NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Shutterstock,
Inc. (NYSE: SSTK), a leading global creative platform offering
full-service solutions, high-quality content, and applications for
brands, businesses and media companies, today announced the results
of a landmark study, DE&I in Marketing: A Global Report
by Shutterstock. The results explore the opinions and actions
of 2,700 marketers in Australia,
Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, South
Korea, Spain, the UK, and
USA, across their use of diverse
content in marketing campaigns, and how global events have impacted
decisions.
"Our DE&I in Marketing study encompasses the events of the
last year and a half, and how these monumental moments have
impacted how diversity is valued and prioritized in brand content
decisions," said Meeckel Beecher, Global Head of Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion at Shutterstock. "Despite the widespread lockdowns,
content creation excelled, and the resilience of creativity has
prevailed. There is no denying the world's media has paid more
attention than ever before to cultural movements and raising much
needed awareness, however, we wanted to understand to what extent
this has been truly mirrored in content choices. Upholding values
of diversity, inclusivity, representation and respect have never
been more important, or more urgent. Launching this Global
Diversity Awareness Month, our report highlights that there is more
work to be done, and we're looking forward to collaborating with
our partners to do the work. It's positive to note that people are
listening, and our mission at Shutterstock continues to be ensuring
all creative content represents the diverse global community."
Societal Movements' Impact on Diverse Content
Globally, the rise of awareness surrounding the Black Lives
Matter and Stop Asian Hate movements last year drove brands to
launch and develop existing anti-racism pledges. Nearly two-thirds
of global marketers (63%) state these movements significantly
impacted content decisions over the last 12 months. Exploring this
further, 65% of marketers agree racial and ethnic diversity is an
important factor when targeting campaign audiences. However, the
results also show that 44% of those surveyed believe it can be
difficult to reflect their brand with racial and ethnic diversity
visually.
Lockdown Restricts Localized Content
Given the current international travel restrictions in place,
lockdown restrictions still have a monumental impact on marketing
content creation. With borders closed and stay-at-home orders
enacted in many places, 37% of global marketers say their ability
to source diverse content has been significantly impacted due to
travel restrictions. The knock-on effect on content creation is
clear: a quarter of marketers (25%) state they have been unable to
localize content for individual markets. This has pushed more than
one in six (17%) global marketers to violate lockdown restrictions
– risking health and legal implications – to continue to create
diverse content.
Brands Battle to Marry Representation With
Authenticity
Events over the last year plus have encouraged more than a third
(34%) of global marketers to believe that accurately representing
the world we live in is the most important objective for content
used in marketing campaigns. There is more of a desire for brands
to effectively represent the world we live in over what
their brand's purpose is (34% vs. 33%). However, as
consumers look to engage with authentic brands, marketers must
understand how to ensure marketing is aligned with their core
beliefs and values, or risk being seen as disingenuous.
Marketers state accurate representation is the top reason behind
increasing their usage of content that features same sex couples
(64%), racially diverse models (68%), people with disabilities
(60%), and transgender models (62%). It is reassuring that 75% of
marketers understand the importance of this content being created
authentically by the same audience it intends to reach.
Marketers Are Indifferent To Political Ideology
Global brands are more focused on presenting their own ideology
through their marketing decisions rather than representing the
political landscape. Just under half (41%) of global respondents
said they focus their efforts more specifically on their own
company ideology, compared to just 32% who look to reflect the
political landscape. More than a quarter (26%) aim for their
campaign creative to oppose the political landscape, demonstrating
the increasing rise of brands making their own stand to social
issues, and establishing their own voice.
Other Key Global Findings Reveal That:
- Less than a third (31%) of Head of DE&I hires globally are
involved in all marketing decisions, with 14% having no involvement
at all—instead only supporting the HR function.
- Content which features females in campaigns has seen the
biggest growth globally over the last 12 months (28%), with the
second most popular content increase featuring racially diverse
models (26%).
- 77% of global marketers say they are expected to use more
diverse representation in their campaigns. 76% globally say there
is still room for growth.
- 74% of marketers globally state using more diverse content
helps a brand's reputation.
To support marketers as they seek to represent diversity through
content decisions, Shutterstock is sharing the results of this
research here:
https://content.shutterstock.com/us/diversityreport/index.html,
together with a series of curated image and video collections here:
https://www.shutterstock.com/collections/268512394-9cfb5c06. Global
Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Shutterstock, Meeckel
Beecher, will also be hosting a fireside chat with AdAge on
October 28, 2021 at 1 p.m. ET – the livestream can be viewed here:
https://adage.com/.
Research Methodology:
The research was conducted by
Censuswide among 2,723 marketers in the UK, USA, Germany,
Italy, Spain, France, Brazil, Australia and South
Korea between 13th April and 27th
April, 2021. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market
Research Society to operate, according to the ESOMAR
principles.
ABOUT SHUTTERSTOCK
Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK), is a leading global creative
platform offering full-service solutions, high-quality content, and
applications for brands, businesses and media companies. Directly
and through its group subsidiaries, Shutterstock's comprehensive
collection includes high-quality licensed photographs, vectors,
illustrations, videos, 3D models and music. Working with its
growing community of over 1.8 million contributors, Shutterstock
adds hundreds of thousands of images each week, and currently has
more than 380 million images and more than 22 million video clips
available.
Headquartered in New York City,
Shutterstock has offices around the world and customers in more
than 150 countries. The Company also owns PicMonkey, a leading
online graphic design and image editing platform; Offset, a
high-end image collection; Shutterstock Studios, an end-to-end
custom creative shop; PremiumBeat, a curated royalty-free music
library; Shutterstock Editorial, a premier source of editorial
images and videos for the world's media; TurboSquid, a leading 3D
content marketplace; Amper Music, an
AI-driven music platform; and Bigstock, a value-oriented stock
media offering.
For more information, please visit www.shutterstock.com and
follow Shutterstock on Twitter and on Facebook.
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SOURCE Shutterstock, Inc.