The independent marketing agency has become the first sports-focussed partner of the BBC’s The 50:50 Equality Project
Pitch, the independent creative marketing agency that is currently celebrating its 20 year anniversary, has announced a new partnership with the BBC’s 50:50 The Equality Project.
50:50 The Equality Project is committed to inspiring and supporting the BBC and organisations around the globe to consistently create journalism and media content that fairly represents the world. The initiative, born in the BBC’s London newsroom in 2017, uses a methodology that is rooted in data, creativity, practicality and passion to fundamentally shift representation in media content. It’s a self-monitoring system designed to fit into existing workflows, and is founded on three core principles of: Collect data to effect change; Measure what you control; Never compromise on quality.
It set out as a simple idea to measure and increase representation of women on one BBC news programme. Since then it has been taken up across the BBC in 750 teams, not just in news output but by content teams across its platforms. The project was originally developed to tackle fair representation in terms of gender, but it has now expanded to address broader inclusivity challenges around fair representation of ethnicity and disability. Other partners of 50:50 include Unilever, the British Fashion Council, Edelman, the Financial Times, PWC and the London Stock Exchange.
Lara Joannides, BBC Creative Diversity Lead for 50:50, said: “50:50 The Equality Project aspires to ensure that all media content reflects society as a whole. It is the biggest collective action to increase representation in BBC content, and we’re proud to have a network of over 145 external partners in 30 countries working with us to achieve one goal: content that fairly represents the world. Diverse representation is crucial for organisations across all industries and we’re delighted that Pitch Marketing Group is leading the way in Sport by joining our growing list of partners.”
The 50:50 Equality Project builds on existing work by Pitch in the area of diversity and inclusion. This includes an ongoing relationship with Creative Access to recruit entry level candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and the agency’s internal Changemakers programme, which proactively promotes inclusivity within the business through a combination of recruitment, training and fundraising initiatives.
Chris Allen, Managing Director of Pitch Marketing Group, added: “We’re incredibly proud to be the first sport-focussed partner of the 50:50 The Equality Project. The partnership will play an important role in our ongoing mission to make Pitch a truly representative business. As a marketing agency we’re in the privileged position to be creating content for some of the biggest brands in the country that is seen by millions of people each year. However that comes with great responsibility and this partnership will ensure every piece of content that we create – both for our clients and our own channels – is representative of the brilliantly diverse country that we live in.”
