Changing the Ratio: iStock’s Kate Rourke on the importance of diversity in brand imagery

B&T The Change Ratio breakfasts are a great opportunity to address social and cultural issues that impact the industry and the world around us in general.

Between events, we’re also sharing our Changing the Ratio content series, which highlights some of the incredible diversity and inclusion work being done in our industry.

Kate Rourke is the iStock Creative Ideas Manager for APAC. She spoke to B&T on the latest diversity research from iStock, including new findings on the visual representation of LGBTQIA + people.

Our theme for Changing the Ratio this year is Belonging: It Starts With You. Is this an idea that resonates with you and your work?

It really is. COVID has impacted our entire lives and we have had to or have chosen to make certain changes in our lives because of the pandemic. However, our sense of belonging through our values ​​and beliefs, the communities we are a part of, the hobbies we practice, the businesses we work or buy in and staying close to our friends and family, intensified during this period.

For Australia, visually, I saw that the sense of belonging is manifested by celebrating what is local. People, businesses, communities, animals, plants and more broadly showing what we value and what we believe in. Although the visuals (at the start of the pandemic) were focused on new realities primarily at home, the social injustices that were observed locally and globally not only highlighted who let’s show ourselves but also How? ‘Or’ What do we show them? Are we missing anyone? How genuine and committed are we to supporting everyone? And we know from our visual GPS data that this is something Australians want to see in the media and in advertising.

What was the most interesting information from your ANZ D&I survey?

We launched our Visual GPS research before the pandemic, so it has been fascinating to see where the changes have happened. In our June 2021 update, from a D&I perspective, the data that stands out is about the LGBTQ + community and the visual stereotypes that exist. Only 21% of Australians and New Zealanders said they regularly see LGBTQ + people in media and advertising, which, while not great, is an improvement over what we saw a few years ago. .

However, visualizations of this community in media and advertising are often narrow and cliché. We have found that more often than not, lesbian women are portrayed as masculine, gay men are portrayed as flamboyant or feminine, and there is a heavy reliance on imagery of LGBTQ + people wearing the rainbow flag. The transgender community is even less seen and when seen it is as a victim of violence.

Instead of shying away from representations or relying on stereotypes, brands should authentically represent the LGBTQ + community in ways that create lasting bonds. The growing representation of LGBTQ + people in media and advertising throughout the year demonstrates an intentional focus on diversity and inclusion and publicly commits to supporting a brand in the community.

How have demographics changed in popular stock images?

Reality and authenticity are hot topics in the media, in the arts and, increasingly, in the business world. But it would be a miscalculation to call it a trend – it’s an ongoing story about long-standing acceptance of our differences, empathy for the way other people experience the world, and the ability to reveal everything to us. whole in everything we do, personally and professionally. .

For example, there has been a significant shift over the past 5 years around LGBTQ + people in stock images. Five years ago, hardly any visuals were used around LGBTQ + people in our most downloaded content in Australia and New Zealand.

The main story was fairly anonymous, focusing on bustling street scenes around Mardi Gras and Pride or just the rainbow flag. The representation of LGBTQ + people in our most downloaded content has increased 24-fold from five years ago, however, it still only accounts for 0.4% of our overall most downloaded content in Australia and New Zealand. .

The visuals are more human, but remain largely a narrow visualization of this community. 70% of LGBTQ + people presented are white, in couples and young. The remaining 30 percent are still around Mardi Gras and pride, with more emphasis on the people than the rainbow flags they wear. There is a huge opportunity for brands to be much more diverse and authentic in the visual stories they can tell. Simply show LGBTQ + people about their daily life, eating, shopping, cooking, cleaning, going to work, etc. would be a good start.

How can brands best embody the ideals of diversity and inclusion when using this imagery?

We know brands are trying to do the right thing. I have seen many visual strategies that deal with using more diverse and inclusive visuals, but there are fears that we could get it wrong. This is one of the reasons we produced our visual guides to provide brands and businesses, as well as our contributors, with practical advice and inspiration on how to go beyond the symbolic and to be more inclusive and thoughtful in their visual selections.

Here are some tips from our recently launched LGBTQ + guide:

Include the LGBTQ + community all year round: While it’s great to see brands use members of the LGBTQ + community in their advertising during Pride, focusing on a few days of the year doesn’t capture the full and multifaceted life that community leads.

Intersectional narration: LGBTQ + identities overlap or overlap with every other possible group, so make sure you don’t just rely on representations of young, white, and wealthy men. Do you humanize and tell solid and authentic stories of Blacks, Indigenous Peoples or People of Color (BIPOC) who are also LGBTQ +? Do you select images that show people of different body types, ages and abilities living busy, active lives?

Re-image LGBTQ + families: It is important to celebrate the diversity of how our families are formed and to see them reflected in our culture at large and in the businesses we support. Brands and businesses should aim to paint a more complete picture of LGBTQAI + family life, including single parents, transracial families, stepfamilies, co-parenting, as well as parents of different ages and socio-economic backgrounds .

Beyond Romance for LGBTQ +: More often than not, the media shows the LGBTQ + community portrayed as romantic lovers and nothing more. The truth is, like all humans, they live incredibly rich and complicated lives both inside and outside of their romantic and / or sexual interests. All of these aspects should be fully reflected in marketing and advertising.

What do you think is the most pressing diversity and inclusion issue facing the industry?

We are at a time when social responsibility is an expectation of brands and companies. We know from our Visual GPS study that 77% of Australians and New Zealanders prefer to buy from companies and brands involved in supporting the issues and causes that create social good in society.

We also know that brands and businesses are trying to be more diverse and inclusive in visual stories, but it’s our subconscious biases that are often overlooked and are one of the reasons we still perpetuate the stereotypes that we hope to avoid. . That’s why we’ve included handy inclusivity checklists in our guides, to help brands and businesses recognize and address their own biases when selecting visuals.

Thanks to our wonderful Change Ratio sponsors!