Even though the advertising and entertainment industries have made strides in trying to be more inclusive and speak more directly to different consumer groups, work remains to be done.

Research done by the Geena Davis Institute shows that representation for women, LGBTQIA+ race, disability, age and body size was actually shrinking for some audiences in recent years.

So why does representation in media matter? 

How does it affect the business landscape in terms of sales and brand equity?

And beyond even that, how does representation in the content we view every day affect consumers and how they view themselves?

And how can entrepreneurial leaders lay the groundwork in the content creation ecosystem for creating authentic stories?

In this episode, three entrepreneurial leaders talk about how authentic storytelling and representation in media can make an impact not only on a company’s bottom line, but on the customers they serve.

We’ll speak with a Babson alum who’s an advertising Hall of Fame inductee and visionary creative agency leader. Babson’s own resident marketing expert, who will help us break down the connections between representation brands and consumers. And an entrepreneur who’s bringing inclusive casting practices for photo and video to a whole new level.

• Aaron Walton ’83, CEO and Founder Walton / Isaacson, Advertisers Hall of Fame Inductee
• Anjali S. Bal, PhD., Associate Professor of Marketing and Presidential Scholar at Babson College
• Kristie Raymond, Founder & Chief Casting Strategist, HumanKind Casting

Sources:

Intro Segment

1. (2024, September 1). See Jane 2024. The Geena Davis Institute. Retrieved

February 21, 2025, from (Geena Davis Institute (2024, September 1). See Jane

2024: How Has On-Screen Representation in Children’s Television Changed

from 2018 to 2023? Https://Geenadavisinstitute.org/. Retrieved February 24,

12025, from

https://geenadavisinstitute.org/research/see-jane-2024-how-has-on-screen-repre

sentation-in-childrens-television-changed-from-2018-to-2023/).

Aaron’s Segment

1. Mckinsey & Company (2020, May 19). Diversity wins: How inclusion matters.

Mckinsey.com. Retrieved April 17, 2025, from

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins

-how-inclusion-matters

2. Gartner (2019, September 20). Diversity and Inclusion Build High-Performance

Teams. Gartner.com. Retrieved April 17, 2025, from

https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/diversity-and-inclusion-build-high-per

formance-teams

3. World Economic Forum (2019, April 29). The Business Case for Diversity is now

Overwhelming. Weforum.org. Retrieved April 17, 2025, from

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2019/04/business-case-for-diversity-in-the-work

place/

Professor Bal’s Segment

1. 2. NeuroLaunch Editorial Team. (2024, September 15). The psychological power of

using someone’s name. NeuroLaunch. Retrieved from

https://neurolaunch.com/psychology-of-calling-someone-by-their-name/

Bond, J. (2021, August 30). The impact of respecting another person’s gender.

Psychology Today. Retrieved from

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/more-diagnosis/202108/the-impact-res

pecting-another-persons-gender

Credits:

Paul DeWolf, Executive Producer

Madeline Poirier, Writer, Producer, and Host

Billy Wirasnik, Audio Recording, Design, and Mix

Epidemic Sound, Music and SFX