PROFILE 2019 | BEST WORKPLACES FOR DIVERSITY
CONTENT FROM AT&TWHEN IT COMES TO HOW WOMEN AND
diverse communities are portrayed in
advertising, AT&T thinks there’s plenty of
room for improvement. That’s why the
media and telecom giant is using its scale
and reach to not only change its own
messaging but also bring about a shift in
how women and other underrepresented
groups are portrayed in society.
Fiona Carter is the chief brand
officer for AT&T Communications. When
she joined the Dallas-based company
three years ago, she knew its commit-
ment to diversity and inclusion was well
established. The company was one ofthe first to prohibit discrimination against
employees based on sexual orientation,
and it was the first to start an employee
resource group for women, back in 1972.
It began its supplier diversity program 50
years ago.
The exciting opportunity today, Carter
says, is using AT&T’s scale and brand
power to shift the narrative of diversity
and inclusion in a much broader way. “A
lot of companies talk about corporate
social responsibility,” she says. “We look
at it more like corporate social action.
As one of the largest advertisers in the
country, when we make a change, it has a
significant impact.”
Among those changes: using a Gen-
der Equality Measure (GEM) score. The
company is one of the first advertisers to
integrate this measurement into all of its
ad testing. Carter says the score reflects
the perception by men and women of
how well women are portrayed in AT&T’s
advertising. So far, she claims ads with
higher GEM scores have better brand
recall among consumers and result in
a higher brand opinion of AT&T overall.
“We’re using data to show that this isn’t
just something for which we feel an
obligation—it’s also good business,”
Carter says.
As a modern media company, AT&T
is addressing representation in content
too. For example, AT&T Pre se nts: Untold
Stories, a film initiative it created with the
Tribeca Film Festival, gives money and op-
portunities to a diverse slate of filmmakers.
AT&T was also one of the first companies
to invest in actress Reese Witherspoon’s
production company, Hello Sunshine,
which seeks to get female-centric content
produced.
What’s notable about these diversity
and inclusion efforts, says Carter, is that
they’re becoming a grassroots movement
across the company and, she believes,
beyond AT&T. “I do think it’s a societal
shift as well,” Carter adds. “Consumers
are demanding it, and when it becomes
good business that’s when it really gath-
ers momentum.”QMedia and telecom giant AT&T is using the power of its brand to
improve the way women and diverse communities are portrayed in
its advertisements and beyond.Changing the Path
for Diversity and
Inclusion
“A lot of companies talk
about corporate social
responsibility. We look
at it more like corporate
social action. As one of
the largest advertisers
in the country, when we
make a change, it has a
significant impact.”AT&T’s FIONA CARTER
Chief Brand Officer