Consumers don’t identify with products—they identify with other consumers
Historically, advertising for a product has espoused its virtues, and that includes financial services like mortgages. It’s a rational approach so far as it goes. But hawking a 6.49% APR isn’t the sort of pitch that Mildenhall feels like making to potential homebuyers. Instead, he wants to spotlight “true, life-changing stories” that come out of buying a home. “Gone are the days of marketing campaigns based on a conceit,” he said. “We’re moving toward authenticity and storytelling, showing people other people who look like them find[ing] the path into home ownership, and all the pride, dignity and security that comes with that.”
Diversity is essential, and it’s up to brands to push for it
As a gay man of color, Mildenhall does not view the topic of diversity as an idealistic objective to keep in mind: He knows it’s essential for any marketing message to be credible and effective. During his agency days in the U.K., Mildenhall led an effort to encourage creative shops to hire more Black and brown employees, “but I don’t think there’s been the same type of industry effort here in the U.S.,” he said. The solution, he believes, is getting brands to compel their agencies to hire more progressively. “The advertising industry needs to do more,” he said, “[and] the catalyst for them doing more is client demand. I would like every client to demand agencies better reflect the communities those clients are serving.”
Your personal challenges can be your deepest inspiration
Mildenhall’s anecdote about home ownership lifting him out of poverty was not an overstatement: Home equity has furnished him more stability than ad industry paychecks. But a deeper lesson lurks here. Mildenhall is one of five boys raised by a single mother in a housing project in the north of England. “I shared a bedroom with my two brothers, and there was mold growing up the walls,” he said. “I remember the annual tradition of scraping off the mold and covering [the walls] with aluminum foil to protect my asthma.” Mildenhall also remembers what it felt like to be gay in the early ’90s, and how Cindy Gallop of McCann Erickson made it safe for him to come out at work. In retrospect, Mildenhall now realizes that his creativity comes from understanding and embracing those experiences. As he puts it: “Unless you step into your authenticity, you will not realize the full potential of your career.”
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