Australia’s marketing leaders unite to make inclusive production business as usual

Australia’s top marketing and production leaders have rallied behind a groundbreaking industry initiative that aims to make inclusive production standard practice across film, television and advertising.

Representatives from major brands including McDonald’s, Mars, Tennis Australia, Bunnings, Commonwealth Bank, Aldi, Nine, Woolworths, Bupa, Big W and Pinterest joined leading agencies Hogarth, Paper Moose, Chello, Ogilvy, Thinkerbell, The Hallway, Atomic 212, Clemenger BBDO and 2045 at the launch events, alongside the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA).

The Inclusive 100, launched in Melbourne and Sydney this month, brings together the country’s most influential brands and agencies under a unified mission: to transform the industry through accountable inclusion rather than tokenistic gestures.

The movement is spearheaded by Inclusively Made, the industry standard for inclusive production, which provides the certification framework that guides productions to authentically represent people with disability both on-screen and behind the camera.

The launch events brought together an unprecedented gathering of Australia’s marketing elite. Major brands were represented alongside creative powerhouses underscoring the initiative’s industry-wide significance.

At the launch events, marketing executives from major Australian brands shared compelling evidence that inclusive production delivers both commercial and cultural returns.

Hayley Mein, Marketing Communications Manager at Woolworths revealed how their Olympic and Paralympics campaign, created in partnership with Inclusively Made, was “hugely successful for our brand” – earning Gold (top placement in Australia) and Bronze (Third place globally) for effective Olympic and Paralympic advertising ranked by Systems 1. “The proof is in the pudding,” she said. “Authenticity and results were probably the greatest outcome.”

Vanessa Rowed, Marketing Director at Big W described how the framework has become embedded across their entire operation: “We made every production Inclusively Made from the start… it’s so much easier than I anticipated. The framework is so clear and very simple that you can confidently pass it on to all team members.”

Liana Dubois, member of Inclusively Made’s advisory board and former Nine Entertainment CMO, highlighted the commercial imperative: “If you are missing 20% of the population, you are leaving value on the table and you are not commercializing your business in the most effective way.”

Bupa’s General Manager of Marketing, Naomi Driver shared, “The biggest challenge in really large organisations is fear of speed, cost and quality. Working with the team and toolkit really helped us understand how hard – or not, as it turns out – this was going to be.”

The initiative addresses a critical industry gap – while 20% of Australia’s population has a disability, only 3% of on-screen talent represents this community, with even smaller numbers working behind the scenes.

Paul Nunnari, CEO of Inclusively Made and Paralympian, brings personal insight to the mission: “When I was an 11-year-old, I didn’t see myself reflected in any media. All I saw were images of how bad it was to have a disability. This is why representation matters so deeply to me.”

The Inclusive Made framework removes traditional barriers that have prevented widespread adoption of inclusive practices. The framework has gained such industry recognition that Screen Producers Australia named Inclusively Made a Breakthrough Business finalist at the Screen Forever Awards this year.

Henry Smith, founder of Inclusively Made, emphasized the collaborative approach: “To change an industry, we need to all do it together. There’s no point in us doing separate great initiatives on our own. When we come together, we can actually change an industry to see systemic change.”

Multiple speakers reinforced that inclusive production is not just morally right – it’s commercially smart. Lisa Cox OAM, an Inclusively Made ambassador explained: “It’s good for business. To put it bluntly, it’s commercial viability… We are simply trying to get people with disabilities included in front and/or behind the camera on ads for everything – frozen products, pet food, cars… all the normal things that people with disabilities buy.”

The Inclusive represents founding members who will be announced on International Day of People with Disability (December 3), showcasing the leading organisations committed to driving industry-wide change.

Business leader and member of Inclusively Made’s advisory board, Ann Sherry AO shared, “If Nine can produce the Paralympic Games as a behemoth broadcast operation as a fully certified inclusive production, then everybody else can too!”

For marketing and production leaders ready to join The Inclusive and become founding members of this industry transformation, contact hello@inclusivelymade.com

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