E45's Groundbreaking Diversity in Advertising Triumphs Channel 4's Award

E45, a skincare brand, has been honored with Channel 4’s Diversity in Advertising award. In an effort to foster a positive shift in public attitudes towards the LGBTQIA+ communities, E45 plans to utilize the awarded funds for the creation of impactful campaigns. The campaign, developed in collaboration with agency The&Partnership, is set to receive £1m worth of advertising space across Channel 4’s diverse portfolio. Moreover, E45 will benefit from a social media spending allocation of £100,000. This includes £40,000 worth of social production from Channel 4’s digital content creation department, 4Studio, and an additional £60,000 worth of exposure across the broadcaster’s media channels.

Sally Perry, the global skin health category director at Karo Healthcare, the owner of E45, announced the award, stating that E45's mission is to help people feel comfortable in their skin. They hope that this work will drive long-term, positive change in public attitudes. Perry thanked their LGBTQIA+ team and allies at The&Partnership for their dedication and passion, and encouraged everyone to stay tuned for more. The competition, which aims to promote advertising that accurately represents diverse communities, has been running since 2016. This year, participants were challenged to authentically portray LGBTQIA+ communities in their pitches.

Channel 4 selected the theme based on research conducted with 4Sales. The research revealed that UK brands were avoiding portraying these communities in their advertisements due to concerns about negative reactions. Previous themes have addressed issues like ageism, authentic representation of Black, Asian, and ethnic minority communities, and challenging sexist stereotypes. The winning campaign from the previous year was developed by cleaning brand Vanish and its agency Havas London. Their campaign aimed to initiate a discussion about autism in girls, in response to a challenge to portray visible and hidden disabilities in advertising.

According to Veriça Djurdjevic, the Diversity in Advertising Award chair and Channel 4 chief revenue officer, this year's competition had the strongest entries it has ever seen. Djurdjevic mentions that the judging panel was faced with a difficult decision due to the exceptional submissions from the brands and their agencies. Ultimately, E45 and The&Partnership came out on top and Djurdjevic expresses her excitement to see their campaign on air and observe the impact it will make.

The judging panel for this competition comprised of 12 individuals, who were esteemed leaders from the advertising sector as well as members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Among the panelists were representatives from well-known organizations such as Outvertising, Not a Phase charity, and Channel 4's internal staff network, 4Pride. Additionally, experienced judges from the Advertising Association, the IPA, Thinkbox, ISBA, and 4Creative, who had previously participated in the competition, were also included.

The judges were presented with a selection of six entries, all of which had been shortlisted, and they were tasked with choosing the winners.

The following brands contributed these entries: Absolut vodka, The AA vehicle services, Durex condom maker, Bodyform period care company, Snag tights brand, and the winner, E45.

These brands that made it to the shortlist have been given the chance to obtain match funding in order to have their entries broadcasted. Channel 4 will match-fund airtime as well as investments in digital and video-on-demand advertising, up to a maximum of £250,000.

Djurdjevic says the judging panel were “passionate” about seeing each of the shortlisted entries on air.