Across the board, data shows how far marketing still needs to come in terms of diversity. The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in a 2020 report found that only 6% of its total members and 3% of the members who are CMOs are Black.
Diversity is a problem that starts at the beginning of the career funnel. Not only is it harder for Black marketers to break into their career of choice, but they are less likely to be promoted. Mercer, a human resources consulting firm, released data last year that showed only 12% of support and operations staff are Black (versus 64% white), and that number continually decreases as Black employees are not promoted to higher levels within companies.
