A group that’s wanting to be heard

Editor’s note: Mitchell Eggers is chief technology officer at Global Market Insite Inc., a Bellevue, Wash., research firm.

African-Americans are one of the fastest-growing communities in the U.S., with 40.2 million people making up 13.4 percent of the population (U.S. Census). Target Market News, a black-oriented publication, estimated the purchasing power of African-American consumers to be $744 billion in 2007. Yet, African-American consumers are greatly undervalued by many marketers and wanting to be heard. In many instances, gaining their loyalty and a share of their buying power is as simple as acknowledging their importance by marketing to them directly with a tailored message. Improving socioeconomic status among African-Americans represents a major untapped opportunity for many new, emerging product and service categories, particularly in the areas of financial services, travel, Internet, insurance and pharmaceutical products. Reaching this market requires the use of sensitive, culturally-relevant messages.

Rapid expansion of the African-American middle class over the past several decades has significantly increased the purchasing power and value of African-American consumers (U.S. Department of Commerce). This article provides 10 important factors to consider when designing a marketing plan for products and services useful to the African-American community. The broad goal is to respect the African-American consumer’s mainstream aspirations while being sensitive to their distinct social history.

1. Leave stereotypes at the door

Popular culture and broadcast media tend to foster stereotypes which do not hold true in real life. In December 2007, the findings of a GMI Poll conducted online among 1,285 African-Americans found that having a lot of bling doesn’t boost one’s social status in the African-American community. A stable family and a solid education were quoted as most important to social standing. Clothes, jewelry and cars were all ranked at the bottom of the list. “This study debunks the myth that African-Americans are only interested in fancy jewelry and tricked-out cars,” says Lawrence Martin Johnson Pratt, host of the Technocolorradioshow, a technology information radio show for African-Americans in New York on WHCR-FM. “Nearly everyone surveyed said status and respect in the African-American community centers around family, education and career. Despite how we are portrayed on TV and in Hollywood, members of the African-American community have the same hopes and aspirations as every other American.” So be careful not to fall into the stereotype trap when embarking on a marketing campaign intended to appeal to African-Americans.

2. Ask yourself: what’s black about it?

When creating a marketing or advertising campaign, ask yourself this simple question: what’s black about it? Does this advertising depict something African-Americans can relate to or identify with, minus stereotypical images?

One approach is to use positive images of African-American men with families and in leadership roles. Qualitative research has shown that marketers will elicit a positive response from most African-Americans by showing African-American men as a respected family head and concerned father, business owner or corporate executive.

Procter & Gamble is the largest advertiser targeting African-American consumers with $89.7 million in spend (2006-2007, Nielsen Monitor-Plus). Along with ad agency Burrell Communications, P&G developed a culturally-relevant ad for Tide with Downy. The commercial featured an African-American man lying in bed on his back with a small child sleeping on his stomach. He wears a shiny gold wedding band on his left hand, with neo-soul music playing softly in the background. P&G took on an important issue in the African-American community, the perception that all African-American men are absent fathers, and turned it into something positive and relevant.

The campaign demonstrated an insider’s knowledge of the African-American mindset by dispelling a major stereotype about African-American men. Fast forward: The ad generated major awareness of the brand among African-Americans and, more importantly, helped P&G achieve the highest return on investment of any Tide brand. Had the spot featured Caucasian people, it would not have received the same response.

3. Look beyond the English language

“They speak English, don’t they?” Pepper Miller, ethnic market consultant and co-author of the book What’s Black About It?, first heard this statement seven years ago while attending a client meeting. A senior manager used these words to communicate the rationale among marketers for not targeting African-American consumers. The rapid growth of the Hispanic market has led to decreasing marketing dollars being spent on reaching African-Americans. Too many advertisers and marketers assume African-Americans will respond to any message simply because it is delivered in English.

The absence of a language barrier has become a major rationalization for reduced spending, generic messaging and inadequate market research when attempting to gain awareness, loyalty and purchasing power from African-Americans.

4. Understand African-American living

Most African-Americans live, worship and socialize with each other, and many do so by choice. The desire to live black also means that many African-Americans read African-American newspapers and magazines, visit African-American Web sites and listen to African-American radio. A one-size-fits-all marketing approach signals to many African-Americans that the way they live and know life does not require any special understanding or consideration of their culture or distinct social history. A general-market message often fails to convey that a product or service is seeking African-American awareness and support.

Some advertisers may worry that targeted efforts merely separate consumers and support stereotypes. The key is to target without stereotyping. In the early 1990s, General Foods created a very successful campaign for its Stove Top Stuffing. Research revealed that African-Americans use cornbread instead of loaf bread to make their stuffing. They also refer to stuffing as dressing. Research also found that African-Americans using the word stuffing refer to the recipe used by Caucasians that calls for bread, versus the traditional African-American recipe that requires cornbread.

These research findings led General Foods to develop a cornbread recipe and created a tagline specifically for the African-American market that read, “The box says stuffing, but the taste says dressing.” Targeted television, radio and print ads were placed in various African-American media, and Stove Top Stuffing awareness and sales among African-Americans went through the roof.

5. Recognize the value of the African-American influence

As a group, African-Americans have been, and continue to be, one of the primary trendsetters of society. Marketers who consciously establish a relationship with this lucrative yet underserved market will reap significant long-term rewards from a loyal, influential customer base. The key is to understand the African-American mindset, attitudes, behavior and lifestyle. The ability to generate significant influence beyond their own market segment is truly a distinct quality of African-Americans. They exert a powerful influence on fashion, music, slang, sports, language and the overall perception of what is cool around the world.

Understanding African-Americans as trendsetters, and leveraging the value of that influencing power, is an essential step to tailoring more effective advertising. African-Americans aren’t just more likely than the mainstream to be among the first to set new trends, they also want to be identified as on the cutting-edge. According to What’s Black About It? , 34 percent of African-Americans are likely to keep up with changes in trends and fashions (compared with 25 percent of Caucasians) and 71 percent say it is important to keep up with the latest technology products and services (compared with 65 percent of Caucasians).

6. Acknowledge African-American cultural heritage: you’re not an insider

Most African-Americans agree that the opinion of society matters. So when in public, they conduct themselves in such a way as to avoid reinforcing negative stereotypes. Many African-Americans feel that certain situations, stories and expressions should not be shared outside of their community, otherwise running the risk of being viewed as stereotypical.

When speaking with Caucasians, many African-Americans use language and accents that seem and sound less African-American. They are keenly aware that people outside their community may view their different speech patterns and language negatively. The use of familiar slang, cultural references and expressions is more prevalent within the community, around friends or at home. This establishes rapport and cultural identity but alienates when used by marketers.

Culturally sensitive, positive and relevant appeals that celebrate the culture rather than reinforce stereotypes are more likely to gain the attention and loyalty of African-Americans. Marketers should develop strategies and communications that reverse the common stereotypes by including:

— upscale African-American individuals and families;

— African-American family units (including the father as an emotionally engaged and responsible caretaker);

— African-Americans working with and helping other African-Americans;

— African-American men and wom-en in integrated leadership roles; and

— African-Americans involved in technology and health care.

Remember that when marketing to African-Americans, most of them value and define their self-image in terms of education, career, family, style and intellect. But all these tips are just guidelines. Finding that hook that makes your product relevant to African-Americans is most important. When State Farm wanted to woo African-Americans into using its financial services, it investigated whether African-Americans had different reasons for saving.

Using marketing research, the company learned that saving for education was a priority (vs. saving for retirement, which is more important to Caucasians). State Farm created a print ad campaign featuring a child on a bed with outstretched arms wearing an oversized college sweatshirt. The ad read, “The only thing that will grow faster is the cost of a college education. Kids grow up fast, and soon it’s time for college.” The campaign was successful because a college education is a sign of success and good parenting within the African-American community. African-Americans feel proud when they see their sons and daughters achieve success at the college or graduate level. In the GMI Poll mentioned earlier, 25 percent of respondents indicated that education was most important to social standing while 60 percent ranked it in their top three.

7. Understand your own internal challenges

Many marketers are still confused about multicultural marketing. A recent study conducted for Heidrick & Struggles reports that although 84 percent of marketers agree that multicultural marketing is critical to their business, nearly 40 percent say they don’t know how much minority groups contribute to their companies’ revenues.

Another problem is that corporations don’t work with the right types of market research firms. In this study, 58 percent of marketers said they use general market research firms. When targeting African-Americans, marketers should preferably work with an experienced multicultural research agency to put all chances of success on their side. Yet, before that, they need to overcome the challenge of convincing their management team and their peers of the value of multicultural marketing as it relates to the business.

8. Build loyalty over time

A lot of businesses make the common mistake of concentrating solely on Black History Month as their opportunity to target the African-American community. And when they do, they still focus more on their product messaging than on celebrating actual African-American historical achievements. February may only come around once a year, but why should advertising and marketing to that community be put on hold for the other 11 months?

Typically, this happens because insufficient budget has been allocated to properly take advantage of the opportunity. The downside is that instead of building brands or relationships within the African-American community, it often backfires and causes negative word-of-mouth about the brand. Like with any ethnicity, building brand loyalty takes time, but when African-Americans listen to a well-targeted message and then buy, they do it in larger numbers than the general population.

9. Understand differences within the African-American community

Differences in values from class to class are the same among the African-American community as they are in the general market. Aspirational messaging of success, education, career and family can all be used to make products and services appealing for African-Americans. It is essential for marketers to understand those subtle differences, so they can craft the right message for the right audience.

10. Leverage online research

Like any success story, marketing to African-Americans will start with diligent market research. One way to gather the opinions of the African-American community is to conduct research online. Publication eMarketer expects African-American Internet users in the U.S. to total 21.7 million in 2010. According to a new report from syndicated media ratings service The Media Audit, 40.6 percent of African-Americans now shop online, compared to 27.1 percent five years ago.

New opportunities

Recognizing and acknowledging African-American differences, and crafting targeted messages to acknowledge their uniqueness as consumers can lead to new opportunities. The African-American market exerts an enormous influence on American culture. The increasing purchasing power of that community, coupled with its rapid growth, will only make this market more valuable and attractive over time.

According to a study by Packaged Facts, African-American buying power is expected to exceed $1.1 trillion in 2012. The U.S. Census predicts that the single-race African-American population will reach 61.4 million by 2050. So if you do your homework diligently and equip yourself with the right expertise and online tools, you can better understand this community and put all chances of success on your side.