Disabilities Matter: Making Inclusive Marketing

According to the United Nations, people with disabilities are the largest minority group in the world, and the World Health Organization measures the audience size at 15% of the world’s population or over 1 billion people.

The advertising and marketing industry has grappled with issues of racial diversity and representation over the past year. But what of disabilities? Are we overlooking another societal conversation that affects a huge audience and can directly affect business outcomes?

It does seem the broader culture is slowly moving towards being more inclusive to those with disabilities. The most recent season of The Bachelor was noted for including Abigail, a hearing disabled woman, among the competitors. Toyota’s Super Bowl commercial this year featured Jessica Long, the 28-year-old Paralympic gold medalist, sparking debate in the industry and within the disabled community about her featured portrayal. But it’s still very much a rarity for a disabled person to be featured in media.

What do we need to know about disabled audiences in order to be more inclusive with our work? Let’s discuss the modern brand approach, where brands continuously evolve and respond to society through actions grounded in values they espouse, promote, and stand behind.

Join AMA Richmond, AMA Philadelphia, AMA DC, and AMA Triangle as we welcome fellow marketer and diversity expert Aubrie Lee from Google in order to shed a light on the value that’s missing from our work by ignoring disabled audiences.

Whether you’re in web design, video production, media planning, copywriting, or account management, there will be concrete takeaways to immediately apply to your work, including:

• Building digital experiences, for all types of audiences
• Value of cultural relevance and inclusivity in media
• Designing with disability in mind, both in product and marketing
• Higher value brought to work from inclusive teams