DM leads adland with women on top

Direct marketing agencies are leading the way when it comes to handing top roles to women, according to the latest IPA Agency Census, with adland continuing to be dominated by white, middle-class men.
Many of the top DM agencies are now headed by women, with the likes of (top left to right) Proximity London (Lou Barber), Lida (Victoria Fox), Havas EHS (Tash Whitmey), AIS London (Sarah Stratford) Wunderman (Mel Cruickshank), and OgilvyOne (Annette King) taking the lead, as well as The Marketing Store (Lisa Bonney), Kitcatt Nohr Digitas (Vonnie Alexander) and CMW (Liz Wilson) having women in top roles.
Overall, however, women only account for 26% of those in an executive management position, up from 25% in 2012, although only two years ago the figure was a paltry 13.5%.
When it comes to ethnic diversity the picture is not quite so rosy, with the proportion of employees who are from a non-white background increasing by just 0.6% to 11.2% in 2013. Even IPA director general Paul Bainsfair admits “there is further to go”.
Agencies are also far more reliant on freelancers, up 41% to 1,898. The figure is more than double that of 2009. There is also a worrying decline in the number of first-year trainees, down 11% from 933 in 2012 to 831 in 2013. However, 38 apprentices and 323 interns were employed by member agencies.
In total there are an estimated 14,593 individuals employed in IPA member creative and other non-media agencies, with 7,122 employed in media agencies.
Banisfair is upbeat about the figures. He said: “Numbers are up, which reflects the fact that the economy is finally growing again. Encouragingly, we are moving in the right direction on diversity although there is further to go here. It’s pleasing that the number of women in exec positions continues to rise.”
IPA finance director Alex Hunter added: “As a census of the advertising agency sector, this is a finger on the pulse of the UK’s economy as a whole. We now see an increase in staff numbers across the board geographically and especially of those under 25. It makes for a healthy picture as we move into 2014.”