With P&G’s scale comes the responsibility to tell stories that are meaningful, equitable and authentic. But when it came to Black stories, there was a gap. Because Black filmmakers are given limited opportunities, the images that we are shown in advertising, media and film are often stereotypes that reflect a narrow view of the Black experience. The challenge became to confront bias throughout the process - from how we ideate, research, and talk about our products/Brands all the way through to the storytellers behind the camera and the stories that they tell. Only by taking a hard look at every aspect of the "go to market" process can we create change and have the opportunity to widen the view of everyday Black life.

Our objectives were to 1) Raise cultural awareness of the Black storytelling gap, 2) Trigger substantive actions to drive institutional change within the industry, both behind the camera and on the screen and 3) Put investment behind making sure people see a more authentic portrayal of Black life in the world.

The overall strategic goal was to expand what’s on screen, by expanding the creators behind the camera.

The target for this program were the entities that create and are responsible for the images we see: advertisers and the filmmaking industry. Coming off a year of “racial reckoning”, many advertisers pledged to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion and increase representation of people of color. The question that remained, was how? And would this be breakthrough enough?

In an effort to "check the box" on diversity, marketers began to cast more Black talent, but these portrayals did not incorporate relevant insights and messages that resonated. In advertising, when asked how often they see themselves reflected, 32% of Black adults said 'not much' or 'never' vs. 24% of white adults. In film, Black stories were categorized in extremes of struggle or excellence, perpetuating stereotypes and demonstrating that the narrow view on screen was a direct result of the creators behind the camera. Less than 6% of writers, directors, and producers of US- produced films are Black. Pointblank: there was a fundamental failure in the industry behavior of Black storytelling. Our strategic breakthrough? There weren't enough Black creators creating Black stories.

While Widen the Screen had an impactful launch, involvement on the individual Brand level was essential to truly creating systematic change and making diversity, equality and inclusion a sustainable part of creativity.

As a company, P&G created plans and devoted resources to helping each Brand truly get the important work done. The three focus areas were:

1) Reach Black consumers in relevant/resonant programming through Black owned and operated media. The ask from each Brand was to work with a core team of media planners to help get to 6% of spending in this space.

2) Develop and run relevant and resonate advertising and brand content in Black owned and operated media and in programming that reaches Black audiences. Tools were made available to check relevance/resonance of existing creative work and a workshop process was set up for each Brand’s participation to ensure authentic and rich insights were developed to influence future work.

3) Develop relevant and resonant content to run in Black-owned and operated media through our “Widen the Screen” program. This is original, bespoke content created by P&G brands, which can then be distributed to Black-owned and operated media – enabling the brands to advertise on relevant media programming.

The Widen the Screen program triggered substantive actions to drive systemic change within the industry and P&G’s organization.

Raised cultural awareness of storytelling gap:

- Broad visibility on industry level: Marc Pritchard has presented Widen the Screen idea, vision, and mission at Cannes, ANA conference, Global Equality and Inclusion Awards, Tribeca X, etc.

- Launched 12 films by Black storytellers through Queen Collective and 8:46 programs, debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival and continuing at other national film festivals throughout the year.

Triggered substantive actions to drive change within industry

- 500+ P&G employees engaged in Widen the Screen insight workshop sessions, to help understand the stories that aren’t being told on a Brand/category level and develop action plans to address

- Employed and gave opportunities to 300+ Black creators

Investment behind ensuring people see a more authentic portrayal of Black life

- 150% increase investment in Black owned and operated media

- P&G has publicly set goal to be the number one spender in Black-owned media

- P&G donated 12 films to help expand and fuel the ecosystem and to create programming content that can be monetized through advertising