Women Rules - Women Taking Over Job Market!

Yesterday, ABC announced the Diane Sawyer will be replacing Charles Gibson when he retired from the anchor chair of "ABC World News". It is a big news for Sawyer and women everywhere, because come January 2020, two of the "big three" US anchors will be women.
According to USA Today, women are on the verge of outnumbering men in the workforce for the first time, a historic reversal caused by long-term changes in women's roles and massive job losses for men during this recession.
Women held 49.83% of the nation's 132 million jobs in June and they're gaining the vast majority of jobs in the few sectors of the economy that are growing, according to the most recent numbers available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That's a record high for a measure that's been growing steadily for decades and accelerating during the recession. At the current pace, women will become a majority of workers in October or November. The data for July will be released Friday.
The change reflects the growing importance of women as wage earners, but it doesn't show full equality, according to labor economist Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
On average, women work fewer hours than men, hold more part-time jobs and earn 77% of what men make, she says. Men also still dominate higher-paying executive ranks. Hopefully, this will change when more women are in the executive ranks like Sawyer.
As marketers, we should all pay more attention to the women's market, if it hasn't been on the top of your agenda already.

How Badly Has The U.S. Economy Battered Hispanic Families?

I am in total agreement with Dan Aversano, Senior Product Manager at The Nielsen Company.

There are 2 schools of though. Some said that Hispanics are less affected since this recession is largely the result of a credit crisis and substantial losses on Wall Street, and Hispanics were under-leveraged in terms of debt and, on average, had less money in equity securities.
Others believed Hispanic households have been particularly hard hit by shrinking housing starts and an ailing contracting service industry.

As Dan said, this is not a black and white situation and one has to look at various factors including unemployment rates, credit scores, GDP and confidence levels, etc.

We do know that unemployment rate of Hispanics (12.2%) hovers several percentage points above the national average (8.7%), yet lower than African American (14.7%) and did not decline in July along with that of other ethnic groups.

According to Nielsen's Homescan Hispanic Panel among both English- and Spanish-speaking Hispanics, when asked about their current financial conditions, more than half replied they were somewhat or much worse off than before—almost identical to the population as a whole.

Plus, surprisingly, unemployment did not seem to be a major source of concern. Despite steadily climbing rates through most of the first half of the year, not quite two-thirds of Hispanic respondents (63%) were very or somewhat secure about keeping their jobs. Though lower than the 72% of non-Hispanics who shared the same sentiment, it revealed an unexpected display of confidence.

Whether Hispanics are truly faring better or worse than the rest of the population, they are plainly concerned about their situations—just like everyone else. For example, 94% of Hispanic consumers and 93% of non-Hispanic consumers said they worry about the rising cost of food. Moreover, they are reluctant to make major purchases of cars, houses, appliances or vacations. Their homes have become the focus of many of their activities, which means eating out less often. Most important, they are going back to basics and becoming increasingly more discerning about what they need versus what they want.

Creatively Knows No Gender?????

I was reading an article in AdAge written by Karen Mallia "Creativity Knows No Gender, but Agency Creative Departments Sure Do". She mentioned about how Creative women have not enjoyed the level of success that women have found in every other advertising-agency department. The number of women in account management has doubled in the past two decades, resulting in equivalent numbers of men and women. More than half of planning and research employees are women. In media, women outnumber men 3-to-2. Yet, in creative, the ratio of men to women is 2.3-to-1.
What interesting are the readers' comments:
- Women (at least White women) still fare extraordinarily better than minorities. Is it really about gender or race - or is it really about the tactics of the ruling White male majority?
- The entire industry has been flamed for discriminatory practices since inception. The positions are mainly held by white males, PERIOD.
- An what's up with the questions they ask on a job application:are you a male, female, white, black, spanish... WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO SOMEONE'S CREATIVITY?
I personally have the experience working in a small company that is majority Asian American, a large international company that is majority white and one mid-size company that is majority Black, trust me, discrimination exist everywhere, in all ethnicity and all gender and age. How are we going to change this ... like John Lennon's famous song ... "Imagine".

Women’s Makeup, Hair Habits Unchanged by Economy

According to the new survey "Beauty Barometer" conducted by Loreal, nine in 10 of all respondetns report no change in their use of cosmetics because of the economy.
The “Beauty Barometer” survey polled 4,000 women in the US and four European countries about their cosmetic products and usage.
Additional findings from the survey:
- 40% of women have changed the makeup shades they purchase in an attemtp to be more "natural" during the current recession.
- Nearly half of US women believe wearing makeup gives them an advantage at work and makes them feel more in control.
- The majority of women surveyed (82%) believe wearing makeup makes them feel more self confident, and even more believe that wearing makeup improves their self image (86%).
- The research also found that the majority of women in the US are not compromising on hair care during the recession. Some 63% have not cut their hair to make it less expensive to maintain.
This is good news for a lot of marketers. There're still opportunities because women have products they won't forfeit during recession. You just need to make use of the consumer insights and find your way in!

'In The Black': A Financial How-To With African Americans In Mind

AaronW. Smith, a financial planner and author, recently wrote a book "In The Black: Live Faithfully, Prosper Financially" that he said address African Americans in a Christian context, but one need not be of a particular religion or race to benefit from it.

Retirement planning is his overarching theme, and he uses African Americans from all walks of life grappling with retirement issues to illustrate the breadth of challenges faced by individuals today. To guard his clients' privacy he has changed names and biographical details.
"Some of these individuals have been impacted by the income disparity and credit discrimination that impedes financial security for many African Americans," he writes. But not all. What they do have in common is a need for a plan to help them remain financially secure after retirement.
With an estimated 9 million black Baby Boomers preparing to retire and leave the workforce, "Many are panicking about not having enough money to live on for the rest of their lives," Smith writes.Smith's nine steps start with exercises to help you define and prioritize your values then set practical goals. "Our values guide our financial actions," he writes.

He counsels: "Use your good instincts to figure out the best way to teach the art of living beneath one's means." This is significant to pass along. It "can change the lives of future generations." Not just African Americans, but every Americans.

How can "White-Washing" be allowed in 2009?

On December 9th 2008, the lead roles were cast for M Night Shyamalan's upcoming film The Last Airbender and all of them were originally cast as white actors.
The Nickelodeon show "Avatar: The Last Airbender," on which this film is based, featured Asian characters in a fantasy setting inspired and informed by a variety of Asian cultures. The characters fight with East Asian martial arts, have Asian features, dress in clothing from Asian cultures, and write with Chinese characters. The cast and setting were a refreshing departure from predominantly white American media, and were a large part of the show's appeal as well as an inspiration to many Asian American children.
Fans have been up in arms. Not just Avatar fans, but also folks who generally don't like to see racist nonsense perpetuated in the movies. And let's face it, that's what this is.
Up to now, Paramount hasn't done a hell of a lot of the calm the ran rebellion, posting all sorts of ridiculous casting calls and basically ignoring East West Players and MANAA's calls for a more diverse and inclusive cast. Then, of course, there's cast member Jackson Rathbone's idiotic comments about cutting his hair and getting a tan.
The folks at Racebending have set up a YouTube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/racebending) where fans who object to the whitewashed casting of The Last Airbender can post video messages telling producers (and America) why they won't be going to see this movie. They're taking it to the streets! With real, actual people speaking out.
Meanwhile, Viacom (parent company of Paramount), has decided to exercise its supreme authority over the internet universe by shutting down the Racebending.com protest effort's Zazzle store, claiming all but one of the products "contained content in violation of Viacom's intellectual property rights" -- not just images, but words.
So, please do something, voice out your concern and sign the petition at http://www.PetitionOnline.com/racebend/petition.html

U.S. National Guard Spanish TV Commercial In English Cable Networks

I was watching TV yesterday and started to realize something that really stood out, not necessarily in a positive way from a diversity perspective.
I realized that I don't understand the U.S. National Guard TV ads that was running on USA and LifeTime TV. Because the ads are all in Spanish even though all the programs are in English. I am sure I have not switch channels.
I know I may not be saying something that is politically correct here. But if I am in search of an American Dream, I will think that this dream ought to be in English, rather than in Spanish.
So, what's wrong here??
Is it true that in desparate need to try to grab one specific market, you can alienate the others?
In this specific case for National Guard, I will say "YES". At least for me, the commercial not only is not talking to me or those who don't know Spanish, it actually scare me and my family who are watching TV with me.

We Can All Learn A Few Diversity Lessons From The Starship Enterprise

Since its television beginnings during the racially turbulent 1960s, “Star Trek” and its franchise that followed — 11 films and a record five spinoffs — has been a reflection of creator Gene Roddenberry's vision of a diverse world.
Multiethnic characters, portrayed by an equally diverse cast, have been Starfleet officers and the villains they faced.

We Can All Learn A Few Diversity Lessons rom the Starship Enterprise

We Can All Learn A Few versity lessons from the Starship Enterprise

We Can All Learn A Few dversity lessons from the Starship Enterprise

Hispanic Audience Grows Online

According to comScore, the Hispanic online population is now 11 percent of the total American market and in the last year has significantly outpaced the rest of the market. Hispanic users, tending to be younger, have gravitated to community and entertainment sites.
Despite the gains, which exceed the group’s population growth, Hispanics are still underrepresented online. In July 2007, Hispanics, as the largest minority group, accounted for 15.1 percent of the United States population.
A Scarborough Research report from March corroborated the findings, suggesting that in part because of the group’s high percentage of 18-to-34-year-olds, Hispanic adults are 21 percent more likely to download media content online than American adults in general, and use advanced features on cellphones at higher rates. Even compared with overall youth demographics, “there’s more of a skew” toward community and entertainment sites among Hispanics.

DiversityInc.com - Surprising New Statistics On Asians In The U.S.

DiversityInc.com released an article on Asian Americans based on newsly released Census data.
I was really intrigued by the headline "Surprising New Statistics ...", yet when I read the article, there were nothing surprising if you really know the multicultural market. I was a bit disappointed because I expect more from an organization who pride itself for its knowlege on diversity. Maybe it's purposely written for those who have no idea about Asian Americans. Anyway, here're the highlights:
- There are 15.2 million Asian Americans living in the United States. Asian Americans make up 5 percent of the U.S. population
- The Asian-American population grew 2.9 percent between 2006 and 2007
- Nearly one-third of Asian Americans living in the United States reside in California, making it the state with the largest Asian-American population, with the largest numerical increase from 2006 to 2007. New York has the second-largest Asian-American population
- Asian Americans make up 55 percent of Hawaii's population. Asian Americans make up 14 percent of California's population and 8 percent of New Jersey's and Washington state's populations
- Asians are the largest racial group in Hawaii and Vermont
- Chinese Americans are the largest Asian American group, at 3.5 million. Filipinos are the second-largest Asian group at 3 million, followed by Koreans (1.6 million) and Japanese (1.2 million)
And I bet the real underlying reason for writing this article is because of the "Asian Pacific American Heritage Month"!

Dan Wieden Makes Impassioned Diversity Pitch at 4A's

Speaking plainly, directly and at times profanely, Wieden + Kennedy's Dan Wieden used the platform of the American Association of Advertising Agencies to urge agencies to finally address the relative lack of diversity in the industry.
I was not at the conference but from what I read, he seems to be genuinely sincere.
He mentioned in his speech that the issue of diversity "continues to gnaw at me because, like it or not, in this business I essentially hire a bunch of white, middle-class kids, pay them enormous, enormous sums of money to do what? To create messages to the inner-city kids who create the culture the white kids are trying like hell to emulate. But if you go into the inner city, odds are these kids aren't even going to see advertising as a possibility, as an opportunity for them. Now that's fucked up," he said.
Wieden added: "Don't get me wrong. I'm not bringing this up today because I think Wieden + Kennedy is doing this phenomenal goddam job at rectifying the situation. I think we've made some progress. But we've got miles and miles to go before we sleep."
Wieden concluded by saying that "there are many, many undiscovered voices out there -- voices that against all odds can rise up and enrich this culture and perhaps one day change the very nature of the marketplace for the better."
Wieden's address on diversity was unexpected -- the conference agenda said he would talk about the "new realities of global brands" -- but far from the only perspective aired on the topic during the two-day general session. On Tuesday, 4A's CEO Nancy Hill and chairman Tom Carroll spoke about the importance of addressing the relative paucity of minorities at agencies.
I really admire Mr. Wieden's speech. Just hope the others in the industry can finally act on it.
When I mentioned diversity to the General Manager of the media company that I previously worked in , the only answer he gave me was "I always hire the best people," and apparantely, they all look alike ... "white, middle class kids" ... just like Mr. Wieden said.

The Results Are In: The 2008 Electorate, Most Diverse in U.S. History

According to a new analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Center. The nation's three biggest minority groups--Blacks, Hispanics and Asians--each accounted for unprecedented shares of the presidential vote in 2008.

The unprecedented diversity of the electorate last year was driven by increases both in the number and in the turnout rates of minority eligible voters.
The levels of participation by Black, Hispanic and Asian eligible voters all increased from 2004 to 2008, reducing the voter participation gap between themselves and white eligible voters. This was particularly true for Black eligible voters. Their voter turnout rate increased 4.9 percentage points, from 60.3% in 2004 to 65.2% in 2008, nearly matching the voter turnout rate of white eligible voters (66.1%). For Hispanics, participation levels also increased, with the voter turnout rate rising 2.7 percentage points, from 47.2% in 2004 to 49.9% in 2008. Among Asians, voter participation rates increased from 44.6% in 2004 to 47.0% in 2008. Meanwhile, among white eligible voters, the voter turnout rate fell slightly, from 67.2% in 2004 to 66.1% in 2008.

The increased diversity of the electorate was also driven by population growth, especially among Latinos. Between 2004 and 2008, the number of Latino eligible voters rose from 16.1 million in 2004 to 19.5 million in 2008, or 21.4%. In comparison, among the general population, the total number of eligible voters increased by just 4.6%.

This is a great case study for marketers. If you win over the vote for the multicultural markets, chances are, you will have a better chance to survive through this economic downturn and come out bigger and stronger.

An Interesting Article from Sports Business Journal

I came across this insightful article "Success begins with understanding Latino the demo" by Tom Cordova and was particularly impressed by his closing paragraph.
"In the final analysis, the secrets to Latino marketing may not be secrets at all. They may be cultural nuances that need to be discovered. When one spends the time, money and effort to do so, the rewards can be immense. Think about it as if you were a competitive archer. How the heck can you hit your target market with accuracy, much less precision, if you don’t even know what your target is?"

Dos Equis Launches Cinco de Mayo 'Expedition'

Mexican beer Dos Equis this week launched Expedition Cinco, a mobile marketing tour featuring branded off-road vehicles and unique sampling teams. Inspired by the escapades of the brand’s “The Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign, for two weeks leading up to Cinco de Mayo, the tour will engage consumers in 14 local markets via sampling, promotions and on-premise activations.

Expedition Cinco Teams, which consist of an Indiana Jones-like leader and Dos Equis ambassadors dressed as exotic tribal princesses, will travel in branded Dos Equis six-wheeled adventure vehicles to various accounts in the targeted market. The brand ambassadors will distribute such items as rigging carabineers and compasses, and provide on-premise sampling opportunities. Consumers can additionally have their pictures taken with the “tribal princesses” in accounts and in front of the adventure vehicles. Consumers can access their photos online at http://www.expeditioncinco.com/dosequis

Personally, I would like to see more "mobile" portion of the campaign then just the event itself.

Twitter: Everybody's Craze - What's The Tally?

If media attention is any indication, Twitter has exploded into an all-out phenomenon. Celebrities, politicians, entrepreneurs, business leaders and everyday users are flocking to the service en masse, generating a frenzy of activity and attention.
Everybody is talking about Twitter, but what do the numbers say?
eMarketer estimates there were roughly 6 million Twitter users in the US in 2008, or 3.8% of Internet users.

eMarketer projects that the number of Twitter users will jump to 18.1 million in 2010, representing 10.8% of Internet users.
By all measures, Twitter is growing, and quickly.
comScore reported that Twitter.com drew 4 million unique visitors from home, work and college/university locations in February 2009, up from 340,000 a year earlier—a 1,086% increase.

Nielsen Online reported 7 million unique visitors to Twitter.com during the month, up even higher—1,381%—from 475,000 the prior year.

What’s driving this phenomenal growth?
“Twitter lets people know what’s going on about things they care about instantly, as it happens,” Evan Williams, Twitter’s CEO, told The New York Times. “In the best cases, Twitter makes people smarter and faster and more efficient.”
A survey of Twitter users from MarketingProfs backs Mr. Williams’ views. On a scale from 1 to 5 (with 1 for strongly disagree and 5 and for strongly agree), the phrase “I find it exciting to learn new things from people” averaged a score of 4.65 and “I value getting information in a timely manner” averaged 4.58.
“Above all, people on Twitter are truly motivated by learning new things and getting information real-time, as it’s developing,” said Ann Handley of MarketingProfs.

Note: I would like to see a breakdown by ethnicity and age ... wonder when all these big research companies are going to be really inclusive and pay attention to the multicultural opportunities

Facebook Skyrockets Past Email

Internet users visit social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, more than they use their email, with such online activity growing 5% from the previous year, according to a recent study done by media research group Nielsen.
Facebook alone has seen a nearly 600 % increase in user minutes from December 2007 to December 2008. Although it initially began as a site for university students, Facebook has now become a nexus point for people of all ages, seeing their most significant growth in users from ages of 35-49. Surprisingly, the social networking site saw a larger increase (13.6 million) in the amount of users from ages 50-64 than in those under the age of 18 (7.3 million). Facebook also trumps Bebo--a site that attempts to centralize all users' networking profiles in one place--on the amount of monthly unique visitors, 12.5 million to Bebo's comparatively meager 4.7 million. Nielsen attributes the success of Facebook over other Internet sites such as Bebo or Myspace to its simple design and minimal use of advertisements.
Yet the latter has caused it to gross less than a third of MySpace's ad revenue--$1 billion to $300 million. Still, Facebook is the world's most popular social networking site, with 108 million new users in 2008, beating MySpace by a cool 25-plus million newbies.

Latinas Are Technically Savvy, Brand-Loyal 'Chief Household Officers'

According to a new "What Latinas Wants" survey conducted by OTX Research, commissed by Meredith Hispanic Ventures and NBC Universal's Spanish-language network Telemundo Group, Latinas with household income $50,000 are the most technologically savvy. They are slightly more likely than the non-Hispanic respondents to take pictures with a digital camera (45% compared to 42%) and download music to an iPod (28% compared to 22%).
Other findings include:
- 81% of respondents said they are either the main decision-maker or make decisions with their spouse.
- The key factors determining their success in life were education, being fluent in English as well in Spanish, and often owning a business.
- Latinas are optimistic and self-confident, with 66% describing themselves as "someone who can do it all," compared with 53% of non-Hispanic women.
- Latina respondents said their greatest financial concerns were rising taxes (75%), saving for retirement (71%) and paying bills each month (70%). Not including home mortgages, 44% said they have less than $10,000 in debt.
- 40% of Latinas described themselves as fashion-forward, 37% said they keep up with beauty trends and 37% prefer to use the latest products, compared to a somewhat smaller number of non-Hispanic women who said they are fashion-forward (31%), keep up with beauty trends (30%) and prefer the latest products (32%).

African-American and Hispanic Internet Users Are Especially Receptive

Internet users were more likely to take action the younger they were, and African-Americans and Hispanics were more likely to take action than whites.

U.S. Hispanic Internet Audience Growth Outpaces Total U.S. Online Population By 50%.

comScore, Inc. released a report on the U.S. Hispanic Internet market, finding that the Hispanic online population reached a record 20.3 million visitors in February 2009, representing 11 percent of the total U.S. online market, an increase of 6 percent from the previous year.

Hispanic Internet users also exhibited a surge in online engagement, including strong increases in time spent and pages consumed. The total amount of time spent online by Hispanics increased 6.9 percent in 2009 (3.9 times faster than the total U.S. online population), while total pages consumed grew 6 percent (3.6 times faster than the total U.S. population).

To understand where Hispanics are most likely to consume content online, the study looked at the site categories where they spent an above average share of their online time. The top ranked category was Community - Teens, where U.S. Hispanics accounted for 18 percent of total time spent in the category, followed by Gaming Information at 13 percent. Other entertainment- and leisure-related categories were heavily represented on the list, including Radio (13 percent), Multimedia (12 percent), Discussion/Chat, Instant Messengers (11 percent) and Music (11 percent).

Ad Age's Five New Rules For Marketing

The flat-earth, digitized world described by Unilever CMO Simon Clift is one in which the marketing norms have changed. I don't think anybody will argue about that.
Here are Ad Age's "New Rules" which definitely apply to the multicultural market:
1. Listening to consumers is more important than talking at them. As Mr. Clift said, "We may be ahead of our competitors, but we're most definitely behind consumers." The consumer is not a moron, she's the person defining your brand.
2. You can't hide the corporation behind the brand anymore -- or even fully separate the two. Even this editor's creaking computer only took 0.13 seconds to show that Philip Morris is owned by Altria Group. Welcome to radical transparency, where bad corporate behavior will damage your brands, and vice versa.
3. PR is a primary concern for every CMO and brand manager. If "marketing" and "PR" are not the same department, tear down the wall. Spend time deciding whether PR is underleveraged in your organization.
4. Cause marketing isn't about philanthropy, it's about "enlightened self-interest," as Mr. Clift puts it. That doesn't mean it doesn't count. Don't be ashamed of your profit motive, because great branding and doing good are increasingly one and the same.
5. Social media is not a strategy. You need to understand it, and you'll need to deploy it as a tactic. But remember that the social graph just makes it even more important that you have a good product. Put another way: The volume and quality of your earned media will be directly proportional to the impact and quality of your product and ideas.
I will add one more point:
6. Your consumers are no longer homogeneous. They are a rainbow of colors, with different ethnicity, background, culture, expectations, behavior, language etc. When you listen or talk to them, do it sincerely. Yes, even though they may not be same as you, they are not morons.

Google Multicultural Workforce

According to a recent article on New York Times, Google employees at the Mountain View, Calif., headquarters are extremely diverse. Many foreign workers are recruited to work at Google. Of Google's 20, 000 employees, 2,000 are working on temporary visas and many more are foreign born. Half of the engineers working in Silicon Valley were born overseas.

Check out the slideshow at New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/04/12/us/20090412GOOGLE_index.html

The Dwindling Digital Divide

The African-American online population is growing, in more ways than one.
The “digital divide,” a phrase describing the gulf between Internet “haves” and “have nots,” is still evident, but shrinking.eMarketer estimates that nearly one-half of the African-American population—over 19 million people—uses the Internet at least once a month, and in four years, 56% will be online.
Trends in African-American Internet usage generally mirror those of the US Internet population as a whole. “Younger black Internet users are most comfortable with all forms of digital communication: visiting social networks, downloading and streaming music and videos, blogging and playing games,” says Lisa E. Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, African-Americans Online.” “Black boomers are online in high numbers, but mostly for e-mail and news. Black seniors ages 61 and older are least likely to go online and are more likely to read magazines and newspapers, as well as watch news on television.”

When They Go Online Hispanics Download

More US Hispanics are going online than ever before, and most are using broadband.
According to Scarborough Research, 54% of Hispanics were online in 2008. While that is up slightly over the previous year, it still trails the 69% penetration rate of total US users.
The adoption of broadband by Hispanic consumers, however, was nearly identical to that of the country overall.
And what did Hispanics download on their high-speed connections? Music, video, audio and movies, in that order, were the most popular types of content.
Most amazingly, even though they are slightly less likely to have broadband than the average US adult Internet user, online Hispanics were 211% more likely to download digital content.
Hispanic Internet users were most likely to subscribe to broadband if they resided in major population hubs such as Miami, New York and Los Angeles. Five cities in Texas were also represented as broadband centers.
57% of Hispanic adult Internet users were between the ages of 18 and 34. One-half had household incomes over $50,000 per year, 77% were employed either full- or part-time and 55% were homeowners.

Why Social Media Is the 'Fabric' of Hispanics Online

65%of Hispanics online are now using social media, according to Manny Miravete, VP, Sales and Strategy, MySpace and MySpace Latino. “You bring what you do in your daily life online and social media is enabling that. You can run a simple banner or create a brand profile,” he said. “You can put your brand in that social arena. Social media has mass reach. It’s the fabric of Hispanics online.” Miravate argued that the difference between MySpace and Facebook is that MySpace is a social portal where users can customize their experience and choose to interact with content. Facebook, he said, is more of a social utility.
Consumers are really savvy and know if they are being advertised to, so marketers should create an ambassador for their brands, Miravate said, pointing out that marketers should also develop the experience and content around passion points.
Most successful campaigns have pushed or pulled from traditional media to the Web. Miravate offered the following advice: “Understand the key driving points for the brand. Connect what your brand can offer and what users want. Pharma has been slow to come to the medium; others like wireless have jumped right in. You need to bring very tangible value to users.”
In Miravate’s view, social media is a great way to use direct response. Some agencies use it just to drive sales and reach 10 million U.S. Hispanic users. It’s low cost and delivers high returns, he said. Branded initiatives are helping to launch new products and drive use and purchase behavior.
He encouraged agencies to come up with ideas and then use social media outlets as a vetting process—what’s possible and practical. “We love to brainstorm the new and coolest ways to connect,” Miravate said. “Keep it simple. Build the digital capabilities within your agencies so you’re able to deliver a broader based communication experience for clients—they are asking for it.”

Multicultural Consumers Attitude

The Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication at Florida State University announces the release of an attitudinal report in its Multicultural Marketing Equation series.
The results indicate that Hispanics who answered the online questionnaire in Spanish are more likely than anyone else to be Network Oriented, and interestingly, that Non Hispanic Whites are least likely to be Network Oriented. Hispanics who answered the questionnaire in English and Asians are most likely to be Gay Favorable, while Hispanics who answered in Spanish were most negative. Also Hispanics who answered in English and Asians are the most Sports Oriented, while Non-Hispanic Whites are least sports involved. A Brand Lifestyle is more prevalent among African Americans African Americans and least among Hispanics who Answered in Spanish. The most Socio Culturally Sensitive are Hispanics who answered in Spanish, while the least are Non-Hispanic Whites. Asians are the most Marriage Oriented while Hispanics who answered in Spanish and African Americans are the least.
These findings highlight the importance of considering attitudinal orientations when positioning products and services in these diverse cultural communities. The results make it evident that not all members of the different major cultures in the US can be reached with homogeneous messages and ideas.

Immigration Awareness Month

Supposingly, April is the Immigration Awareness Month and Diversity Inc. has put together a fact sheet for easy reference:

http://www.diversityinc.com/public/5633.cfm

Interesting thing is that most people may have the perception that immigrants are less educated but it's totally opposite. Not only are they younger, there are higher percentage of immigrants with a master's degree than the general population.

Another Example Why Diversity And Inclusion Is Still A Far-Reaching Goal

U.S. Rep. Betty Brown of Texas thought she was being helpful by suggesting that Asian Americans to change their names so that it will be "easier for Americans to deal with."
All of this happened when Ramsey Ko of the Organization of Chinese American, a national civil-rights and advocacy organization, testified before the House Elections Committee saying that people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent (among others) often have difficulty voting because their legal forms of identification often carry their transliterated name as well as a commonly used English name.
Congresswoman Brown went on to say that it would be too difficult to learn a foreign language such as Chinese so it would "behoove [Ko] and [Asian-American] citizens to adopt a name that [poll workers] could deal with more readily here."
Now imagine for a moment if this congresswoman asked Latinos in America to change their names for the convenience of other Americans. Or if we told President Barack Obama that his name was too difficult to pronounce so he should consider changing it to Barry O'Brien.
I wonder what Congresswoman Brown will say if she has to to go to China, India or even Germany for an international diplmatic convention.
This only shows how shallow some of us can be. And you will be surprised to find out how many Congresswoman Brown there are in this country.

Interactive Immigration Explorer By New York Time

I just came across this really interesting interactive tool from the New York Times that tracks geographic settlement patterns of major racial/ethnic immigrant groups throughout the United States by decade, from 1880 to 2000: the Immigration Explorer.

For every group included in the graphic, you will notice that as the decades pass, their settlement patterns become more dispersed throughout the country. In other words, in the past, immigrants would concentrate in the traditional major metropolitan areas of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.

Also, just 20 years ago, people from Eastern and Western Europe were still considered immigrants. Today, they are kind of lumped into the category of "White". So, what's exactly is the definition of "White"?

Research Shows That The Dwindling Econmy Did Affected The Affluent

According to a newly report by Mintel, more than three-fourths (78%) of “mass affluent” consumers* in the US have not changed their credit-card payment behavior because of the recession, but Hispanics and younger members of this well-to-do group are most likely to say they have.

The research reveals that the majority of mass affluents (62%) pay off the balances on all their credit cards each month. Only a small minority (5%) pay the minimum amount due.
However, though most mass affluents are paying off their credit cards each month, many nonetheless feel deeply affected by the faltering economy:
- More than half (55%) say they’ve cut down or deferred overall spending because of the recession.

- Only 48% of total mass affluents say they currently “feel financially secure.”

- Slightly more than one-third (36%) of Hispanic mass affluents report feeling “financially secure.”

- Hispanics, under 45s feel the pinch most. 50% said they’ve changed their payment behavior.

* Mass affluent households, as defined by Mintel, are those with between $100,000 and $1 million in investable assets. According to Mintel, these households currently comprise 10% of the US population.

Internet Among Hispanic Adults Has Reached A Critical Mass

According to a new study conducted by Scarborough Research, Hispanic Internet users are avid downloaders of Digital Content & aggressively adopting Broadband.
Scarborough's analysis finds that Hispanic Internet Users are 21% more likely to download digital content than the average adult online. Forty-two percent of Hispanic Internet Users have downloaded some form of digital content during the past 30 days, compared to 35% of the total Internet population. Music is the top download category for both Hispanics and the total Internet population. Almost one-third (32%) of Hispanic Internet Users and almost one-quarter (24%) of all Internet users have downloaded music during the past month.
Interestingly, Phoenix is the leading local market for Hispanics who download digital content. Sixty percent of Phoenix's Hispanic Internet Users downloaded digital content during the past month. El Paso, Miami and Dallas are the markets where Hispanic Internet Users are least likely to download digital content.

Applaud To Those Who Really Cares About What Consumers Think

The Wal-Mart team in Bentonville, AR has recently recruited female bloggers, now actually up to 22 and growing, to share their valuable tips and idea on how to stretch their dollars.

The program is called "11Moms"

http://instoresnow.walmart.com/Community.aspx?id=100

The moms recruited are all down to earth, high-tech, business-savvy, and very knowledgeable ladies. The mom chat about blogging, Walmart, kids, and each of their areas of expertise. The good thing about whole program is that they are not pushing Walmart products, they are sharing honest, straightforward advice on dollar-stretching issues; if that means putting down a product being sold in Walmart, so be it.

I heard they recently hosted a mixer in Texas to meet with other Latino moms. Great move particularly knowing that Wal-Mart is opening two pilot supermarkets targeting at Latino consumers, one in Phoenix, AZ and one in Houston, TX.

Can You Really Rely On Information Provider To Tell You The True Story?

It's not a secret that no matter what the numbers are in terms of population and spending power, we still need to justify why a brand or a company need to spend 5% of their budget on multicultural marketing.

I always feel that it's just because people are not ready for "change", or I choose to believe that there's still hope to change the mind of those in charge if we can show them the results.

However, I came across a personal experience that told me that there are people in that level who are still extremely "ignorant".

I was at an industry presentation by the Chief Research Officer of a major global Internet information provider. He was talking about their Hispanic products and out of no where, he said that they are getting rid of the Asian measurement because he "has no idea what Asians are, is it a race or something? Are they people from the Oriental?". I was biting my tongue about to throw a fist, not just because of the Asian pride but from pure business angle, Asian Americans and Asians in Asia is the most technologically advanced segment and as the CRO of a global Internet company, I will be worried if he has no idea about this.

How can company rely on provider who is ignorant about the market and the consumers they are measuring? How can you rely on them to provide the information for long term strategic planning purpose?

Note: The company I refer to here is not the provider of these charts.

In 2009, U.S. Ethnic Communities Will Spend $56.6 Billion on Telecommunications Services

According to a new market research study from The Insight Research Corporation, the U.S. ethnic communities will spend $56.6 billion on telecommunication services, accounting for nearly one-third of all residential telecom expenditures.
The ability to tap into the increased spending power of the Hispanic-American, African-American, and Asian-American communities will be crucial to the survival of telecommunications providers over the next five years.

More TV Ads Project Images Of Racial Harmony In U.S. - Is This A Good Thing Or Bad?

Recently, the Associated Press take a look at the new trend in TV advertising. Here's a summary of what was discussed in the article published on March 2, 2009:
Ever see an inner-city schoolyard filled with white, Asian and black teens shooting hoops? Or middle-aged white and Latino men swigging beer and watching the Super Bowl on their black neighbour's couch? Or Asians and Latinos dancing the night away in a hip-hop club?
Ads like these are part of a subtle yet increasingly visible strategy that marketers refer to as "visual diversity" - commercials that enable advertisers to connect with wider audiences while conveying a message that corporate America is not just "in touch," racially speaking, but inclusive.
To advertisers, these "multiculti" ads are simply smart business - a recognition of a new cultural mainstream that prizes diversity, a recognition that we are fast approaching a day when the predominant hue in America will no longer be white.
And yet, some critics wonder if depicting America as a racial nirvana today may have an unintended downside - that of airbrushing out of the public consciousness the economic and social chasms that still separate whites, blacks and Latinos.
Are multiculti ads, then, an accurate barometer of Americans' racial progress, a showcase of hopes in that direction - or a reminder of how far there still is to go?
"If you were to come down from another planet and watch TV, you'd think that all of these human beings share a lot of intimacy, regardless of the way they look. But the reality is, people of different races don't share social space like that." said Charles Gallagher, chair and professor of the sociology department at La Salle University.
Sonya Grier, the marketing professor at American University: "I often have former classmates and MBA students who are in brand-marketing or advertising-related functions call me and say, "My company showed an ad, I thought it was stereotypical, but I was the only one in the room and did not know how to bring it up."'
So, is this kind of "multiculti" ad just a fake-it-till-you-make-it kind of thing for marketers to save money thinking that they will be able to catch all fishes in one shot and for general market advertising agencies to extinguish competition from multicultural agencies finally?
I would like to echo what Charles Gallagher said: "The problem with that, is that distortions and false impressions never do anyone any good."

What Can You At For A Dollar In This Economy?

This is not really related to Multicultural Marketing but I was thinking about this the other day.

So, what can you get for $1?

You can't even take the subway in New York? Or even pay toll to go across the bridge?

You can however get this:

- A Wendy's Junior Cheeseburger

- A Palmolive Liquid Dish Detergent 16 oz from family Dollar

- A slice of pizza (on some street store if you are lucky)

- A share of Citigroup (if you want it)

If you have 100 shares of Citigroup, then you will be fortunate to survive for a month, if you eat junior cheeseburger every meal, every day because that can buy you 100 Junior Cheeseburger!

Using Mobile Marketing For Multicultural Consumers

10 years ago, the multicultural population was often the "left behind" group that failed to adopt this new technology -- a direct result of the relatively high costs of PCs and Internet access.
Today statistics, however, show a completely different scenario. Not only are a large percentage of multicultural consumers using mobile phones, but they are heavy mobile data users as well.
An M:Metrics study conducted last year showed that 42.9 percent of Hispanic mobile users had downloaded a mobile application, compared with only 18.8 percent for the general market.
A similar study by Advertising Age confirmed these results, showing that U.S. Hispanics are early adopters of mobile data services including messaging, downloading ring tones and music files and sending and receiving email.
For African Americans, a Pew Internet and American Life Project study reported that 50 percent of African Americans use mobile applications on a daily basis. It also has been shown that African Americans will spend beyond their means on "hot" or "trendsetter" items, such as the new Apple iPhone, giving them increased access to mobile applications.
On top of that, mobile marketing enables you to have one-on-one targeted communications with your intended audience. That said, now you can actually create culturally-relevant, effective message for reaching your multicultural audiences.

Recession Or Not, Black Women Continue To Make Their Hair A Priority

We saw Michelle Obama's healthy flowing locks on Election Day. It has inspired black women across the country to step their hair care game up.
According to a survey conducted by Design Essentials, majority of African-American women base their salon and stylist choice on trust, cost and time consumption. With the recent state of the economy, affordable hair care is harder to find but women have stayed committed to their hair regimen. Hair care has been a priority among African-American women and a lot of consideration has gone into choosing the right hair care experts.
Black hair care has always managed to fit into the budget and while some may think it would be the first to go, studies have shown that despite the present economic state of America and the price spike at most salons, Black women are still flocking to their hairdressers to keep up with routine maintenance.
Many women have resorted to going to the salon less or doing their own hair as much as possible to cut back on costs, but even then, they have come to find out that the cost of salon-like products have been steep. While women have seen a difference from cutting back on salon prices and increasing home products, others are finding that it is more economical to purchase recommended products from beauty supply stores instead of directly from their stylist.
Hair type has also been a deciding factor in a customer's ability to cut back salon visits. Women with hair needing more attention tend to faithfully keep appointments with their stylist to receive the proper hair treatment. Those with more manageable hair conditions don't mind cutting back on salon services to take on the job at home.
This is definitely a market that will quitely prosper while others suffer at the hands of the economic downfalls.

A Look At Hispanics' Usage of Social Media

BodenPR recently completed a thought piece detailing the high engagement level by U.S.

Hispanics with Social Media and what brands should consider before developing an online news campaign targeted towards this very coveted market. Interestingly, very few leading brands are catching on to the online trends identified for the different Hispanic segments and what influences their opinions as consumers. Learning the trends and what truly influences these segments online will allow brands to create a powerful online news campaign that will create buzz on and offline for themselves.

Some of the key findings within the article include:

- An estimated 20% of Hispanics online are considered ‘Hispanic-fluentials.’ Hispanics are more likely than any other segment to pass on both positive and negative reviews/information to friends and family

− Hispanic teens are connected online 24/7 and it’s because this segment values the latest communication tools more than any other. This segment’s likes and dislikes also overlaps into the general market’s (American) teen trends.

− The older and acculturated Generation Y Hispanics turn to online forums and blogs to make everyday decisions from what restaurant to dine at to what car they will purchase next. They are not reading their local papers, but turn to online news instead and like to receive and comment on news more than any other U.S. Hispanic segment.

− U.S. Hispanic Baby Boomers are online, but most are not blogging. They’re online for reference information on topics from investments to healthcare and a vast majority prefer communication online in Spanish.

As a result, when beginning to develop a Social Media and Online News Campaign for your brand, it is key to ask two key questions:

(1) Which U.S. Hispanic segment am I targeting (Generation Y, Latinas, Baby Boomers?)

(2) Who and what is influencing them today (social media forums, TV shows, bloggers?).

New Study Shows African Americans Financial Planning Attitudes and Actions differ

A new survey of 1,200 participants commissioned by The Smiley Group and Nationwide Insurance shows 58 percent of African Americans expect their household situation to be better a year from now, compared to only 30 percent of the general population sharing similar optimism.
While African Americans say they think their financial situation will improve in the next year, most of those surveyed indicated they are not taking deliberate actions to better their financial circumstances:
- Less than half say they are proactive about their financial future
- Three in 4 say they do not have a written financial plan
- One in 3 say they don't know where to start when it comes to personal financial planning African Americans are more confident than their general population peers in their ability to make savings and investment decisions (52 percent vs. 43 percent), but are also more likely to indicate they are struggling with credit card debt (38 percent vs. 32 percent).

Another Evidence That Hispanics Do Go Online

Question: Which network is the most-pirated U.S. broadcast network on YouTube?
Answer: ABC?
WRONG
Correct Anwser: Univision
The Spanish-language TV network is the most-pirated U.S. broadcast network on YouTube, with mostly clips of blockbuster telenovelas drawing more than twice as many views as Univision's nearest network competitor, Fox.

New Research from IRI shows that Lower-income Shoppers including African American and Hispanics Are Driving Today's CPG Growth

Lower-income shoppers are the fastest-growing income group in the United States and will generate $84 billion in incremental spending during the next decade. The latest research from Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) reveals that these consumers represent an enormous opportunity for retailers and manufacturers during the slow economy, if they understand that lower-income shoppers are not a homogenous group. “The Lower-Income II Report: Serving Budget-Constrained Shoppers in a Recessionary Environment” uncovers the critical differences and recessionary spending patterns and behaviors of lower-income micro segments that are driving today’s CPG growth.
For example, the biggest concerns now for African American moms is Crime (54%), Hispanic moms is Employment (67%) and Caucasian moms is Financial Security (54%).
Compared with other income groups in today’s economy, budget-constrained, lower-income shoppers are shopping more frequently, but are spending less per trip. They are also aggressively shifting spending across channels, retailers, categories and brands. African American household spending has increased notably in salty snacks and chocolate candy, and Hispanics have increased their spending on frozen dinners and cereals.

Affluent Ethnic Consumers

A new study by chief economist Greg McBoat of the research firm and consultancy, Diversity Affluence, reflects "Estimates of Population, Income and Purchasing Power for African, Asian and Hispanics Americans in America." It defines affluent ethnic individuals with an annual income of at least $75,000 and households with an annual income of $150,000 or greater.
Of the three primary groups , African Americans possess $87.3 billion in purchasing power, Asian Americans possess $90.2 billion, and Hispanic Americans hold $104.5 billion.
Although they account for only 2.4 percent of all ethnic individuals in the country, they represent 39 % of total income, a significant portion of wealth that shouldn't be ignored.
While these recessionary times have luxury marketers overly cautious, brands may benefit by attracting new audiences that could otherwise help them survive and thrive.

AT&T Celebrates Black History Month on Facebook - Good Intention, Poor Execution?

AT&T has rolled out a new Web-centric ad campaign on Facebook tied to February's Black History Month.The wirelesss company has recently launched a microsite on Facebook called Twenty-Eight Days, which is aimed at inspiring African Americans. The site encourages users to share inspirational quotes, whether taken from historical figures or their own thoughts and ideas. The premise of Twenty-Eight Days, according to AT&T, is to shift thinking around Black History Month away from primarily serving as a time to reflect on history and more toward becoming a moment in time to look ahead.

However, I couldn't really locate that "Mini Site" anywhere, I googled it and searched it on Facebook and nothing. Using the internet as a medium is an awesome today, but need to make sure all elements involved are carefully planned and excecuted.

Ipsos Omnibus Study Claimed U.S. Hispanics Prefer English Media, Even Though Advertising In Spanish-Language Media Is Growing

More than half of US Hispanics say they are most comfortable speaking Spanish, but a larger percentage prefer English-language broadcast, print and internet media and can switch easily between languages to get needed information, according to an Ipsos Omnibus study.

Some 52% of US Hispanics report speaking primarily Spanish at home, while 43% say they speak mostly English, the study found. Among Hispanics surveyed, the study found that regardless of language spoken at home, Hispanics overall take advantage of their bilingual abilities by using, accessing and enjoying media in both languages.

Wheaties Celebrates Black History Month With New Box

When General Mills' Wheaties cereal brand formally unveiled its latest box design featuring a likeness of NBA Hall of Famer Willis Reed at an event at New York's NBA store on Wednesday, none other than the former Knicks player himself stepped up to pull the wraps from a mockup of the box.
Such pomp and circumstance might be forgiven with Wheaties, whose brand equity is arguably more about the sports icons gracing its boxes than the cereal itself. The 80-plus-year-old brand, which has celebrated the likes of Bruce Jenner, Tiger Woods, Stone Cold Steve Austin, boxer Max Baer and NASCAR racer Cale Yarborough with its "Breakfast of Champions" tag since 1934, is timing the new limited-edition Willis Reed packaging with Black History Month.

Webbased marketing has long been overlooked when it comes to reaching Latinos. No more.

If a brand wanted to reach out to the increasingly important Latino consumer, there were always a variety of traditional tools to grab -- traditional being the key term. Historically, little importance had been placed on Web-based marketing. But those days are over.
TNS Media Intelligence reports that during the first 10 months of 2008, Hispanic online display advertising pulled in almost $212 million, up from about $165 million for full-year 2007. That $212 million represents slightly more than 4 percent of all Hispanic media ad spend during the same January to October 2008 period.
Why now? Hispanic online space has been gathering momentum for some time, but "it's been topical in 2008," says Bruce Eatroff, a partner in Halyard Capital, a private equity fund whose holdings include the Hispanic news and information company ImpreMedia.
Far more immediate forces may be at work, too -- specifically, the recession. The budgetary constrictions caused by the economic climate have apparently compelled many brands to look at online marketing strategies because of their cost effectiveness.
There's still another -- and far more basic -- reason why brands are taking a closer look at Latinos online these days: There are simply more of them online.Overall, 48 percent of all Hispanics in the U.S. have broadband online connections. Sure, that's nine percentage points less than the population as a whole (57 percent), according to a January 2008 survey conducted by Horowitz Associates for its "State of Broadband Urban Markets 2008" research report. But the survey's data also show that 68 percent of Hispanics with a preference for the English language (predominantly younger ones, who are a key demo target to start with) have broadband access.
Increasingly, streaming media is another direct plug-in to more of the Latino population. On Yahoo! Telemundo video streams were up 67 percent in October 2008 versus the same month in 2007. Unique users were up 103 percent during the same period.
Still, brands that shift attention to Hispanic-geared online efforts face a number of hurdles.
(This article is quoted from AdAge, January 12, 2009, Janet Stilson)

What Is Multiculturalism?

"Multiculturalism is a philosophy that appreciates ethnic diversity within a society and that encourages people to learn from the contributions of those of diverse ethnic backgrounds. It is an ideal way of life that acknowledges and respects the various cultures, religions, races, ethnicities, attitudes and opinions."
Maybe because it is an "Ideal Way Of Life", multiculturalism is still a "Work-In-Progress" even after 100 years.

Another Reason Why Faith-Based Marketing Is Important For African Americans - Analysis Finds African Americans more Religious Than Overall Population

While the U.S. is generally considered a highly religious nation, African-Americans are markedly more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S. population as a whole, including level of affiliation with a religion, attendance at religious services, frequency of prayer and religion's importance in life.
According to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted in 2007 by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, 87% of African-Americans describing themselves as belonging to one religious group or another. Latinos also report affiliating with a religion at a similarly high rate of 85%; among the public overall, 83% are affiliated with a religion.

Americans Favor Diversity: Trends suggest otherwise

According to results of a new survey from the Pew Research Center, released December 2008 (http://pewresearch.org/), most Americans value diversity and favor living in communities with a variety of income levels, political views and ethnic groups.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and The Nielsen Company, however, paints a somewhat different picture of how communities actually live—a portrait of a country still separated by race, ethnicity, political orientation and a wide range of other factors.
This dichotomy between what consumers say and what they actually do poses a challenge to marketers. While national advertising and promotion must reach and appeal to a wide range of consumers in a highly diverse marketplace, there is also a need for more locally-targeted advertising and promotion that speaks to the sentiments of varied consumer segments.

Breaking The Myths: Two-Thirds of US Hispanics Go Online Monthly

Hispanics in the US are now online in overwhelming numbers, and are taking full advantage of the internet as a primary tool for finding and contributing information, researching and making purchases, being entertained, and networking with others, according to recent research from Ipsos.
While online, 79% of Hispanics research products on the internet and more than half (53%) make a purchase at least once a month.
“The idea of US Hispanics either lacking internet access, or lacking the ability to utilize the online tools often thought exclusive to the mainstream is no longer relevant,” said according to Cynthia Pelayo, senior research manager at Ipsos. “We know that millions of Hispanics are online, either at home or at work, and they are engaging in functions, often in higher numbers, than the general population.”

How Obama's 'Permanent Dialogue' Affects Marketers

In this AdAge article today, Pete Snyder talked about how Obama's direct, always-on communication will change what consumers expect from marketers. This affects every market segments including the multicultural market.
Brands and marketers need to come to terms with the fact that we now have a president (and an administration) who understands the internet and is a "power user" of technology. After all, this is the first president in history to refuse to give up his Blackberry. More importantly, we need to understand how this will impact the behavior of American consumers:
1. The battleground for both consumers and ideas is online.
2. The permanent dialogue has begun.
3. Consumer expectations will change.
4. You'll need an active, authentic voice in the conversation.

Engaging Hispanics Via Mobile: Speak Their 'Edioma'

In this article on MediaPost by Joseph Kutchera, it talked about how more Hispanics and other Spanish-speakers around the world first experience the Internet via their cell phones. Interestingly? Not. Because they lag behind the general population for Internet access and many will first go online via their cell phones.
According to comScore m:metrics, 71% of Hispanics consume content on cell phones compared to the market average of 48%. In addition, Hispanics tend to notice and respond well to ads on cell phones. Nielsen's recent "Mobile Advertising Report" highlighted that Hispanic data users are more likely to recall seeing ads on mobile phones (41% compared with 30% of non-Hispanics) and more likely to have responded (22% vs. 13%).

African American Internet Use Climbs

The internet gap is closing according to this published report by eMarketer. The percentage of African-Americans who use the Internet increased to 64% as of December 2008, up from 56% in December 2007, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. In comparison, Internet users represented 74% of the total US population in December 2008, dipping slightly from 75% in December 2007.
The proportion of African-Americans who use the Internet increased by 22 percentage points from December 2000 to December 2008, compared with 21 percentage points for the total US population.

Marketers Make Mistake by Failing to Expressly Target Nearly $1 Trillion Market

In this AdAge article on Feb 2, 2009, Marissa Miley spoke to industry experts why marketers spent millions chasing after segments like mommy bloggers and ignore the nearly $1 Trillion African-American market. Do they really think there's something call one-size-fits-all when talking about this segment?