Diversity in Marketing & Advertising Summit Announced

By CommPro.biz Editorial StaffMediaCom and IPA have announced they will join DIMALYNC: Diversity in Marketing & Advertising Summit, a two-day event for marketing & media industry in Europe, focused on fostering greater diversity and inclusion, particularly within leadership roles and brand campaigns.The event takes place April 4 - 5 in London and will feature keynote addresses from prominent figures in the advertising industry, expert panels and interactive sessions. Over the two days, the summit will highlight success stories, best practices and advice from leaders championing diversity in the advertising world.Speakers include Sue Unerman, Chief Strategy Officer for MediaCom in the UK. She is well known in advertising for having led her firm to the top of the industry for more than a decade. Unerman recently released a new book on women and work. "The Glass Wall" provides success strategies for women at work. It is also directed at businesses to help them better understand how to use diversity to create success.Leila Siddiqi, Head of Diversity at Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), has joined the advisory board for the inaugural annual summit. Siddiqi works with advertising and marketing agencies to demonstrate the value of diversity in creativity and effectiveness. She also sits on the Creative Industries Council (CIC) Diversity Working Group. In addition to IAB UK's endorsement of the event, Lync Media Group also announced an industry association partnership with the IPA. Earlier this year, the IPA set diversity targets aiming for higher gender and BAME representation in leadership positions by 2020.Of the announcement Siddiqi said, "The IPA is committed to improving diversity within the advertising and marketing communications industry and is looking forward to supporting and shaping this important initiative which helps affirm London's position as a thought leader in the diversity sphere, while at the same time challenging us to do even better. The conference provides an exciting platform for the advertising and digital media sector to collaborate and share best practice with industry leaders from other European cities at a time of major global change."The event comes in response to the advertising sector now focusing on improving diversity initiatives across Europe. There is new legislation developing in the UK around gender pay gap reporting. Many in the industry are looking forward to the event for its tight focus specifically on fostering greater diversity within the marketing and media industry.Lync Media Group also announced the company will give a percent of sales from the event's delegate and sponsorship bookings to the UNHCR to provide aid to refugees.