 by brothers Maurice and Charles Saatchi and founded on the philosophy of brutal simplicity of thought, M&C Saatchi is today the largest independent advertising agency network in the world, with 29 offices globally. Locally, the M&C Saatchi Group (South Africa) comprises six separate companies, one of which is M&C Saatchi Abel. The agency’s doors opened in 2010 and, in less than five years, grew to have offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg, as well as a presence throughout sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to being one of the most influential agencies in the country, M&C Saatchi Abel is renowned for creating beautifully simple solutions to a complex world that have earned the company an ever-increasing list of accolades and awards. The remaining companies in the M&C Saatchi Group (South Africa) are M&C Saatchi Connect, M&C Saatchi Africa, Dalmatian, Creative Spark and Levergy.