27
Adrianne
C. Smith
global director,
inclusion and
diversity
WPP
O
n her first trip to Cannes Lions in 2017, Smith saw only a few
hundred people who looked like her in a sea of media executives
some 15,000 strong. She vowed to change that during a Q&A with
Halle Berry, who was a featured speaker.
“I didn’t even ask her a question—I was just so inspired and caught
up in the moment because her comments were all about taking
action,” Smith says. “I said, ‘We need to get more young people of
color to this festival, and I’m going to do it.’”
And so she did, beginning the next year with the debut of Cannes
Can: Diversity Collective. Smith persuaded a handful of agency and
corporate sponsors to foot the bill, estimated at $10,000 a head, for
five 20-something rising stars to attend the event. The following yearthe number jumped to 25, with a weeklong on-site activation called
Inkwell Beach that included sessions with Naomi Campbell, Gayle
King and Gabrielle Union.
Smith’s on-the-spot pledge may have been impulsive, but it was
perfectly in keeping with her decades of advocacy work, going back
to her time as the first executive director of the 4A’s Center for
Excellence in Advertising at Howard University. While in that gig, she
helped nurture young talent from various industries that went on to
long-lasting (and Cannes-winning) careers in the advertising world.
These days, she’ll continue to spearhead Cannes Can in her
newly minted role at WPP, an early and consistent supporter of her
collective. She’s partnering with Judy Jackson, WPP’s global head
of culture, and working across the holding company’s network of
agencies that includes Grey, GroupM, MediaCom, VMLY&R and
Wunderman Thompson.
The specific wording of her title reflects her approach to the job.
“I correct anyone who says diversity and inclusion because inclusion
comes first—you can’t have diversity if you’re not being inclusive,” she
says. “It’s not just semantics. I’m adamant about being inclusive. That
breeds the space for diversity.” —T. L. S.Rashad M.S. Williams
manager, strategic planning
Mindshare USA
Part of the Cannes Can class of 2019, Williams
says Smith “believed in me when it felt that
very few people at her level did. Adrianne made
an effort to secure my sponsorship, and I had
no idea she was advocating for me until I got
the acceptance call.” That experience helped
him “establish a fearless, meaningful and bold
start to my career.” The two execs “share an
understanding of what it means to ‘be about it.’”‘I’m adamant about being
inclusive. That breeds
the space for diversity.’
ADWEEK
®
| APRIL 6, 2020JO
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