Analysis of over a million ads reveals state of inclusive advertising

Forty-four percent of faces detected in over a million ads have feminine gender expression, compared to 56% masculine—demonstrating a missed opportunity given that women account for 85% of household spending. 

This is just one of the key findings from a new report by global technology company, XR Extreme Reach, who have measured inclusivity in more than one million ads across over 100 countries. 

The 2024 Global Advertising Representation Report uses a new metric called the Representation Index (RX) for inclusivity measurement. Introduced earlier this year by XR and The Female Quotient, RX uses AI to measure representation across four primary dimensions: Age, gender expression, skin tone, and body type. The RX Score measures the diversity of each ad on a scale from 0 to 100, with higher scores reflecting a broader range of representation.

This year, the report reveals an average representation score of 32 out of 100 worldwide. Findings point to significant gaps in inclusivity and opportunities to improve representation to maximise ad impact and drive business growth. 

Notable findings include:

• The 2024 global average RX score is trending at 32, peaking as high as 42 for charity/non-profit and as low as 28 for sports.
• 70% of countries analysed are trending above the global average.
• 12% of talent detected in ads have dark skin tones.
• 44% of faces detected have feminine gender expression, compared to 56% masculine despite women accounting for 85% of household spending.
• 15% of screen time features people with larger body types.

In APAC, age consistently performs lower than the global average across most markets in APAC showing that a majority of ads are focused on including talent age 20-29.

 

Meanwhile, a majority of countries in APAC score above the global average for gender expression but none have yet reached gender parity. Japan has an RX score of 48 for gender expression, representing the closest market to parity.

 

The global average for skin tone is relatively low, with an RX score of 25. However, most markets in APAC did score above the average with the exception of Australia.

 

Industry Index

 

35 industries are represented in the report. While some industries show consistent inclusivity, others reveal wide variations in representation across brands.

 

 

Looking at specific industries in terms of their RX score, charity/non-profit leads with the highest average RX score of 42 and a strong upper range, showcasing consistent inclusivity across brands. But retail’s inclusivity varies widely, highlighting both top performers and significant gaps. Automotive lags behind, with the lowest RX score and a weak average, underscoring the need for improvement in representation. Despite the significant role women play in automotive purchasing decisions, the industry only scored 39 for gender expression, which highlights a missed opportunity to connect with a key demographic.

 

 

The XR platform has already measured and scored the diversity of more than three million assets. Brands globally can use RX to audit their advertising and media content, identify representation gaps, track progress, and ensure their campaigns authentically reflect their audiences. 

 

"RX is the industry-wide metric that provides brands with a standard for measuring inclusivity in content, driving growth by building loyalty, trust, equity, engagement, and sales,” said Jo Kinsella, global president and chief operating officer at XR. “Gaps in inclusivity remain significant, but they are solvable with RX."