Driving Impact through Inclusive Advertising: An Examination of Award-Winning Gender-Inclusive Advertising

Journal of Advertising

Utilizing a qualitative thematic analysis of submission materials for 18 award-winning, gender-inclusive campaigns at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity, this research reenvisions inclusive advertising with a strengthened focus on impact. While existing literature has largely focused on identity categories and inclusive representation, we identify four mechanisms for impact (perceptual, conceptual, instrumental, and political) and scalability (across micro, meso, and macro levels) as salient themes in the award-winning and shortlisted campaigns that are recognized by the industry as gender inclusive. Theoretical and managerial contributions include (1) identification of how social impact is conceptualized in award-winning inclusive advertising and how impact functions through awards, (2) development in the definition of inclusive advertising to include social impacts as an outcome, and (3) a reimagining and expansion of the concept of inclusive advertising through a proposed Inclusive Advertising Spectrum, which encompasses representation, storytelling, and social impacts.