If Everyone Is Included, Why Are so Many Left Out?

Prominent marketers have long advocated for an end of the “multicultural brief”—arguing for a single, general brief that accounts for all audiences. The principle is right, but the “general market” still defaults to white, suburban, and heterosexual. For brands, this creates a risk of leaving money on the table. Equity in advertising isn’t about spending more—it’s about redistributing existing media dollars with intention so that the "general market" truly includes everyone.

What the Numbers Show

Historically excluded consumer groups account for 44% of the US population yet continue to receive just 5% of media funding. This isn’t always an issue of deliberate exclusion of people, but rather a byproduct of how our industry leans on algorithmic targeting and media partnerships that replicate existing inequities. If your media plan relies on algorithms alone, you’re reinforcing bias and losing incremental reach.

But algorithms are only half the story. The partners we default to in our media plans also shape who sees our messages and who doesn’t. That’s where the opportunity for correction begins.

Rethink Media Partners

Most media plans default to partners and platforms that disproportionately deliver white, mainstream audiences. This recognition starts to reveal one route to bridge this investment inequity. By coming to understand the media partners with whom we’re accustomed to working as being for white people, we then immediately recognize the need to round out our media plans with partners that are for Black, Latinx, Asian, Queer, and other underserved audiences. Apply the same targets and creative. Don’t wait for a “culturally specific” campaign to justify showing up on diverse platforms.

Visibility Matters

It is undoubtedly true that the brands that win are able to understand how their product fits into the lives and experiences of underserved groups. They’re able to show up authentically and with great timing. This generates resonance and goodwill that ultimately translates into greater brand affinity and loyalty. People from underserved groups already interpret and adapt general audience messaging all the time. This is an ingredient in the recipe for surviving in a world that isn’t built for you. When brands show up, their visibility generates equity.

In aggregate, this perspective, very simply, advocates for a more complete understanding of how the audiences that we reach compare to the audiences that we intend to reach. We have the tools to build media plans that see the full consumer landscape, not just the most easily targeted slice of it. Audit your media distribution as closely as you audit your creative. Ask: Who is watching? Who is missing?

This isn’t about bigger budgets—it’s about smarter allocation. By redistributing spend with intention, brands can correct inequities in reach, capture incremental growth, and build long-term brand equity with audiences that have historically been underserved.

This insight was originally published on Digitas' LinkedIn newsletter The Dose. Subscribe here.