The heart of my work is built on "radical honesty." As a cultural and social scientist, inclusive branding consultant, and former ad industry pro, I have successfully helped clients create sustainable inclusive brand eco-systems.
I love my work.
Read on to learn about me, my process and offerings, my amazing Truths Tellers, and
how GROW inclusion can help you build
sustainable inclusive brand strategies.
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Failure is not an option.
About Jean
Way back when, I graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. From there I launched my own design firm, ended up in advertising and then did a short stint in corporate marketing, most of the time, in Chicago.
In 2000 I became an “accidental academic” earning my PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Thus, began my life at Marquette University. Twenty-some years later I’ve published more than 50 articles, white-papers, and/or book chapters addressing the inequities that continue to hamper inclusivity within advertising agencies; thus negatively impacting authentic inclusivity within brand messaging, while truncating sustainable branded inclusion.
Along the way I’ve traveled to over 40 countries and interviewed practitioners in nearly half of them. I’m also the co-author of Advertising Creative: Strategy, Copy & Design (Sage, 6e). And, I’ve published or been interviewed by more than 20 national publications including the Chicago Tribune, Fortune, NPR, and Newsweek.
In 2021 I pivoted away from academia and founded GROW inclusion. You’ll find an overview of my Offerings and information on my Truths Tellers below with links to them above.
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Given my penchant for “radical honesty” I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my latest adventure creating provocative visual Word Puzzles paired with pithy essays as well as some longer essays. Admittedly, they have a rather unambiguous POV. Take a tiny sneak peek under Wordsmith. If you’re intrigued, take a deeper dive where many more live, at WordsmithPHD
Branded Inclusion
Branded Inclusion Offerings are structured to help organizations, and the brands they serve, build sustainable branded inclusion. My process helps unlock empathetic truths, build brand strategies and occasionally tweak creative messaging to amplify inclusivity. I spent nearly a decade in the advertising industry working with agencies such as Leo Burnett, DDB and FCB, with clients from Coca-Cola to Kimberly-Clark to Zenith. Below are some of the brands I've had as clients while in advertising, some I've consulted for in more recent times, while others I've conducted research with or on.
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​I also provide offerings to help build internal, environmental inclusion. My work is enhanced by always working with at least one of my Truths Tellers. They are invaluable assets to building successful and sustainable inclusivity, whether on the agency or brand side.
My matrix of offerings has five options for building inclusivity: Creative Audits, Belonging Briefs, Truths Coaching, Cultural Engagement and Reimagining Recruitment. To see how they work together checkout the Branded Inclusion Matrix, which provides more detail and demonstrates how they work together to build sustainable branded inclusion.
Creative Audits
Creative Audits are deep dives into creative work. We access the work to ensure there’s culturally appropriate insights that match strategically inclusive branding goals, always with a focus on sustainability. Creative audits usually begin with the strategy team, helping embed inclusivity into the backbone of the work. We help craft strategy, edit briefs, assess the inclusivity of creative and even attend shoots. We're often pulled in to review new business pitches too. We're here to provide culturally authentic, strategic guidance.
Belonging Briefs
Belonging Briefs are usually paired with creative audits. Think of them as insight-driven strategy documents, crafted to help create measurable goals that sustain inclusion. A brand road-map, if you will. When doing internal organizational inclusion work, belonging briefs are shared with the executive team to help grow and support inclusion agency-wide.
Cultural Engagement
Cultural Engagement experiences are designed to expand internal inclusion and cohesion. Our Truths Tellers work with the internal inclusion team and/or HR to craft engagement activities that bring people together. We offer fresh perspectives on how to facilitate sustainable inclusion across your organization.
Reimaging Recruitment
Here our Truths Tellers work with HR to craft innovative ways to reach new prospects, creating diverse recruitment and retention initiatives that insure sustainability.
Truths Tellers
When building sustainable inclusion strategies, we always work as a team. I carefully select one or more of my Truths Tellers, focusing on matching their backgrounds and experiences to the client's needs. We work hand-in-hand with your internal team, collaboratively building sustainable branded inclusion.
Every member of GROW inclusion is unfailingly Transparent, empathetically Respectful and Understanding. We are Trustworthy to the core, Honest Seekers of TRUTHS.
My Truths Tellers are amazing people. They bring a wide range of knowledge and expertise to the process of building sustainable branded inclusion.We’ve worked with brands, small and large, and agencies, local and globe.
You’ll find us quoted in Admap, Advertising Age, The Drum, The Huffington Post, Fortune, NPR’s Marketplace, The New European, WARC and others. Among us, we are authors and editors: Selling Truth: How Nike’s Advertising to Women Claimed a Contested Reality (Jean Grow), Advertising Creative: Strategy, Copy, and Design (Jean Grow & Joanna Jenkins), The Convergence Crisis (Joanna Jenkins), Advertising & Society Quarterly (Ed Timke) and Race in the Marketplace: Crossing Critical Boundaries (Kevin Thomas).
Others have won national design awards (Ellen Wagner) or are Forbes 30 under 30 recipients (Jeff Lopez). A number live abroad and/or have traveled the globe, including a fellow from the London School of Economics (Marta Mensa), a globe-trotting negotiator (Scott Tillema), and a British brand semiotician (Chris Arning). No matter which Truths Teller you work with, from first-generation college graduates to seasoned professionals, each one of them will strive to help your team unlock empathetic truths, build sustainably strategies, and create resonant messaging that amplify sustainable inclusion.
Let GROW inclusion help your team craft authentically inclusive brand strategies that build sustainable growth.