Advertising News South Africa

Diversity dialogue with FCB Global CEO Carter Murray

FCB's leaders from across the globe were recently in Cape Town for their Global Leadership Conference, held at the Belmond Mount Nelson at the end of February. Key among these was FCB Global CEO Carter Murray.

I caught up with Murray post-conference for a quick chat on key outtakes, what he most enjoyed during his time on our shores a few weeks ago and the importance of truly embracing diversity across the industry…

BizcommunityHow many FCB offices from how many countries were represented at the conference?

We had leaders from more than 40 offices and 22 countries, spanning all continents but Antarctica (watch out for the opening of FCB South Pole!).

BizcommunityWhat was the focus of this creative mind-meld?

This was a great opportunity for our offices from around the world to get together and share their experiences and successes in a peer-to-peer format, where each office could learn from the experiences of the others. We covered a range of critically important topics including new business, culture and engagement, talent, brand strategy, creative excellence, production solutions, branded content, media and more. Our objective in every office is to continuously be a work in progress. However good we get, our belief is that we are never finished learning and improving.

BizcommunityThat’s an excellent motivator to keep pushing harder. What were the specific highlights for you?

Seeing the awesome talent and expertise we have in our offices across the network and watching our very best inspire and learn from each other. I feel so lucky to be a part of a group that genuinely likes spending time together and the few times, like this meeting, where we all get to be in the same room, reminds me of that.

Beyond our meeting, I must say my Cape Town highlight was visiting Robben Island. It was a truly humbling experience being able to stand in the cell in which Nelson Mandela spent 18 years. His being able to come out of that cell nearly two decades after going in and having such grace, purpose, dignity and still having a relentless determination to drive change… it was a true inspiration.

BizcommunityWere there any surprises or unexpected moments in the presentations?

It’s always a bit surprising when your chief of staff finds a very creative way to make fun of you to get the crowd warmed up! This time she turned me into a puppet that starred in some pretty hilarious episodes, built on FCB inside jokes. I must say, aside from his poorly manicured eyebrows and his wandering eye, he’s devilishly handsome!

Murray in puppet form.
Murray in puppet form.

BizcommunityHow will the conference guide FCB's business in the year ahead?

The shared learnings, takeaways and strengthening of relationships that resulted from the conference will enable our offices around the world to bring new learnings and strategies to how they work at home throughout the year and will also provide new opportunities for collaboration and diverse thinking, to make us a better and stronger global network for our clients.

BizcommunityHow important is overall diversity for creative work, and why is it so important to FCB in particular?

At FCB, diversity of all kinds is, in my passionate opinion, critical to our success moving forward. There are, of course, the usual answers for the importance of diversity, like being able to connect with the diverse range of consumers and it being smart business. But honestly, the reason it’s so important to us is because it’s simply the right thing to do, and we still have not got it right and are working hard to get it right.

BizcommunityWhat can other agencies do to better diversify their workforce?

Each agency is different, but there are a number of things that I think are working for us; our mandatory implicit bias training has proven to be invaluable to the leaders of our teams. Making workshops like this mandatory really helped because let’s face it, if people have a free hour they’re probably not going to do a workshop that’s optional. It also helps to practice what you preach. Our leadership team is more than 50% female and I’m still not satisfied. The talent you have has to have someone they can look up to and relate to, and with a diverse leadership team that’s far more likely to happen.

Lastly, the older I get and the more I listen, the more I find out about myself. There’s still a lot to understand and learn out there. If an agency’s leadership is able to get the mindset of being open, and continuously learning, I think it will accelerate the change.

Here’s to that much-needed change. Click through to the FCB Africa press office for more, here for more from Murray on the importance of agency culture and here for a reminder of my interview with Susan Credle at the time. You can also follow FCB Global on Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates.

About Leigh Andrews

Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews.
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