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TAMON GEORGE: No longer do companies and organizations operate in a vacuum,
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and they need to also identify their role in creating change in the industry.
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SARAH CARBERRY: In this episode of The Update,
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I talk with Tamon George, Co-Founder and CEO of Creative Theory Agency,
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about why diversity and representation are the keys to brand success.
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I think we should start with the basics,
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really at the foundational level of what diversity means to you,
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and why you think it's so important especially right now in marketing?
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TAMON GEORGE: Diversity, in its simplest form, is really representation.
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The world as we see it is incredibly nuanced—people, age, race, gender, identity—
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and we ultimately think that marketing should really be more representative
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and thoughtful about that.
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And so, when we think about the next levels of diversity,
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it's how do we give equal opportunity and show equity for all the nuance
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that exist in the population that we market to.
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SARAH CARBERRY: I think in light of recent calls for racial justice,
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how do you think the definition of diversity has changed
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or expanded for consumers and brands alike?
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TAMON GEORGE: The definition of diversity I don't think has changed all that much.
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I think there's lots of agencies and companies like ours
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who have been doing this work for a number of years.
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But, what we really are seeing a difference in is the urgency
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and top-level support that a lot of these ideas
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and initiatives are gaining right now, which is absolutely necessary.
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I think consumers are forcing brands to evaluate
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their position in systemic inequality, rightfully so.
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SARAH CARBERRY: So Tamon, it's commonly understood
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why diversity is so important for societal value,
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but how does diversity drive business value?
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TAMON GEORGE: I think a lot of what we're seeing today is
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that diverse companies, and especially diverse agencies,
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are better equipped to solve really complex business problems.
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I think if you're not making really big decisions
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with more representation at the table—age, race, gender, identity—
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you’re often going to be missing out on really big pieces of ideas
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that should have been there in the first place.
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SARAH CARBERRY: Creative Theory has been one of those partners to Google
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for a number of years.
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Can you share some examples of insights that your team brought to Google,
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how you were able to execute campaigns in a way
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that was true and authentic to our brand?
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TAMON GEORGE: Yeah. So most recently
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we were able to work on the Black-owned business attribute.
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And so we knew just from our general circle
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that there is an increased demand for
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how can people support Black-owned business in this exact moment.
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So the real victory there was that Google was able to be incredibly helpful at a time
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where we knew that searches for Black-owned business were growing exponentially.
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And being able to kind of service that need was really essential.
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SARAH CARBERRY: What do you say to brands who struggle
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to find their multicultural voice in this moment,
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or feel that they don't have anything to add?
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They just don't have that value proposition.
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TAMON GEORGE: The first thing is that you have to earn
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the right to add to the conversation.
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We see all the time, brands are hesitant or unsure how to kind of enter the conversation.
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And, simply, it can often start with your internal employees.
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But then there are very small external things that they can do,
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such as partner with different organizations,
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finding ways to support different missions that align with their business values as well.
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And that is kind of your first introduction into really being a big part
3:37
of this antiracism movement.
