Azure Antoinette on how industry can overcome its ‘inherent fear around diversity, equity and inclusion’

Mumbrella has thoroughly covered the pitching frenzy that has been a dominant feature of the first few months of 2023, as brands hit the market for new agency partners. Earlier this week, two different perspectives were put forward by agency bosses on the state of expectations placed on agencies in the current climate, and how they should be responding.Hardhat’s Dan Monheit suggests that agencies should feel confident to drop out of pitches that feel exploitative, whileHuge’s Ben Skelsey points to new agency models as the way forward if agencies can move beyond just “talking” about them. The team discuss the merits of each.

Then,Similarweb data has revealed that Twitter users are more likely to leave the platform completely than to invest US$8 per month for a blue verification tick on their profile, with the month of March recording 1.1 million users who deactivated their account versus the approximately 116,000 who confirmed signing up to Twitter Blue. While the end is not necessarily here for the Elon Musk-helmed platform, which still managed to record 3 million new accounts in March, the team discuss the likelihood of Twitter turning this around for users and advertisers.

Finally, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion expert andMumbrella360 keynote speaker, Azure Antoinette,joins the podcast to discuss the current situation in the business world.

Episode Breakdown

• Two perspectives on pitchapalooza (1:56)
• Twitter Blue falters (12:30)
• Azure Antoinette joins the podcast (16:35)