Only One In The Room collective launches ‘Destroy this Brief’ to tackle diversity challenges in the advertising industry, backed by Cindy Gallop, Jonathan Mildenhall and Terry Savage

The Only One In The Room collective – which was founded in June last year by BMF ECD Pia Chaudhuri, Cocogun’s creative partner and co-founder Ant Melder, and Dentsu Creative’s incoming CCO Avish Gordhan to increase diversity in advertising – has launched a new initiative – ‘Destroy this Brief’ to tackle the industry’s prevalent diversity and inclusion challenges.

Destroy this Brief is a clarion call to the industry – agencies, creatives, teams, students, directors, and production companies – to think of ways to create a more diverse advertising community.

The Initiative is supported and endorsed by some of advertising’s most iconic names, including Founder & CEO MakeLoveNotPorn and diversity advocate Cindy Gallop, Former Airbnb & Coke CMO Jonathan Mildenhall, and The Marketing Academy & London International Awards Global Chair Terry Savage.

Two briefs will be released every year, with each relating to a specific area of diversity. The briefs will include topics such as, attracting and hiring diverse talent at all levels, preventing diverse talent from leaving the industry, and inclusivity and authenticity in our work.

With final submissions due on 31 October 2022, the first brief asks participants to find ways to open the industry up to, and attract, diverse talent.

Each brief will invite anyone from, or interested in, the industry, to submit their ideas for the chance of having them brought to life by the #OOITR collective and their partners. The briefs will encourage people to think beyond traditional advertising and into all kinds of media, be it digital platforms, regulation changes, new products, apps etc… whatever it takes to instigate real change.

Judges will consist of a series of industry heavyweights including Greg Hahn, CCO and co-founder of Mischief USA, Sunita Gloster, non-executive director and advisor at Gloster Advisory & B&T Industry Champion of Change 2022 and Faycal Benabdellaziz, head of group brand at NAB.

Says Cindy Gallop, legendary industry firestarter: “I love the fact that Only One In The Room’s brief is NOT calling for advertising ideas, but for creative ways to dramatically transform industry conditions and mindsets. It’s about time that an industry that claims to want equality, diversity and inclusion but is spectacularly failing to deliver on those claims, brings the full force of its creativity to bear on how to make change happen a damn sight faster. At its very best, what we do is transformative. I can’t wait to see our industry use all of the extraordinary creative brilliance our top talent possesses, to transform ourselves.”

Says Jonathan Mildenhall, co-founder of TwentyFirstCenturyBrand and former CMO of Airbnb and Coke: “Diversity and creativity go hand in hand. When people feel like they belong, they bring their unique perspective, talent and A game. So everyone wins. We urgently need more of this, which is why I passionately support this initiative.”

Says Terry Savage, global chair of The Marketing Academy and London International Awards: “Broadening the mix of people working in advertising and marketing, across all levels, is one of the most important issues facing the industry today. This is a very important stride towards real change. I implore agencies and creatives to get stuck in.”

Destroy this Brief has been a collaboration with the next generation of diverse leaders from across the advertising industry. Katharina Wynne (strategy director, TBWA), Bryan Bryant-Steeds (senior account director, BMF), Wilson Kwong (account executive, Ogilvy) and Isha Karnik (business director, Cocogun) have all been steering the direction of the new initiative.

The inaugural Destroy This Brief is now live and available here. Deadline for submissions is 31st October 2022. Judging will take place in early 2023, with the winning ideas announced February 2023.