i’d like my brand to be more diverse, but we’re not there yet. should i ride the trend anyway?

We learned from the first two editions of 'The Brand Ethicist' that reader comments are incredibly valuable. We'll add the most helpful perspectives and resources to the final newsletter and tag you (if you permit us). So don't be shy - share your perspective in the comments, and add links to resources that could enrich the conversation! We're happy to celebrate your expertise and opinions. Onto this week's question that touches on work, bias, and representation.

"I would really like our brand to be more diverse, but the fact is that my company is 90% male and mostly white. We’re catering to a very similar audience (we're a B2B engineering company). It seems insincere to create a more diverse image just to keep up with the times. Plus, I don't think it will resonate with the audience we already have. What should I do?"

I agree. Creating a more diverse image just to keep up with the times is insincere. Faking it won’t do anyone any good. Not your brand, not your team, nor anyone who could benefit from real representation.

And - there are much better reasons to embrace diversity than for the sake of ‘trend’.

Better performance for instance, or increasingly global markets.

And of course, not excluding people for the sake of their identity is simply the right thing to do. Brand is shorthand for “people like us do things like this” (Seth Godin) - but you don’t want to be a gatekeeper.

The world of work has deeply ingrained biases and stereotypes - which are then mirrored and exacerbated by brands. I'm guessing engineering is probably up there when it comes to bias. You have a real opportunity to shake them off.

You probably heard the old riddle.

A father and son are in a horrible car crash that kills the dad. The son is rushed to the hospital; just as he’s about to go under the knife, the surgeon says, “I can’t operate—that boy is my son!”

What’s going on here?

The answer: the surgeon is the mother of the boy.

I hope you guessed it. Sadly, when I heard it first back in 2006, I did not. I am not alone. Research shows that 80% of respondents (m/f) are unable to answer the riddle. It exposes the depth of gender bias about the professional roles of women and men.

Health care is not the only industry where gender biases abound. Law, education, and STEM-related industries have similar biases and imbalances.

It’s not just about gender either, identity markers of all kinds come into play: ethnicity, religion, accent, weight, height, physical ability, sexual orientation, which school you went to, and which neighborhood you grew up in...

Some biases advance a person’s professional opportunities (Indians are all excellent coders, slim tall men are great CEOs).

Others hold them back (women are too emotional to become President, people with a working-class accent are stupid, and fat people are lazy and will never be high performers).

Engineering is associated with intelligence, precision, performance, and expertise. And at least in Western cultures, and possibly beyond, those traits are more often attributed to slim tall (white) men.

Homogeneity perpetuates homogeneity.

You need to start at diversifying your team, rather than your image. Socrates said it best 2400 years ago: “The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear”.

The question is - where do you start?

Mentoring, career fairs, and self-promotion programs can all work.  But I won’t deny it’s overwhelming. Luckily, you don’t have to do it alone: there are DEI experts who can help (I certainly don't claim to be one of them).

The next step is to work on better representation to the outside world.

That's where I do have some expertise.

Last year I led a gender inclusion project for a professional social network.

Our user base was 70% male and 30% female*. The result was that the network looked like a male space, and by extension, that the world of business looks like a male space.

First, we conducted a brand audit. We looked at all the signals we were sending about gender through our product, our team and our communications. The results were eye-opening.

We then turned the spotlight on our female users, ensuring they were represented as often as male entrepreneurs. We featured them on the platform, told their stories, and they taught others their skills in short videos. It created a virtuous cycle.

The more women were represented, the more they became active contributors.

We grew the female user base to achieve a balance of 50-50 within one year, without changing the product itself and mostly focussing on marketing, content and community management levers.

Interestingly, thinking in gender worked better for men too: our results were great across the board. It was a win-win for everyone. Gender awareness is now part of all the work streams inside the team.

Back to you.

While you are working on diversifying your team, could you better represent the underrepresented group present today?

Perhaps there is also more diversity within the 90% of your white male team than you think. This is about any individual who differs from the norm. Who has been overlooked because of an accent, their weight, their (dis)ability?

It’s the age of H2H brands: human to human.

Showing off people in all their fabulous human-ness might just be the trend you want to ride.

Last, let’s address the elephant in the room. You mention a more diverse brand might not resonate with your audience. I’m aware that diversity has become caught in the culture wars in the US.

Are you afraid to kick the hornet's nest?

All the more reason not to pursue diversity for the sake of a trend.

Everyone hates a poser - whether you're a righty or a lefty.