— Remember those power-words proudly displayed on the semi-opaque windows of the boardroom? Those claiming anything you either could or couldn’t be opposed to: from innovation, transparency, to world peace and free popcorn for all?
We don’t have those. We don’t do those. We do not have a list of corporate ‘value’ words, we do not plaster ‘purpose’ on the walls of our offices. Heck, we don’t even have coffee mugs displaying our ‘raison d’être’. You can’t build a company on words. You build a company on deeds, on choices, and on culture. People create that culture.
Our people are our liquid gold. They come in all flavors, colors and sizes. We have grumpy ones, funny ones, tall ones, short ones, square ones, young ones, some old-timers. They believe in God, in Gods, or they don’t. They range in all the nuances from female to male, and some have not yet made up their minds, nor do they need to.
They come from the north, the south, the east and the west and some obscure places in between. They speak their mum’s language, their dad’s language, and at least one language we understand. They are blonde, brunette, red, white, blue, hazel, taupe, pink, grey, apricot, mauve and black haired. Some have no hair, and that’s okay! That diversity is not something we choose. It just is. It is us. We are committed to it. Having more hair, less bodyfat, a certain gender, a particular religion, or a selected range of pantone skin tone will not put you in the winning charts. Kindness, commitment, energy, spirit, tremendous skills, and positive attitude just might…
This delicious potpourri is what makes us ‘us’. It is the core-ingredient of who and what we are. The rocket fuel of what we do. We work, talk, breathe, despair, conquer, laugh and win together. No one is an island. Every day countless miracles happen because people reach out to each other. Listen to each other. Help each other. Elevate each other. Respect each other. Diversity is what makes us great and unique. The inclusion of close to 200 different sentient and empathic beings in one organism is what makes us thrive. Diversity, equity, respect and inclusion are not power words. They are the not-so-secret ingredients of our magic formula: collaboration through every wavelength of our spectrum.
We have proud people. They take pride in their craft, in their commitment, in their skill, in their dedication. They take pride in walking the extra mile and forging the perfect solution. They take pride in setting the bar of our industry standards higher. They find each other and make things perfect. It’s easy to commit to excellence with people like that.
Because they’re proud, and they care… we care. About each other. About our clients. About the future. The future of the planet. Our future. We take little steps every single day to try to make it better. To make responsible choices. To change each and every time we can: in the way we commute, our impact on clean air, on carbon, on water, on plastic. Massive efforts are being made by our international group, but for us that is clearly not enough: we will add to that effort with all the enthusiasm and energy we can muster. Because, in our culture, good is simply never enough.
Gender and pronouns
Mediabrandies come in all sizes, colors and flavors. This diversity contributes to our overall corporate culture. We take everyone’s identity and individual preferences very seriously. We do not by default categorize humans
in a strictly binary way.
Way before Europeans set foot on their soil, the Original People, the Native Tribes of the Americas, embraced gender fluidity. There were no gender binaries. To this day, to describe gender, these people use ‘man’, ‘woman’, and the Anishinaabemowin term ‘niizh manidoowag’ which means ‘two spirits’: two-spirit male, two-spirit female and transgender. A much richer and nuanced approach.
Nuances we cherish at Mediabrands. For us, the pronouns of every single person are important. Using a person’s pronouns correctly, shows respect. Respect is a crucial part of our inclusive environment.
Using the wrong pronouns can be experienced as offensive and might even harm. To help you, all the Mediabrandies in this book reveal their preferred pronouns. We’ll be proud to use yours!
Some facts & figures
Our company published its first SASB report, becoming the first company globally to publish in alignment with SASB’s Advertising & Marketing Sustainability Accounting Standard.
We also recognize our special responsibility as a marketing communications company to drive positive change not only in the climate, but also in human capital, diversity, equity and inclusion, data ethics and privacy, as well as responsible media and content, which is reflected in our SASB report. Regarding our climate action plan, the company has committed to setting an emissions reduction target
in line with limiting the global
temperature rise to 1.5°C through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the best-practice framework for validating emissions reduction targets. This commitment also makes IPG a signatory to the Business Ambition for 1.5°C and a member of the United Nations-backed Race to Zero campaign. We have also committed to sourcing 100% renewable electricity by 2030. Additionally, the company has formally joined The Climate Pledge, co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism.
The Climate Pledge is a commitment to reaching net-zero carbon across our business by 2040, 10 years ahead of
the Paris Agreement.
That is why we gave in, gave up, and became a true group rather than a random collection of agencies. In biology, an organism is an organic, living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells. Mediabrands is a superorganism, a holobiont made up of powerful cells without which we are nothing, and none of those cells can thrive on their own. Each cell specializes in becoming an A-player in its trade, and the power of all the cells combined is thrilling and makes us one of the trailblazing market leaders.
We have five client-facing agencies and just as many internal business units. That makes us a powerful hive. Mediabrands is 10 business units, close to 200 people, 300 clients, €250,000,000 billings and thousands of campaigns each year.
We are 14,000 kilos of organic body cells. Stack us on top of each other and we reach a whopping 40 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower. We combine close to 17 centuries of experience. We can converse in a dozen languages and curse in a dozen more. Our combined EQs and IQs generate enough energy to propel a red convertible car in an orbit around Alpha Centauri. Twice.