‘To unstereotype, you need people who aren’t the stereotype’: Rose Herceg and Anathea Ruys on representation in advertising
One year ago, UN Women launched the Australian chapter of Unstereotype Alliance, a global coalition that aims to tackle harmful stereotypes in advertising and media content. Rose Herceg, president of WPP told Mumbrella it’s important for the creative community to tune in with who they are representing, checking “fact, not fiction.”
Speaking on the Mumbrellacast this week, alongside UM Australia CEO Anathea Ruys, Herceg reflected on whether the industry is doing enough to represent different communities.
L-R: Rose Herceg and Anathea Ruys
“As a child of immigrant parents, I’m very passionate about this, because I grew up in a part of Sydney where rarely people make it into this industry,” she said.
“I only speak English at work, for example, so certainly with our creative communities, we are reminding them to not make assumptions when they are reflecting or casting those that are not Anglo-Celtic in advertising or from any other community and gender.”
Herceg said that initiatives like cadetships and internships offered to underrepresented communities, when designed right, do make a difference.
“From the southwestern suburbs of Sydney, from western suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, kids actually wouldn’t think of this as a career because they are migrant kids from different religions, different face, different ethnicity – different everything, frankly.
“It’s my belief that to unstereotype, you need people who aren’t the stereotype of the industry.”
Ruys added that even the “represented” other side of the conversation is getting new perspectives in recent years.
“I come from the other side, where I have always seen myself represented in all content. Because I am the daughter of Aussie, I’m cis-gender, I’m in a heterosexual relationship. All of the things that I am, I have seen them represented.
“I have to say, in my career particularly in the last five to ten years [I] have been about learning exactly what you are talking about there: how to not make assumptions.
“I think we need to broaden our industry, we need to bring more people into the industry who bring with them different perspectives, different views.”
The Unstereotype Alliance is set to release its first national study into stereotyping in the Australian media and advertising industry in early 2023.
Listen to the full Mumbrellacast episode here, as Herceg and Ruys chat more about their experiences holding two of the most senior roles in the Australian advertising industry.
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Darcy Song was a reporter at Mumbrella, covering media owners, adtech and social platforms. She left in October 2023.
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