Why Diversity in Advertising is still as important today as it was 10 years ago

By Sam Hicks, Head of Advertiser Strategy at Channel 4

Ten years ago, Channel 4 launched the Diversity in Advertising Award (DIAA) with a core ambition at heart: to challenge the industry to better reflect the real Britain.

Back then, authentic representation of many large communities was sporadic, and it seemed like accessibility was rarely considered in creative development. Leaning on our Mirror on the Industry research, the DIAA was born out of a desire to change that— and now, by the end of 2025, Channel 4 will have given away over £10m of free airtime to encourage brands to reach and be more representative. 

The Impact of the Initiative So Far

Since DIAA’s launch it has focused on visible and non-visible disabilities, women, and the trans community via the award-winning ad, This Is Me, This Is My Space from E45 and T&Pm. The impact is clear to see with both this pioneering campaign, and last year’s winning ad, Sigh of Relief created by Currys and AMV BBDO providing perfect examples.

Sally Perry, Global Skin Health Category Director at E45 said: “E45 had been rethinking how to reach the right consumers, reset how people perceive skincare and how they perceive the E45 brand. The Diversity in Advertising Award provided an opportunity to explore this following the launch of a new brand campaign. Working with Halpern, it was a perfect way to demonstrate our commitment to making everyone’s skin feel comfortable so that everyone can feel comfortable in their skin. We’re proud to have shared this first of a kind portrayal of trans women on their journey. The feedback we are receiving both from those within the community and the wider E45 audience has been amazing.”

Nicholas Hulley and Nadja Lossgott, Chief Creative Officers at AMV BBDO comment that: “We are proud that AMV is the only agency to have won the Channel 4 Diversity on Advertising Awards three times. And for three different clients. To be able to use such a big media budget to promote accessibility and diversity and our brands in creative ways is a beautiful virtuous circle.”

AMV BBDO created last year’s winning campaign with Currys’ 2024, Sigh of Relief, which was focused on actively reaching the 18 million people in the UK that have different, diverse experiences of hearing loss and deafness and the 340,000 people who are registered as blind or partially sighted[1].  Featuring an audio-describer and British Sign Language interpreter as key characters, the ad was inclusive by design. 83% of respondents correctly branded the DIAA Sigh of Relief campaign as Curry’s. Making it the second highest score across all 103 Playback studies to date. It showed how accessibility can be seamlessly woven into brand narratives without compromising humour or universal relevance. 

Why repeat the brief - Inclusive by Design?

The work isn’t done and there is still a lot we as an industry can learn. That’s why we’re repeating the Inclusive by Design brief for a second year so that brands, agencies, and platforms can come together again to keep-up the momentum. 

Channel 4 is a front runner when it comes to accessibility with our recently announced commitment that from spring 2026, all adverts delivered to Channel 4 (across linear and streaming) will mandatorily require closed captions. 

Creating Ads That Reach and Resonate

At Channel 4, we love using the power and trust of TV to do the right thing, yet this is also a great business decision. The facts speak for itself, with Channel 4 Sale’s research suggesting that inclusive techniques could unlock access to an additional 14 million viewers across the UK, data shows that the DIAA winning ads have received an 8.3% increase in its brand consideration pre-wave and mid-wave compared to the global norm of 5.5%[2], and AMV BBDO and Malteser’s Look on the Light Side seeing recall levels of 70% from the general population[3].  Not to mention Havas London winning a Gold Lion at Cannes for Me, My Autism and I for Reckitt Vanish and Ambitious About Autism. 

Hulley and Lossgott adds that “major brands are the mainstream. And every time they use their platform to promote accessibility it moves the cultural needles in the right direction.”

With the application deadline on the 26th September 2025, we feel now is an important time to reflect on this initiative. Let’s keep working together to challenge the industry norms, push boundaries and make advertising more accessible and representative. 

You can find out more about Diversity in Advertising here.

[1] The Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID): Not 12 million, but 18 million: why the number of people classed as having hearing loss in the UK has increased  - RNID

[2] The Global Norm is based on all our Playback effectiveness which in total is 103 campaigns. Channel 4 has been testing DIAA since 2018 (when Playback started) so this norm is made up of sevent campaigns.

[3] According to independent research conducted by BDRC