Diversity and inclusivity in branding… Lessons in how to build a truly diverse brand with L’Oréal UK & Ireland’s Ellis Lanyon

When asked ‘how diverse is your brand’ and ‘how inclusive is your company’, some might believe the two questions are merely synonymous. But they’re not just the same question repackaged. According to Forbes, diversity is the ‘what’: who is sitting at the table. Inclusivity, on the other hand, is the ‘how’, the brand culture that allows diversity to prosper: have you pulled up extra chairs to that table?

When 72% of our insight communities believe that brands have a responsibility to be involved in D&I conversations, it’s more important than ever for your brand to embrace an equal and inclusive future. However, despite our online panel being overwhelmingly in favour of brand activism, more than half of them were untrusting of the brands that allied themselves with these causes.

How can brands overcome this double bind of championing progressivism without being damned as inauthentic? We caught up with Ellis Lanyon, Head of Digital for NYX Professional Makeup, Network Chair of L’Oréal UK & Ireland’s LGBTQ+ Employees and Allies Network OUT@L’Oréal, and a British LGBT Award Nominee 2020. He told us how NYX Professional Makeup, a pioneering brand for gender, sexual and racial equality, are working towards a more inclusive future.

Here’s what Ellis, as well as our insight communities, had to say…

Unlock the expert advice from L’Oréal UK & Ireland…