Making a Case for Diversity
On January 15th, Elisabeth Couture, the Creative Director of our Brand was invited to speak about diversity at Automat AI. The aim of the talk was to discuss how companies can incorporate messages of diversity in their operations, and we were honored to share our WE Culture campaign from last year.
To us, diversity is more than just a buzzword, and although it should be part of our daily lives and represented in everything we do, it’s also a critical time when we all need to do more. We live in a time (and a wonderful country) where diversity is the foundation of our society; cultural, gender, body types and ability, and fair representation are key in order to speak to a wider audience. With about 7.7 million visible minorities in Canada, making up about 22% of the population according to Stats Canada, representation matters.
Ardene’s core demographic is the Gen Z customer, a unique and diverse group that doesn’t see people in binary terms; a group that doesn’t know life before the internet and that is more stimulated by visuals than words. It’s also a demographic that cares deeply about social and public good and is driven to right the injustices around them. Ardene shares these values and sensibilities, so representing realness and promoting inclusivity is part of who we are. We’re also fueled by a young workforce that is motivated to make a strong business case for diversity, because it’s the right thing to do.
Our goal was not just to show the world what Ardene has done, but to share ways that other companies can make their own cases for diversity, while staying true to their brand values and making sure it’s authentic. According to Elisabeth, “Everybody wins when more companies catch on [to diversity] so it felt great to share tangible ideas with the audience. A campaign based on diversity and inclusivity isn’t about sales, but instead is about sharing your company’s values in order to establish solidarity with your customer.”
There needs to be a time when the human face of a company peeks out to remind customers that we too are people, and we care about and are touched by the same things they are. Ardene prides itself on being a company that customers can relate to and strives to do more to remind them that we are all in this together. We seek to engage with our customer and open conversations with them about issues that affect us all.