Advertising Week and UN General Assembly

So let’s start with the big news of the week. The World Economic Forum, along with Deloitte, Salesforce, and others announced UpLink, a digital crowd engagement platform that enables mass participation in meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Deloitte Global CEO, Punit Renjen, was onstage at the Sustainable Development Impact Summit to make the announcement. Watch the livestream.

Over at Advertising Week, Maggie Gross, Head of Strategy at Heat and Deloitte Digital, revealed the results of the “Heat Test.” The comprehensive study looked at 17,000 data points from 50 top brands and found that diversity in advertising is good for the bottom line. In other words, representation in ads correlated with an increase in both stock price and public perception. Now that’s something to cheer about!

Back at the UN, Alicia Hatch was invited to help launch Target Gender Equality, a global initiative to encourage and support businesses in setting and meeting ambitious corporate targets for women’s representation and leadership. Alicia was joined on stage by Ann Rosenberg, SVP of UN Partnership and Global Head of SAP Next Gen; Rebecca Minkoff, fashion designer and founder of Female Founder Collective; and Dr Amy Jadesimi, CEO of LADOL to speak about their experiences and the importance of inspiring and supporting the next generation of female leaders.

At SAP’s Purpose Place, Elaine Cox, Executive Creative Director at Heat and Deloitte Digital, joined leaders in the nightlife and entertainment industry to talk about consent and the Let’s Get Consensual campaign. Shay Eliaz, a principal with Monitor Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP, shared his thoughts on adjusting food systems to a changing climate, and the meaningful action required to help meet the SDGs. Deloitte Denmark partner Helena Barton joined other sustainability leaders to talk about purpose investment and the partnership needed to achieve SDG 13: climate action.

On the Advertising Week mainstage, Deloitte Digital managing director and Google Marketing Platform alliance lead Todd Paris, joined Google, Shopify, Bayer, and eMarketer to talk about the new marketing imperatives: people, data, and technology. Deloitte Consulting’s US retail and consumer products alliance leader, Tracie Kambies, provided insight into how and why DTC brands are owning digital while also bringing back traditional methods like TV and outdoor. Jocelyn Lee, Head of the AI advertising practice at Heat and Deloitte Digital, spoke about the future of artificial intelligence and how, with the help of humans, AI will make creative more effective and resonate emotionally with consumers. While Sharon Harris, VP of Google Marketing Platform alliance relationship, Deloitte Digital, shared the things she wish she knew, and Heat’s Elaine Cox talked about what it means to be inclusive. And the NBD moment of the week was when Deloitte Digital’s chief creative officer, Alan Schulman, shared the stage with Wyclef Jean, Grammy Award-winning rapper, producer, actor, and philanthropist, for a creative production masterclass, showing us that he has the creative chops both in the studio and on the stage. It. Was. Epic.

Over at the Female Quotient’s FQ Lounge, we teamed up to foster an inclusive community in the marketplace by bringing influential leaders together for panel discussions around the importance of equality, diversity, and inclusion. Speakers included Deloitte’s chair of the board, Janet Foutty, who inspired us with a panel on fueling the talent pipeline for women in STEM. Fun fact: Janet revealed that she’s a comic book character in the series Ella The Engineer, a comic that promotes female leadership and encourages young women to explore the wonderful world of STEM (see pic below!). Other speakers included Heat and Deloitte Digital’s Julia Hammond, Angel Vaccaro, Maggie Gross, and Sharon Harris. Not to mention Cathy Engelbert, WNBA commissioner and former Deloitte US CEO.

You can follow our continued efforts around diversity and inclusion, sustainable development, and all things adtech on Deloitte Digital’s Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. See you there!