SAN FRANCISCO: HP, the US tech firm, has spent at least two years putting pressure on its agencies to increase the diversity of teams working on HP accounts, and now it appears the initiative is paying off in terms of commercial results.

Among a series of announcements detailing its action on diversity and inclusion, the company unveiled new data which it said proved that ads created by diverse teams perform better.

After measuring the impact of ads created before and after the launch of its 2016 diversity initiative, HP revealed that Brand Monitor showed an “impressive” six-point increase in purchase intent and HP business drivers in just one year.

Separate Marketing Mix Analysis, run by Nielsen, captured a 33% increase in revenue per impression, while HP’s ads also scored well on the Association of National Advertisers’ Gender Equality Measure (GEM), seeing a five-point increase in effectiveness, which HP said placed it in the top quartile of brands.

“The facts are in, diverse teams perform better,” said Antonio Lucio, HP’s chief marketing and communications officer. “Changing the makeup of our teams – client, agency, production house – and the way we work, positively influenced our ads. The results give us confidence and motivation to accelerate our efforts.”

He added that HP will apply GEM metrics to all its ad-testing and will be the first brand working with The Female Quotient – a consultancy specifically geared towards advancing equality in the workplace – to create and implement a custom ‘Algorithm for Equality’ to measure workplace inclusion.

In addition, HP provided more detail about its involvement with Cannes Lions and the #MoreLikeMe pilot programme that aims to build and strengthen the talent of racially and ethnically diverse creatives.

Each of HP’s roster agencies – BBDO, Edelman, Fred & Farid, Giant Spoon and PHD – have nominated a total of 18 candidates for the initiative, and they have been joined by three more nominated by Facebook.

Sourced from HP, ANA, The Female Quotient; additional content by WARC staff