[OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE Y25W26] Diversity in Strategy
Kathryn Ellis on the diversity gaps in strategy; last week's huddle on productisation and next week's huddle on AI, plus thinking from Lucinda Bounsell, Joe Burns, Eliza Easton, and Lea Abud.
This week from the Stratosphere:
↓ Think Differently: Kathryn Ellis’ PhD on the gaps in diversity award winning creativity and strategy, and a call to please take part in her important research.
↓ Huddles: Register for next week’s Springboards.ai demo to see their platform, and access an OP exclusive pricing deal, and notes from last week’s Huddle on productisation.
↓ Curosity Stream: Thinking from Lucinda Bounsell, Joe Burns, Eliza Easton, and Lea Abud, and tasty brainfood from LBB, Information is Beautiful, Fiverr and the UK Government.
↓Gigs: This week’s gig digest with roles from Eucalyptus, Art & Science, Wonderbly and Atlantic New York.
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Diversity of thought?
There are a dozen reasons I called this community Outside Perspective.
I firmly believe that independent strategic counsel is superior to that from within. Our impartiality allows us to speak truthfully. Not being tied to deliverables or another cost center allows us to point to the real problem.
And then there’s the value of having an external and different perspective - one perhaps a little divorced from your own context. A broader range of voices unlocks a broader range of points of view.
And most of all, when you’re a solo-practioner, having others around you is so incredibly valuable - so you can get outside of your own head, and hear input and the thoughts of others.
But it’s this diversity of thought and views which has always felt both the most valuable, yet also possibly the biggest gap (and often criticism) in our discipline.
With the very visible rolling back of DEI initiatives, and increasing cuts in headcount for strategy teams across the industry - it’s likely that diversity of voices, backgrounds and thinking is in decline within larger agencies, at a time where representation is more and more important.
I’m a firm believer that working with independents is an easy and powerful way of bringing in more diverse ideas, thinking, backgrounds and people to an organisation, but if the pool people are drawing from is not diverse, and the way people are being selected from that pool is biased (consciously or otherwise), things won’t improve.
That’s why we’re really proud to be supporting initiatives which start to understand where there are diversity issues.
It can’t stop there of course.
Awareness of the problem isn’t sufficient - we need to take action.
And there’s a long road and lots of work to be done.
But deep insight is always the most important starting point.
Huddles
Last week, we discussed productisation - what it means, where it’s valuable, how it requires a mindset shift, and where it might have challenges.
» There’s an AI summary of the discussion here, I’ll add a human version when I get 30 minutes to reflect.
Next week, we’re welcoming Pip Bingemann of Springboards.ai to demo their platform, in a continuing series of sessions on tools for strategists. We’ll see how the platform works, along with discounted pricing for OP members.
» Register to attend. Free for OP members.
Is diversity lacking in strategy? In conversation with Kathryn Ellis.
Kathryn Ellis is a veteran strategist, lecturer and DEI consultant - with years of experience working in planning at businesses like Dare, DLKW, Karmarama, McCann. More recently working independently, she’s worked with organisations like Creative Equals and major global brands to create inclusive marketing thinking and guidelines. She is currently mapping the diversity of advertising’s most creative teams for her PhD. In this conversation with Outside Perspective, she explains her work and early findings.
Kathryn, thanks for chatting with OP - Can you tell us a little aboutyour research, what you’re aiming to uncover, and what early findings you’ve already discovered?
The main aim of my PhD research is to investigate the diversity within agency teams responsible for our most creative campaigns—those recognised by both creative and effectiveness awards. I want to identify the most diverse teams, explore their different creative thinking styles and abilities, and learn how they leveraged their differences to produce highly creative work.
At present, I have early findings from the first, quantitative stage of my research, which maps the identity characteristics and demographics of award-winning campaign teams. Most of the initial sample has been sourced from IPA Effectiveness and Effie entrants thanks to support from those two organisations. As a result, it primarily consists of strategists from media and creative agencies.
Analysis has revealed that the typical award-winning strategist is senior-level and therefore older, with many over the age of 45. Encouragingly, 21% identify as LGBTQ+—a higher proportion than the 11% industry average reported in the 2023 All In Census.
However, strategists identifying as Black are barely present in the award-winning cohort, representing just 2.9% compared to 5.5% across the industry. This may be linked to the sample’s seniority, as 45% of non-white talent in the advertising industry remains stuck at entry level. Still, it highlights the ongoing failure to retain and progress ethnically diverse talent into senior strategic roles.
The most pronounced skew in the sample was socio-economic background. A striking 27% of award-winning strategists were privately educated—more than one in four—in a country where only 8% of people attend fee-paying schools. Our strategists sit firmly within the middle classes.
Neurodivergent voices were nearly invisible. Fewer strategists in the award-winning sample reported conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia, or autism compared to the wider industry.
The sample size remains small as I continue to gather data, but the direction of travel is concerning.
The lack of neurodivergent voices is really surprising to me - I've always felt that so many of my colleagues' brains have been wired differently. Is this a gap between the people who are winning awards and those who are not?
There was a notable difference between the proportion of neurodivergent strategists winning awards (0%) and those entering them (12%). This could suggest that neurodivergent strategists are simply working on less effective campaigns. However, another possibility is that, as strategists are the primary authors of effectiveness papers, the format of the award entries themselves could privilege the neurotypical .
Having written many myself effectiveness awards submissions often rely heavily on data and are written in a very linear, structured way. Crafting a strong entry tends to be quite formulaic, which may favour neurotypical ways of thinking and working. It raises an interesting question: does the current awards process unintentionally exclude or disadvantage certain neurotypes? And are there alternative formats that might allow a wider range of thinkers to shine?
Is this lack of diversity, across many factors point to a problem within the strategy community or a problem in hiring policies?
I believe we face both a recruitment and a retention issue.
Strategy, much like the wider advertising industry, appears to be failing to attract people from non-white and working-class backgrounds. This may be due in part to the accessibility of advertising as an entry-level career. The industry is largely based in London, a notoriously expensive city to live in, and tends to offer lower starting salaries than fields like law or consultancy. Without financial support from family, these factors can make it difficult for people from less affluent backgrounds to get a foothold.
There may also be a lack of awareness or appeal of advertising as a career among those whose communities, families, or social networks are not represented in the sector. Underrepresentation breeds underrepresentation. While bias in hiring practices may play a role, I believe it’s even more important to focus on attracting people from underrepresented communities earlier - while they are still in education. We also need to offer greater financial support to entry-level talent, through fairer pay and potentially bursaries or other industry-wide initiatives.
Statistics from the IPA Census also reveal a serious retention problem across all disciplines, which my research reflects at the senior levels of strategy. Strategy leaders, director level and above, are more likely to be male (55%), despite a female majority (52%) in the planning discipline overall. This suggests we are losing women as they progress in their careers.
We also know that 45% of non-white talent in the industry remains at entry level, with just 10% reaching agency leadership. This could point to issues within the strategy community itself, in terms of who feels welcome and included. However, it also reflects a broader systemic issue across agencies and the industry as a whole.
You reference the lack of diversity in ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds as a major issue too - and we know how lacking investment in junior talent is. With the current shift towards more and more independent strategists rather than folk coming up through agencies - what role do you think established strategists might need to play to support emerging talent, both in agencies, and as independents?
Firstly, I believe the strategy community needs to work harder to raise awareness of strategy as a career - particularly among people from non-white and non-middle-class backgrounds. I suspect it is not even on their radar. Strategists tend to love learning and are generous with their time, making them the ideal people to partner with educational institutions, from primary schools to universities, to talk about what we do. We can set briefs for students as a basis for projects or to help them build their portfolios. I am sure we have plenty of old ones we could dust off and use!
In my MA research on female representation in creative departments, I found that talent from female and other minority backgrounds expressed a stronger desire for mentoring than their white, male, middle-class peers at entry level. I believe we can do a lot in those early years to mentor emerging talent and help build soft skills like confidence, resilience, and leadership. This support can come from within agency teams, or from independent professionals participating in initiatives from 30-Minute Mentoring, Outvertising, or Bloom.
But we need more of these industrywide opportunities, and more people taking part in them.
You mention that many diverse thinkers end up being pushed into other roles or freelancing - and we see this too, a definite overindex in people in self-employment because employment didn’t support them to do their best work.
Do you think that independent strategy might be where the true diversity lies? Is there an aspect of your work which is looking at the difference between those in employment and those who are not?
My survey to date has not captured respondents’ employment status, but thanks to our collaboration, I have now added a question on this.
Freelancing clearly offers greater flexibility to accommodate different caring responsibilities, working styles, and cognitive conditions - many of which may not fit neatly within the traditional agency model. This is especially relevant as agencies face increasing pressure on productivity and margins. It will be interesting to see whether there is a significant demographic difference between freelance and permanent strategists.
Personally, I transitioned to freelancing when I began my PhD, as agency leadership roles were not compatible with studying and caring for my young child. Working three days a week and being able to flex those days around childcare and study deadlines, was something I could not find within agencies, but was easy to negotiate as a contractor.
Perhaps the current agency model is not only losing people from more diverse backgrounds, but also those with more diverse interests - people whose broader perspectives could significantly enhance creative thinking.
If we view creativity as associative, then the wider the pool of experiences, knowledge, and abilities someone can draw from, the greater their potential to generate original and disruptive ideas. Independent strategists, who pursue side hustles or engage in varied activities outside of work, may therefore bring even more value to the time they spend strategising.
We’re asking all of our members to please take part in Kathryn’s research work. We’re both very keen to understand the differences between those in employment and self-employment, and whether the independent workforce is outpacing employment on diversity measures. We’ll also be inviting Kathryn to a future huddle to discuss her work more broadly with the group.
» Take part in Kathryn’s research
Curiosity Stream
From our friends
» Lucinda Bounsall from
is mapping wisdom signalling. I feel a little called out, so am putting myself very firmly to the left of Eugene, and below Dua Lipa ;)
» Joe Burns is asking strategists for hot-takes on how we see our own roles. Drop your uninhibited thoughts here.
» Eliza Easton’s view on what the government’s new Creative Industry Sector strategy means for research.
» Lea Abud’s take on AI takeaways from Cannes
» Everything is Matcha. byooooob explores the Menu Adoption Cycle.
&c.
» Just discovered this community radio station Loose.fm, founded by a fellow independent strategist. As someone who grew up (literally) in radio, I’m loving this.
» There’s a few remaining tickets for Information is Beautiful Live next week. See you there?
» Which fictional characters would make the best strategists?
» FREE! Applied Behavioural Science course (Thanks Joel)
» What might a “Freelance Champion” think about?
» UK Workforce trends from Fiverr show employers increasing their spend (and ROI) working with freelancers.
» UK Government publishes new Creative Industries Strategy - policy read, but important context for those of us working in the industry.
Wanna share your work, ideas or thinking with the community? - drop me a message, and I’ll pop it in the next issue. This is a scrapbook of our ideas, so please open up your brains.
Gigs.
Briefs discovered and curated from across the stratosphere.
Promote your brief - or tell us if you’ve found work via the project.
Head of Content & Creative Strategy - Mat leave cover, contract (London,UK)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250627-wonderbly.htmlFreelance Social Media Strategist (NYC,USA)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250627-atlantic.htmlSocial Strategist (UK)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250626-social.htmlFreelance Strategist with a love of soccer (USA)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250626-soccer.htmlFreelance Content Strategist (London,UK)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250626-ashlyrae.htmlfreelance Influencer Creative Strategist (Australia)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250624-prodigious.htmlfreelance social media strategist with luxury exp (US)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250624-luxury.htmlfreelance social strategist (UK)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250624-eucalyptus.htmlFreelance Creative Strategists with a Fashion Focus (UK)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250624-craft.htmlFreelance Senior Social Media Growth Strategist (UK)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250624-artscience.htmlreelance strategist with video game experience (UK)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250623-gaming.html
Hey hirers! We can host your strategists.
If you’re a business working with freelance strategists, Outside Perspective can now host your alumni. Keep your best freelancers close, reducing costs and saving time - plus share your briefs to our entire network for no additional cost.
If you’re keen to know how we can support your bench … drop me a note.
That’s all for this week.
mk✌️