Brands are increasingly taking concrete actions to represent diversity in their marketing content. iStock, a leading global source of visual content, can reveal that in 2020 top three selling images of “women” on its platform featured diverse women, specifically a Black woman, an Asian woman and an Indian woman.
Dr. Rebecca Swift, Global Head of Creative Insights, at iStock commented: “It’s both refreshing and reassuring to know that our customers are not only searching for imagery showcasing diverse women in positive situations, but they’re ultimately downloading and using these images, too—which indicates that the visual representation of women globally may be improving,” She added, “Given that our perception of what is possible is shaped by what we see, this shift is absolutely something worth celebrating.”
This positive shift towards more diversity and inclusion is also reflected in what consumers are now expecting from brands’ visual content. According to data from iStock’s recent research endeavor Visual GPS, two-thirds (62%) of UK consumers say it’s important to them that the companies they buy from celebrate diversity of all kinds, with younger people strongly feeling this way (73%) followed by GenX and Baby Boomers (55%)—which is to say that diversity is something consumers want to see and expect to see. Examples of diverse content that meet consumers’ expectations can be found at https://www.istockphoto.com/diversity.
