Are You Reaching The Black-American Consumer?

Abstract

The article looks at multicultural marketing and African-American consumers. The author argues that while black Americans are avid consumers, their point of view is not reflected in most marketing and advertising. She describes various approaches the advertising industry has taken to addressing ethnic diversity among consumers, including multicultural marketing, or translation of mainstream marketing messages for specific ethnic or other target markets; the total market approach of attempting to create messages with universal appeal; and cross-cultural marketing designed for specific target groups while aiming for general appeal. Topics include African-American television channels such as Black Entertainment Television (BET) and wireless company Sprint's Framily advertising campaign.