March 2024

What was measured

We analyzed the top 1000 Belgian TV, Online, and Print advertisements from March 2024 ranked by media investment. We extracted 1082 faces of talent from these ads and mapped the representation of age, gender, and ethnicity using an image analysis algorithm and human quality control. "Talents" refer to actors, models, and depicted persons in advertisements.

Channel Number of assets Number of talents
Television 695 1125
Online Ads 66 164
Print 239 164
Total 1000 1314

Remark: Some talents will appear in ads on multiple channels, therefore the total of all channels is not the sum. The total of all channels is the number unique talents across all channels.

Age representation

In this chart we see the visual age distribution of talents featured in the Top 1000 ads, compared to the age of the Belgian population (green area),

The visual age distribution is centered around age groups 25-34 and 35-44 , good for 30% and 23% of all talent respectively. The next age group is -18 and 18-24 which account both for 14% of talent. Age group 45-54 is 12%.

Talents looking 45 and above account for only 19% of talents, while they represent 46% of the population and 53,5% of buying power.

Age distribution of casting in Top 1000 Ads compared to Belgian Population

Age by media

TV Ads feature the youngest talent, closely followed by Online Ads. As in previous months, Print Ads shift towards older talent, although we see less people 45+ than in previous months. Talent looking older than 45 in Print Ads account for 26% in March vs 31% in February.

Online

Television

Print

Gender representation

Gender isn't simply a binary attribute determined by visual appearance. Our model, however, uses facial features to determine whether a person looks male or female.

Across the Top 1000 ads, we find 45% male talents and 55% female talents. This is in line with most previous months.

Visual Gender distribution of talent in Top 1000 Ads

Gender by media

In addition to a change in age, we also see a shift in gender in different media. In online ads 54% of depicted persons are women, in TV ads 56% and in print ads 48%. In previous months TV Ads and particularly Online Ads would portray more female talent than Print Ads. This month the differences are smaller.

Online

Television

Print

Gender x Age

Female talents are younger than male talents when we cross visual age and visual gender. Under the age of 35 we see more female talent, over the age of 45 we see less female talent in the Ads. We observe this trend month after month.

Age Male Female Difference F-M/F+M
65+ 2% 1% -33%
55-64 4% 1% -60%
45-54 7% 5% -17%
35-44 13% 11% -8%
25-34 11% 16% 19%
18-24 4% 9% 38%
-18 6% 9% 20%

Visual Gender crossed with visual age of talent in Top 1000 Ads

Ethnic representation

According to the analysis, 83% of talents are perceived as White (56% White + 27% Mediterranean White/Middle Eastern) compared to 17% non-White. Black talent makes up 9% of depicted persons, while Asian talent makes up 3%. This is in line with previous months.

Based on facial features, the data model predicts the likelihood that a talent belongs to one of the ethnic/race groups. Due to the fact that there are no hard boundaries between ethnic/race groups, a talent can be perceived as having a dominant and a secondary ethnicity/race.

In addition to White (lighter) and Mediterranean White/Middle Eastern (darker), the model detects Black, Asian, South Asian (e.g. India, Pakistan) and Latine/Hispanic looking people.

Visual Ethnicity distribution of talent in Top 1000 Ads

Ethnicity by media

We see the most ethnic diversity in Online Ads, followed by TV Ads. Print Ads show the least ethnic diversity, but a slight increase compared to previous months.

Online

Television

Print

Representation of Disability

Along with demographic representation, our image analysis algorithm detects visually detectable disabilities, including wheelchairs, mobility aids, canes, and prosthetic limbs.

There were two brands that portrayed people with disabilities. Jez and Colruyt. Jez shows video and image ads featuring a wheelchair athlete. Colruyt feature a person in a wheelchair without making disability the central focus. This approach helps normalise disabilities.

Comparing sectors

In February the top-3 advertising sectors were Media and Publishing (mainly TV, Radio and Magazine brands) sector, followed by Distribution and Retail (mainly Supermarkets and Online retailers) and Food and Drinks. In March we have the same top-3 sectors.

The representation of diversity also varies across sectors. In some sectors, specific age groups or genders are targeted. Beauty products, for example, are typically marketed to women. Targeting cannot explain all differences, however.

Age representation per sector

Food and Drinks, Distribution and Retail (mainly Supermarkets and Online Retailers) and Finance and Insurance show the most age diversity, this means representing a wide range of ages.

As in previous months, the Beauty and Hygiene sector seems to stick to the notion that young is beautiful and aspirational for older audiences. New and more surprising is the Telecom and Energy sector portraying hardly people over 45.

Sectors showing the most age diversity in their ads

Rank Sector Diversity score % 45+
1. food and drinks 79 20%
2. distribution and retail 72 12%
3. finance and insurance 71 23%

Sectors showing the least age diversity in their ads

Rank Sector Diversity score % 45+
9. tourism and culture 64 11%
10. beauty and hygiene 61 8%
11. telco and energy 57 3%

Charts comparing age diversity in the most and least age diverse sector

Gender representation per sector

Food and Drinks, Cleaning Products and Hospitality (Fast Food and Home Delivery) are the most female - male balanced. Beauty and Hygiene show mostly women, this is not surprising, but this month the difference is quite extreme with 85% of talent being female. There may be a missed opportunity here for beauty brands targeting men, a trend identified in the PIM trend report (in Dutch).

Just as in January and February, Finance and Insurance Ads skew female. This may surprise some, considering Finance was traditionally a male-dominated industry. However, if we look beyond stereotypes we find a more balanced picture. In the Gezinsenquête 40.2% of parents (with one or more children under 25 years old) state that the father always or usually handles the bills in the family, while in 36.7% of cases, the mother always or usually pays bills. 22,9% of parents state they both pay bills equally often.

Sectors showing the most gender diversity in their ads

Rank Sector Diversity score % Female
1. food and drinks 50 51%
2. cleaning products 49 45%
3. hospitality 49 55%

Sectors showing the least gender diversity in their ads

Rank Sector Diversity score % Female
10. tourism and culture 46 62%
11. finance and insurance 44 64%
12. beauty and hygiene 15 90%

Charts comparing gender diversity in the most and least gender diverse sector

Ethnic representation per sector

Hospitality (mostly Fast Food and Food Delivery) brands are among the most ethnically diverse advertisers. As we've mentioned before, diverse representation is often one-dimensional. Case in point is the Beauty and Hygiene sector, which is the least diverse in terms of age and gender, but one of the most diverse in terms of ethnicity.

In line with previous months, Event ads, coming mainly from Media brands, are the least ethnically diverse.

Sectors showing the most ethnic diversity in their ads

Rank Sector Diversity score
1. hospitality 60
2. beauty and hygiene 58
3. distribution and retail 55

Sectors showing the least ethnic diversity in their ads

Rank Sector Diversity score
9. cleaning products 48
10. health and pharma 46
11. toys and events 28

Charts comparing ethnic diversity in the most and least ethnic diverse sector

Methodology

If you have questions about the methodology or the technology used to creat the Belgian Ad Diversity Barometer, check our methodology page.