by Matthew Jones

Dana Wade has a clear vision for SpikeDDB – to be the premiere creative agency in the world.  Note the absence of any qualifiers or limiting language.  There’s no mention of being the best multicultural, or urban marketing agency.  That’s because Dana Wade will not be pigeon-holed – and neither will her agency.

Since taking the helm of SpikeDDB three years ago, Wade has successfully expanded the agency’s client base, improved the company’s profitability, and has raised its reputation to an overall higher level in the industry.  While other agencies are busy emptying out their desks, Wade has increased her staffing by 200 percent.

“When it was first created, the agency wanted to position itself under the urban/African-American umbrella,” said Wade.  “When I came along, my thought was that we needed a greater, more integrated vision of what the agency could be.  Spike’s work is larger than that – and he’s such a great asset.  So we concentrated on assembling a team that knew how to move (creative work) through the client.”

The recipe appears to be working, as SpikeDDB boasts a 95 percent success rate in new business pitches.  Under Wade’s watchful eye, the agency is poised for a fourth consecutive year of growth.

SpikeDDB is a joint venture between DDB Worldwide Communications Group, Inc., and producer, writer, director Spike Lee.  It is a full service consumer advertising agency that combines Lee’s insights, understanding and direction to the urban market, with some of the resources of one of the country’s largest agencies, DDB Worldwide.  

“Smart marketers know they can’t just do general market work now,” said Wade.  “It’s a diverse world out there – they better know something about it.”

Finding Her Own Way

What agencies don’t know about diversity, they can certainly begin to learn from Wade, who rose through the ranks at general market agencies throughout her career.  Prior to SpikeDDB, Wade held positions at such agencies as Young & Rubicam, McCann-Ericson/ Los Angeles, and Lois, Pitts, Gershon.

Wade’s biggest asset, in her view, has been her refusal to put her future in anyone else’s hands.  By not accepting the limitations that people have tried to put on her in the past, Wade created a bright and successful future.

“Every time someone told me ‘no,’ I just found another way,” said Wade.  “There are many paths to the same point, so you’re ultimately responsible for your own choices.  You have to navigate your way through.”

But more than just making choices and decisions on which accounts you want, Wade said that the bottom line is being able to make a positive impact on whichever team you choose.

“You always have to add value,” said Wade.  “Always be giving.  But at the same time, you have to fill your skill basket in return.  Add to your career base.  At one point in my career, I felt that people were trying to pigeonhole me in the Governmental Politics arena.  I had to say ‘no’ – that I wasn’t going to be their poster girl.  I chose to move to a large, global account instead.  Some people resented it.”

Wade added that you can’t be afraid to make choices for yourself, regardless of what others expect.  “They don’t expect you to want it, or even know about it,” she said.  “But you learn that you must see yourself differently than the way they see you.  Your perspective changes after that – and so does theirs.  But in my career, I think I’m most proud of having made those choices.”

Like anyone else in any other industry, Wade has not achieved her success alone.  She has had mentors and supporters along the way.  But as far as role models, she hasn’t really had any in the industry.

“My career hasn’t followed any kind of set path – God has moved me around,” she said.  “I’ve had some great mentors – people who actually placed me where I could see and learn things.  They haven’t all been Black, and they haven’t all been women.  This is advertising – you need to have a White male as part or the mix.  But you also need Blacks and women.  Spike has been a role model for me, in a different way, but having Black men as role models in this business is rare.  It’s about sharing different lives, and different perspectives.”

Reflecting the World View

If the work coming out of SpikeDDB has a powerful, diverse flair, it’s because of the talent coming through the door.  SpikeDDB has been able to draw talent from leading agencies where people of color have not felt they were given a chance to fully spread their wings with the same support as their peers and counterparts.

“We have people from cultures from all over – we reflect the world view,” said Wade.  “We have people from Bombay, we have African-Americans, Hispanics, Jewish and Caucasian employees...we represent the growing market.”

Across the marketing communications industry, general market agencies are struggling when it comes to making diversity truly part of the agency culture.  According to Wade, the problem results less from recruitment, than it does retention and growth efforts.  According to Wade, it’s one of the main factors that sets SpikeDDB apart.

“Most agencies aren’t really trying – there’s a definite pattern (in their failed efforts),” said Wade.  “But you see different degrees of success.  Some agencies are better than others at getting (ethnic minorities) in the door at the junior level.  But we’re not mentored or guided like our counterparts.  We’re not promoted or recognized, and ultimately, not retained.  It’s a real problem in advertising.  But it’s not just our industry, it the corporate world at large.”

The issue, according to Wade, does not stop once minorities make it up the hierarchical ladder.  As people of color rise in power, the issues only change.

“Once you’re senior enough, the microscope increases a bit,” said Wade.  “You start getting into some long-standing biases.”

Wade has been able to get over these hurdles over time, based on her work, as well as her ability to write her own future.  The main ingredient for her success is fresh and innovative thinking.

“At the end of the day, people buy ideas,” said Wade.  “You’ve got good ideas, and the agency, and the clients, will run with them.”

Expanding the Focus

As most savvy marketers know, there are many ways to look at growing markets.  There’s the consumer standpoint, and there’s the industry standpoint.  And from Wade’s point of view, there are significant untapped industry growth areas that she aims to explore.  Leading the wish list is the pharmaceutical industry.

“They have no idea what to do with us,” Wade says of many pharmaceutical leaders.  “They know it’s important to reach out to us.  They even have specialized drugs for us.  But they don’t know how to talk to us.”

According to Wade, among the many differences between the African-American market and the general market in the healthcare arena are history and trust.

“We don’t always go to the doctors when we need to, and when we do, we’re not generally as compliant,” she says.  “We’ll pull out an herbal remedy in a minute.  Our cultural reliance on herbs dates way back to the early American experience, when we didn’t have the same access and care as everyone else.  We did what we could, using the methods we brought from our home country.”

“We’re also not always comfortable trusting the medical profession.  The Tuskegee experiment (where young African American men were given syphilis so researchers could observe the untreated effects of the disease) – that stays with us.  People don’t always understand that – and pharmaceutical companies often ignore these habits, and ignore the history.”

Some healthcare companies are catching on, says Wade, and offering up products that meet and compliment the African-American view of medical care – such as an anti-itch cream that is primarily ammonia, and cold remedies that consist largely of nothing more than zinc.  “(These companies) are taking a more homeopathic approach to medicine, and that provides more of an open door to our community.”

Looking Forward, Moving Ahead

“Who knows what the next, say, 10 years will hold,” said Wade.  “I was talking to someone about a potential publishing idea, and they started throwing out these magazine ideas.  It isn’t something I’m going to do anytime soon, but still …,” said Wade with obvious delight as she contemplated the future.  Although Wade is happy with the success her agency is enjoying now - and is not about to rest on her laurels - she has a strong appreciation for the present moment.

“The ad industry has its own cycles,” she said.  “We’re in a great one right now.  We’re having a blast.  We’re doing great work, and we’re growing.  So for right now, we’re just running with it.

As the leader of one of the hotter agencies on the scene right now, Dana Wade is no longer anonymous in the advertising world.  She has many eyes locked on her now, including minority executives and entry-level marketers who hope to walk a similar path.  Wade has a few wise words for those aspiring marketers.

“Don’t be discouraged,” she said.  “You can define your own paths, and follow them.  Don’t accept ‘no,’ because there’s always another way.  When one door closes, another opens, and you can’t be too stubborn to see that.  You have to realize what you’re capable of, and the value you bring.  And most of all, don’t wait.  Go get ‘em.  No one’s giving you anything.  You want to wait, you’ll be waiting a long time – by yourself.”

The End