Sixty-seven companies have been awarded the IPA People First Promise badge of honour for successfully demonstrating their commitment to their people’s mental health and wellbeing. Today’s announcement coincides with the start of Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 and teases new IPA data that will be unveiled in an IPA session at Advertising Week Europe on Thursday 16 May.
The People First Promise initiative was launched by IPA President Josh Krichefski in January of this year to encourage those active in this space to use this badge of honour to assert their duty of care to their current employees, to future talent and to clients. Its launch was accompanied by the IPA Adland Wellbeing Lab – an online hub that curates resources, advice and training in this area.
To gain the award, these companies have successfully provided evidence of their various activity that supports their people’s mental health and wellbeing, under the three interconnected and interdependent categories of Empower, Support and Prevent.
23red; Accenture Song; adam&eveDDB; AMS Media Group; AMV BBDO; Anything Is Possible; BBH; Bicycle London; Billion Dollar Boy; Borne; Bountiful Cow; Bray Leino; Craft Media; Cream; Creature; Different Narrative; DRUM; Electric Glue; EssenceMediacom; EssenceMediacomX; Fuse International Limited; Generation Media; Golley Slater; GroupM; Guy&Co; Havas; Hearts & Science; Hunterlodge; IMA; IPA; IPG Mediabrands; ITV; Join The Dots; JourneyHR; Landor; Leith; Lucky Generals; McCann Central; McCann London; McCann Manchester; Medialab; MGOMD; Mindshare; Mother; Ogilvy UK; OMD UK; Omnicom Media Group UK; Open Media; PHD Media Ltd UK; Propeller Group; Recipe; Republic of Media; St Lukes; Syneos Health; T&Pm; Talon; The Gate; the7stars; Total Media; TPA; TrunkBBI; Uniform; VCCP; Walk-In Media; Wavemaker; Wieden+Kennedy and Wonderhood Studios.
Following today’s announcement, the IPA will be engaging with additional companies and media owners to encourage further sign-ups to the People First Promise.
The drive to encourage further sign-ups is also informed by one of the findings from newly IPA-commissioned data, carried out by Ipsos, that reveals that when it comes to employee mental health and wellbeing, individuals in IPA agencies who responded to the survey are less likely than the general population and 16–24-year-olds to believe their (ad) industry is doing enough.
Currently, 48% of individuals within IPA membership who completed the survey believe the ad industry is doing enough to support the mental health of its employees, and 47% believe the ad industry is doing enough to support the wellbeing of its employees. In contrast, when all adults were asked whether the current industry they work in is doing enough to support the mental health and wellbeing of its employees, the figures were noticeably higher at 60% and 61%, and higher still for 16-24-year-olds, at 65% and 67% respectively.*
Further highlights from the data set will be unveiled at an IPA-run Advertising Week Europe session on Advertising and the Climate Crisis on Thursday, 16 May, 3pm, which will unpack the ad industry and general population’s feelings towards climate change and the role the ad industry plays.
“Congratulations to all these companies who have successfully gained their People First Promise. These trailblazers have made a public declaration – to their current and future talent, and to clients - that they take active steps to protect, empower and support the mental health and wellbeing of their people.
“This is a fantastic start. And it is just the start. As we’re seeing in this new IPA research, there is more work to be done - either to raise awareness of the mental health and wellbeing resources that some companies offer – for which more sign-ups to the People First Promise are key, or to increase the provision of relevant support, for which our IPA Adland Wellbeing Lab offers a wealth of free and paid-for resources to help.
By all of us playing our part in this area, not only do we improve individual lives, but we raise the reputation and pull-factor of our companies and our industry by making it clear that we invest in creating supportive and inclusive working environments. In short, we all win.
* This research was carried out by Ipsos on behalf of the IPA. All surveys were conducted online between 12th-19th April 2024. Base: All IPA member agency employees that responded to the survey n=545, UK Adults 16-75 n=1067, UK Adults 16 -24, n=475. Data for UK adults 16-75 and 16-24 has been weighted to known offline proportions for age and gender, region, social grade, working status and education in the UK population. No quotas or weighting were applied to the IPA Member data. The figures reported here are of working adults: IPA agency member employees that responded to the survey n=545, UK Working Adults 16-75 n=686, UK Working Adults 16 -24, n=250.