Mynewsday 2020 - The end of the Mad Men Era

At Mynewsday, Christina Knight, will talk about how working with and implementing gender equality, inclusion and diversity in the advertising industry. It will not only change representation and the production of content as such, but also be beneficial to agency cultures, client and consumer relations and profitability for both brands and agencies. Christina will show inspiring and empowering best practices from advertising where sexism, ageism and racism, for example, are no longer part of the communication.

Christina Knight is a Creative Director at The Amazing Society in Stockholm, Sweden. With over 30 years of experience in advertising, she has been awarded for her creative work and leadership. She has also become the strongest advocate for gender equality, inclusion and diversity in the Swedish advertising industry, famous for her books "Mad Women" and "Not Buying It". Christina is also a mentor, a board member of UN Women and IAW (International Alliance of Women), and a co-founder of TakeTwo, an organization that aims to bring more gender equality, inclusion and diversity into the media industries.

Your topic is “The end of the Mad Men Era”, why did you choose to talk about that?
- Because I constantly get horrified and have to pinch my arm over the fact that we have not come any further in terms of gender equality, inclusion and diversity in the media industry. It’s quite frankly embarrassing and unprofessional that we today, in 2020, still can’t reflect and see the world and society as it is, and therefore we are not up-to-date with the relevant experience and perspectives on board, towards our audience. Culturally, creatively, strategically, and financially, it’s devastating for agencies to have such a homogeneous group of people and culture, which unfortunately is more common. It’s about time that we leave old structures behind to become updated, interesting, equal, inclusive and relevant.

Give us your best tips for those who want to work more with inclusive communications?
- To ensure that the understanding and knowledge about inclusion are more than just an opportune, politically correct reaction. And that deep awareness and knowledge must permeate everything from ownership, leadership, recruitment, culture, production and content, and is constantly questioned and updated. It takes time and a set budget to do it long term and for real.

What will this year’s participants learn from you?
- I hope to inspire them to think and work more with the issues within their own organization and that they will understand that there are consequences, not just for the organization, but also the culture, brand, content and profitability to be ignorant about issues of equality, inclusion and diversity.

What do you think the coming year will look like for the digital PR and communication industry? What is important to remember?
- I believe and hope that the pandemic as well as the climate crisis and the global political landscape have taught us something. That it has made us more humble and aware of our vulnerability and the need to work more inclusively with more experiences about who owns, creates, and communicates.

Person/Company in the industry that inspires you
- On the client side, I am inspired by Karin Bodin at Polarbröd, she is a brave and clear leader. The values the company and she are guided by and how she acts in a crisis is exemplary. In the agency industry, I know too many inspiring people to be able to name them all.

Mynewsday is on November 5 and the event is held in English. Sign up for free here.