Merkle, a leading technology-enabled, data-driven performance marketing agency, was named as Inclusive Culture and Marketing Champion at Microsoft Advertising Global Partner Awards.

The 2020 Microsoft Advertising Global Partner Award winners were announced during the Elevate Live Broadcast (March 31, 2020) to celebrate the innovation, passion and recent work of the highly valued partners that play a significant role in driving the advertising industry. Microsoft Advertising has recognised the emergence of a new and critical skillset within advertising agencies in deploying strategies to leverage the intelligence search offers marketers to succeed across the digital marketing mix.

The Inclusive Culture and Marketing award celebrates the partner who demonstrates the strongest commitment to inclusive practices, both within their company and in developing inclusive campaigns with their clients. The achievement follows Merkle’s regional win back in December.

Merkle was awarded due to its strong and continued commitment to ensuring inclusivity as part of its day-to-day work through initiatives such as inclusive marketing training and being a founding member of the Conscious Advertising Network, a voluntary organisation with a mission to stop advertising abuse. This mentality is ingrained in their culture with a comprehensive Diversity and Inclusion programme, consisting of six pillars: Mental Health, Disability, Gender, LGBT+, Ethnicity and Religion leading the charge within the business.

In the past year, the business has welcomed inspirational speakers from all walks of life including Microsoft’s Gleam team (LGBTQ+ pillar) sharing their strategies for promoting inclusion with clients. Their week-long celebrations of Women in Leadership and World Mental Health week, and events around various religious celebrations, were championed as best-in-class as the industry strives to achieve an environment free of discrimination and bias.

Thomas Byrne, EVP, Agency Services EMEA, commented “I am so delighted that our wonderful team have been recognised by Microsoft for the all our efforts to make our business and the industry a slightly better and more inclusive place.”

“This is fantastic recognition of the inclusive culture that is embedded within Merkle. It is a testament to the commitment that we place on recognising that our people are our most precious asset and should be supported and celebrated throughout their careers. This accolade would not have been possible without the great work that our Diversity & Inclusion team put into ensuring that everyone feels a valued and important part of our team. This is an incredibly proud moment for everyone at Merkle UK.” Claire Billings, vice president, Marketing EMEA.