14. Why Brands Keep Missing Half Their Customers with Laura Burch

So what was the question? Why do we think it's overlooked? Well, I think for the same reason why kind of diversity in general was ignored in this industry for such a long time, And that's because there's such lack of representation in the workforce.

You know, if you don't come from a working class background, which hardly anyone in this industry does, then why are you even going to kind of think about it and consider it? And often, you know, it's something that's less visible.

You know, it's something that people kind of try to hide and suppress.

Like, you know, when I did find myself accidentally at the BBC in the press office for BBC Worldwide way back in the day, because I'm very old now, I, you know, I didn't meet many other people that were like me that had come from council estate backgrounds.

And so I felt very much like I had to hide that.

So, you know, I started to kind of try and sound a little bit posher, like, especially when you're kind of speaking to journalists on the phone a lot and they wouldn't take you seriously unless you sounded a certain way.

And I certainly didn't feel like I could very openly talk about, you know, the fact that I come from council estate and my dad had been to prison and, you know, all of these experiences that I'd had that made me feel quite different to everybody else.

You know, seeing some things in the subsidized canteen that I'd never seen before and, you know, was expected to kind of eat.

I was like, I don't know what this is.

because it just wasn't stuff that I've been exposed to.

So it makes you kind of suppress it a little bit.

And it took a very long time for me to feel like I could start being open about who I was and what my background was and bring some of that into the workplace.

And I think it's only when you start doing that that you start to realize or other people start to realize that it's an issue that actually, God, yeah, now you mention it.

There aren't really very many people from those backgrounds in this space, are there? And, you know, I think often there can be kind of a lot of judgment, you know, when it comes to class and working class people as well, like often people with certain accents are deemed to be stupid, even though they're very, very much not.

And I think, you know, it's only recently that people have started to understand the richness that you can bring to creativity by bringing lots of different life experience and points of view into the mix.

So, yeah, I think it's that kind of, like, lack of visibility and lack of representation on the inside that has meant that it's just not really been a focus of the industry.

I remember when I first started, and it's funny, I kind of laugh about it now, but it is a bit sad.

Like, I'd never been to Pret.

I'd never heard of Pret.

And I called it Pret-a-manga because I'd never been, and I remember being sort of roundly mocked.

And I was like, and it is those things.

it does kind of stay with you those things and you do sort of fall back into yourself and i think it takes time you i think i said fast forward you know you rose to md level you know i'm in a completely different position it almost takes that uh power and strength that you don't necessarily have early on so it does need people to to kind of step forward Do you think that we in the PR industry have a kind of a class problem specifically, or do you think we're sort of quite reflective of the broader creative industries?

So what was the question? Why do we think it's overlooked? Well, I think for the same reason why kind of diversity in general was ignored in this industry for such a long time, And that's because there's such lack of representation in the workforce.

You know, if you don't come from a working class background, which hardly anyone in this industry does, then why are you even going to kind of think about it and consider it? And often, you know, it's something that's less visible.

You know, it's something that people kind of try to hide and suppress.

Like, you know, when I did find myself accidentally at the BBC in the press office for BBC Worldwide way back in the day, because I'm very old now, I, you know, I didn't meet many other people that were like me that had come from council estate backgrounds.

And so I felt very much like I had to hide that.

So, you know, I started to kind of try and sound a little bit posher, like, especially when you're kind of speaking to journalists on the phone a lot and they wouldn't take you seriously unless you sounded a certain way.

And I certainly didn't feel like I could very openly talk about, you know, the fact that I come from council estate and my dad had been to prison and, you know, all of these experiences that I'd had that made me feel quite different to everybody else.

You know, seeing some things in the subsidized canteen that I'd never seen before and, you know, was expected to kind of eat.

I was like, I don't know what this is.

because it just wasn't stuff that I've been exposed to.

So it makes you kind of suppress it a little bit.

And it took a very long time for me to feel like I could start being open about who I was and what my background was and bring some of that into the workplace.

And I think it's only when you start doing that that you start to realize or other people start to realize that it's an issue that actually, God, yeah, now you mention it.

There aren't really very many people from those backgrounds in this space, are there? And, you know, I think often there can be kind of a lot of judgment, you know, when it comes to class and working class people as well, like often people with certain accents are deemed to be stupid, even though they're very, very much not.

And I think, you know, it's only recently that people have started to understand the richness that you can bring to creativity by bringing lots of different life experience and points of view into the mix.

So, yeah, I think it's that kind of, like, lack of visibility and lack of representation on the inside that has meant that it's just not really been a focus of the industry.

I remember when I first started, and it's funny, I kind of laugh about it now, but it is a bit sad.

Like, I'd never been to Pret.

I'd never heard of Pret.

And I called it Pret-a-manga because I'd never been, and I remember being sort of roundly mocked.

And I was like, and it is those things.

it does kind of stay with you those things and you do sort of fall back into yourself and i think it takes time you i think i said fast forward you know you rose to md level you know i'm in a completely different position it almost takes that uh power and strength that you don't necessarily have early on so it does need people to to kind of step forward Do you think that we in the PR industry have a kind of a class problem specifically, or do you think we're sort of quite reflective of the broader creative industries?