As part of the industry’s All In Action Plan, led by the Advertising Association, ISBA, and the IPA, Outvertising has launched Pronouns in Adland, a new guide designed to help industry organisations create safer and more welcoming environments where people can readily share their pronouns.
Outvertising’s mission is to help the media and advertising industry to become truly LGBTQIA+ inclusive by educating and training the industry to become active allies, and encouraging and assisting brands and their agency partners to create more authentic LGBTQIA+ inclusive work. Pronouns in Adland is the latest in a series of resources produced by Outvertising to help facilitate this mission and give the industry the tools and insight to be more inclusive.
Pronouns in Adland will help organisations on their allyship journey and improve the experience of their talent. Using and celebrating pronouns signals to LGBTQIA+ people that they are accepted and welcome and to non-LGBTQIA+ people that inclusion matters. The guide has been designed to remedy confusion over the usage of pronouns by exploring their importance, unpacking commonly used terms and pronouns associated with gender-identity, and guiding readers on tips to overcome challenging or awkward conversations.
This guide also celebrates several organisations- dentsu, VCCP, the7stars and McCann Worldgroup- that have introduced pronouns into their workplace, sharing their experiences to unpack effective learning for others. This includes the importance of it being led by the CEO, being viewed as a gradual introduction and the start of an ongoing journey of education and training, and forming part of day-to-day, recruitment and retention activities.