Nationwide: How Nationwide and Wavemaker tackled unconscious bias in media planning and buying, and helped create a more inclusive industry for all

Nationwide, a building society, launched a campaign in the UK to reach and resonate better with diverse audiences through media, uncover and face into unconscious bias in the media industry and address shortcomings.

Executive summary

Nationwide is a financial organisation with a social purpose - to build society.

Their long running advertising platform, Voices, features people from all walks of life, representing UK society in all its diversity.

But in 2020, prompted by the Black Lives Matter protests around the world, Nationwide considered for the first time the role that media plays in upholding systemic bias.

They challenged their media agency Wavemaker whether they were 'truly speaking to all of UK society, nationwide?'. This set client and agency on a journey that they are still on now. They interrogated every area of their...

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