All Inclusive: Melissa Johnson on "Finding an Honest Point of View"

Kicking off the series is Melissa Johnson, executive producer at TANK Worldwide, who sits down with LBB's April Summers to shed light on the topic. As an agency, TANK WW specialises in developing creative campaigns that will drive brand awareness and behaviour change while also addressing the most important issues facing society today. Appreciative of production companies like ALTERED.LA, and their efforts to ensure Hispanic people are properly represented, Melissa reveals how TANK tailors their approach to the craft to ensure the creative makes a positive impact.

Melissa> At TANK, we are fortunate to have a diverse team with many Hispanic members represented not only across senior leadership but all disciplines: creative, account, project management, finance and strategy, to name a few. I believe this melting pot of backgrounds fosters a special sensitivity and curiosity that drives us to seek culturally accurate representations of our audiences. 

Additionally, with the support of our parent company, WPP, TANK promotes a borderless approach to our creative development and production executions. This means we can tap into our network of sister agencies across the globe to ensure that the audience we aim to reach is authentically represented in our content. If we don’t have the proper representation in-house to provide an honest point of view, we find that support through our global network. It is a great foundation for effective work no matter the audience. 

Our commitment to Hispanic representation has bolstered our client relationships. By demonstrating our authentic connection with this demographic and delivering impactful campaigns, we've earned the trust and respect of our clients. They recognise the value of our inclusive approach and applaud our proactive stance in championing diverse representation in our work.  

 

Melissa> We recently delivered a campaign for a global beverage product. In spite of the “global” scope, we needed to authentically represent three very distinct cultures, including Hispanics. We had three separate casting groups, curated completely different wardrobes for each, and the content for the respective countries was carefully adapted rather than relying on straight translations. We worked with client affiliates in each country, as well as representatives from our group of sister agencies, to ensure that every detail resonated with the targeted cultures. Engaging them early in the process was essential to ensuring all areas were fine-tuned: from casting, location and wardrobe mood boards, to having them involved in the review process for each stage. 

 

I am currently working on another global pharmaceutical campaign with a similar process where we lean on collaboration with client affiliates and our sister agencies across the globe to ensure authentic representation throughout the project. These partnerships are becoming more common as part of our standard process, which I believe is a positive sign that agencies and brands alike are seeing the benefits of accurately representing the audiences they’re trying to reach. 

 

 

 

Melissa> Hispanic people have made substantial contributions to economic growth and are no longer a minority - in 2020 we represented over 19% of the US population. We have growing spending power and brands are noticing. Gen Z Hispanics in particular, having grown with the internet at their fingertips, are essentially demanding genuine, authentic experiences in the content they consume.   

 

 

Melissa> It is a group effort and accountability is key. We need to constantly remind ourselves and our clients of the value in creating custom work for each audience we’re trying to reach. It doesn’t have to be a complete rehaul for each demographic. Small decisions can have a big impact. We can be smart and scrappy with the resources we get and still create compelling work that resonates with each audience. If agencies are struggling with finding a starting point in regards to cultural relevance, they should surround themselves with partners that can speak to the experiences of that market. 

 

ALTERED.LA is a great example of a company built to amplify Hispanic representation through storytelling. The teams that Marcos assembles for each production help provide the support needed to ensure authenticity – from hiring the right wardrobe stylist that understands the current trends in the market, the hair and makeup artist that knows how people are wearing their hair in that region, the right DOP that knows how to light a darker range of skin tones; these are examples of simple decisions that can have a big trickle effect in making the work more relatable for the audience.   

  

  

Melissa> As a young producer at her first job in the industry, having recently moved from Colombia to the US, I was extremely excited when I was assigned an account that produced work for both the General Market as well as the Hispanic Market. I was so delighted at the opportunity to have a hand at reaching “mi gente” (“my people”). I was quickly disappointed when I realised the Hispanic work had little to no budget available and it essentially was a literal translation of the general market spots. The humour fell flat, the music wasn’t relevant, and the casting was always compromised because the Hispanic market was not the priority.  

 

Today, I am managing more and more projects that require customisation for each audience, including the Hispanic market. The casting choices, the wardrobe and props, are all very thoughtfully selected to fit that particular demographic. And it is something that we have not had to make a strong case for – more and more, the desire for customisation is coming directly from the brands. This makes me very hopeful that clients are waking up and seeing the value in investing in “niche markets”. It is not some obscure formula that only a few people are able to crack. Customising the work for each audience will make it more relatable, therefore, more likely to be effective. Why wouldn’t any brand want that?