Silence isn't neutral: It’s time to shout louder about DEI
Kate Higham, UK Managing Director at Born Social, argues that without deliberate efforts to build representative and inclusive creative workforces, through initiatives like the Brixton Finishing School, we risk seeing diversity slowly vanish from advertising briefs, campaigns, and culture.
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When I started in the creative industries 15 years ago, diversity and inclusion were gaining real momentum. Agencies and brands were starting to acknowledge the need for a more representative workforce and more inclusive work. Progress felt both urgent and achievable.
Without accessible pathways, we risk returning to a more homogeneous workforce and losing the progress of the last decade.
Through the 2010s, those conversations grew louder. We saw DEI angles woven into campaigns, conference agendas, and award submissions. There were public commitments, pledges, and high-profile initiatives. The momentum was imperfect, but it was visible.
Now, the noise has faded.
Not necessarily in conviction, but in budgets, briefs, and public conversation. DEI hasn’t vanished, but it’s quieter, easier to overlook. In the UK and US, brand sponsorship of Pride events has fallen by almost 50% in 2025. Liverpool Pride was cancelled altogether. In New York, Pride organisers lost £750k in brand backing. That’s more than a budget cut - it sends a message.
In the UK and US, brand sponsorship of Pride events has fallen by almost 50% in 2025.
Industry initiatives are feeling it too. Brixton Finishing School, which helps underrepresented young people into creative careers, has seen rising demand but falling funding. Founder Ally Owen told me: “Since 2023, Brixton Finishing School has been witness to and subject to a steady and unrelenting defunding of DEI programmes. Our reserves are gone. Without accessible pathways, we risk returning to a more homogeneous workforce and losing the progress of the last decade.”
For brands, this isn’t just a moral issue. The commercial case for inclusion is stronger than ever. A Creativebrief study found that 65% of UK consumers expect brands to actively promote diversity, while Kantar reports 57% disengage from advertising they perceive as lacking representation. If you get it right, people notice. If you don’t, they’ll switch off.
And here’s the risk: when progress isn’t seen, it can be dismissed as irrelevant or abandoned altogether.
We’ve seen the impact first-hand. At Born Social, inclusive thinking shapes both the briefs we write and the work we make - whether that’s selecting creators with lived experience for Ford, or supporting Primark’s adaptive clothing range. These aren’t “DEI campaigns” in a silo; they’re commercial creative work that performs because it represents the people it speaks to. It’s the same belief that drives our trainee scheme ‘Born Ready’, our long-term commitment to building a more inclusive creative industry by opening doors for underrepresented grassroots talent. For us, it’s not a side project; it’s part of the same initiative that produces great, inclusive, diverse work that delivers results for brands.
Whether it’s a production company or an influencer agency, choose collaborators who bring genuine voices and lived experience to the work.
The UK market, at least, hasn’t abandoned DEI entirely. Seventy-four per cent of organisations here still have active programmes, and more than half have maintained or increased investment this year. The IPA’s partnership with Brixton Finishing School now extends DEI initiatives into over 75 agencies. That’s the kind of structural, embedded work that makes a difference.
In markets where the language is politicised, adapt how you talk about it if you need to - but don’t dilute the work itself.
In the US, however, political pushback has made DEI a target. Many companies have removed the term from filings and public communications, reframing or quietly continuing the work under different banners - a survival tactic that keeps it alive, but less visible. And here’s the risk: when progress isn’t seen, it can be dismissed as irrelevant or abandoned altogether.
That’s why silence worries me most. Not because it means brands have stopped caring, but because it makes the work easier to deprioritise. And when the conversation dies down, momentum slows. For brand leaders, the real test is keeping DEI visible, vocal, and ingrained. It’s not about sticking your logo on a float once a year - it’s about making it a fundamental part of your marketing and business choices.
It’s not about sticking your logo on a float once a year - it’s about making it a fundamental part of your marketing and business choices.
A few ways to do that:
- Make representation a given in every brief. Build it into the process from the first spark of an idea right through to who you cast. Don’t leave it to the odd “inclusive” campaign to do all the heavy lifting.
- Work with partners who walk the talk. Whether it’s a production company or an influencer agency, choose collaborators who bring genuine voices and lived experience to the work.
- Invest in the pipeline. Programmes like Brixton Finishing School don’t just help individuals - they raise the game for the whole industry.
- Look beyond appearances when measuring success. Track how audiences engage, what they say, and the results it delivers. Use that proof to back the case for doing more.
- And when the climate gets tricky, hold your ground. In markets where the language is politicised, adapt how you talk about it if you need to - but don’t dilute the work itself.
Silence isn’t neutral. It’s complicity. We’ve come too far to step back quietly.
The best leaders in our industry are doubling down right now. They’re embedding DEI into their values, building teams that reflect the world they speak to, and making work that resonates because it’s representative.
Silence isn’t neutral. It’s complicity. We’ve come too far to step back quietly. The brands that keep DEI loud in 2025 won’t just do the right thing - they’ll do the most effective thing for their audiences and their bottom line.
