The Growth Agenda Podcast: Brands must improve First Nations knowledge

In episode four of The Growth Agenda podcast we discuss why First Nations’ creativity and leadership is and should be critical to all businesses, least of all Australian brands.

General manager at Cox Inall Ridgeway, part of Dentsu Creative, Yatu Widders-Hunt, client partner and Aboriginal affairs lead at Porter Novelli Australia, Madison West, and TGA editor Pippa Chambers.

First Nations’ creativity and leadership is and should be critical to all businesses, despite it being complex, messy and even scary.

In this week’s podcast from The Growth Agenda, general manager at Cox Inall Ridgeway, part of dentsu Creative, Yatu Widders-Hunt, and client partner and Aboriginal affairs lead at Porter Novelli Australia, Madison West, discuss why brands need to have a greater understanding and attitude on First Nations thinking.

Hosted by The Growth Agenda editor Pippa Chambers, the guests highlight why First Nations’ creativity and leadership can’t be treated as an add on or KPI and what the opportunities are to drive meaningful change.

“A lot of brands are a little bit scared sometimes to step into the space,” Ms Widders-Hunt said.

“it’s an incredibly beautiful and rich space, but it can be complex and it’s political as it’s talking about reshaping the nation which essentially can be messy. But from our view it’s incredibly important work.”

Ms West said for brands it’s important not just to “show up” during the more well known occasions, such as National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) week, and then have no alignment on their websites or do anything outside of that one week.

“There's a great misunderstanding around the different issues, but that is what we work with our clients on every day to ensure there’s continued learning and understanding,” Ms West said.

The duo also discussed the groundwork around getting started in the space, the importance of relationships and listening to First Nations communities and more dos and don’ts.

Ms Widders-Hunt added that any business working in Australia is working on aboriginal land and with that comes a responsibility to learn about First Nations’ people, creativity and leadership.

She stressed that while more education was needed, her advice was not to sit around and wait to be “ready”, as often that there’s “never a point at which you are ready, because learning is lifelong”.

Listen to The Growth Agenda podcast here.