Channel 4’s mandate is to champion diversity and inclusion, both on and off screen. It has made it its mission to drive the same standards in the ad industry.

In 2019, it launched a major insight initiative, ‘Mirror on the Industry’, to accurately measure how much, and how well, diversity is portrayed in TV ads. This provided much needed evidence to support change.

Versiti’s role is to provide core insights to underpin the UK’s most comprehensive study of diversity in advertising.

Despite many challenges - such as the fact that not all forms of diversity are visible or that diversity may be intersectional - it’s easy enough to count how often specific groups are represented on screen.

But how do you measure and assess ‘portrayals’? What makes a person, a story line, a context or a connection with a brand feel authentic? What does social class look like in a non-stereotypical way? How do you avoid the thorny issue of cultural appropriation? And how have societal expectations themselves changed over time?

Over the years, ‘Mirror on the Industry’ won multiple awards for tirelessly educating and empowering the industry with the facts and benchmarks to create meaningful progress in TV advertising.

Accolades

2023 I Mediatel Best Custom Media Research Project I WINNER

2022 I MRS Inclusive Research I FINALIST