Since launching her media career in 2015, Aisha has committed to crafting marketing strategies that reflect Britain’s diversity. As a member of Essencemediacom’s Inclusive Planning Network, she champions inclusivity, leading training to better engage diverse audiences and identify media opportunities.

Her dedication to driving positive change is showcased in her consultancy for the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation’s #ExtraordinaryOrdinary campaign. She strives to dismantle planning teams’ entry barriers and works with clients to increase investment in diverse media owners. Through mentoring and thought leadership, Aisha consistently ensures that under-represented voices are centred.

Introduction and Background

I’m a Senior Associate Director Planner at a media agency, Essencemediacom. I’ve worked at EM for nine years with experience planning media strategies across multiple client verticals from travel to entertainment. My role is centred around understanding audiences to plan media strategies that help my clients’ business grow. As a Black woman in the marketing space, I’ve always been interested in hearing about underrepresented voices. Outside of my day-to-day, I am passionate about being the change I want to see—from helping recruit more diverse execs and apprentices to helping organise events that shed a more positive light on black experiences through events like Black History Month. Learning more about what shapes underrepresented groups through my colleague Claire McAlpine, I joined the Inclusive Planning Network (IPN), a core ERG within the agency driving more diverse work and increased investment in global majority-owned media spaces.

Challenges and Milestones

A key challenge when working in this space is ensuring the work I do as part of the IPN ensures that the strategies and campaigns we launch are authentic and not tokenistic. When crafting campaigns for and with underrepresented groups in mind, it has been key to co-create solutions authentically with people from those backgrounds to ensure the language and tone is a perfect marriage between the brands we represent and the audiences we want to highlight and talk to. Championing cultural consultants and working with media owners from diverse backgrounds has been a key part of the work I’ve done in the IPN to make a more equitable marketing ecosystem.

Key Initiatives and Impact

As a planning lead in the Inclusive Planning Network at Essencemediacom, I have led opportunity training to help planners within the agency understand how best to segment and ethically discuss the moral and commercial imperative for having media strategies that are more inclusive. While DEI initiatives can lead to commercial success, it’s also key this is done authentically and with an ethical tone of voice that respects the humanity and historical contexts of certain protected groups. This training and larger IPN initiatives have ensured that more client teams within our agency are empowered to include underrepresented audiences as part of their media strategies.

One of my proudest moments was my planning work on the #ExtraordinaryOrdinary campaign for the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation that created a scheme to inspire and foster opportunities for young people, particularly those from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Personal Growth and Learning

By combining my passion with my profession, my work in DEI has seen me personally recognised in 2019 as one of Media Week’s 30 under 30 and in 2023’s Future 100 club. But I’m most proud of seeing increased spend in diverse media owners and diverse influencers as it means I’m helping to make the media landscape a more equitable place. I’ve learnt to be resilient in times when engagement in the topic has been low and find ways to entwine DEI work with everyday work to ensure it feels as integral to the day-to-day work our agency does.

Future Vision and Goals

I want to continue my work in the Inclusive Planning Network to ensure we keep DEI on the agenda when it comes to marketing strategies. I also love helping younger people in the industry and have been mentoring most recently on the Future Fridays programme. I would like to continue this and look for ways to help young diverse creatives and marketers bring their authentic selves to the industry.

Advice for Aspiring DEI Advocates

Have clear goals and outcomes in terms of the changes you would like to see and the impact you would like to make. Something as simple as “doing more DEI” isn’t enough. Try to be specific about the group you want to impact/processes you need to change to get to your objective. Ensure you are balancing the moral justifications you may have for the work you are doing with commercial goals. I think, unfortunately in business, senior stakeholders or analytical colleagues need outputs and positive outcomes they can point to when doing DEI work. Luckily for us, DEI work is a well-researched area with results that show time and again it’s a rewarding and necessary endeavour. I also can’t overstate the importance of community and network building with this type of work. Engaging with colleagues and like-minded people in the DEI space can lead to collaborative problem-solving so you build teams who aren’t just allies but accomplices in your DEI objectives.

Learn More: https://www.ethnicityawards.com/top-10-workplace-heroes-2024/