It’s Black History Month: Is it Time to Upgrade Your African American Marketing Strategy?

As the buzz dies down from perhaps the most uninspiring Superbowl ever, you might remember that Friday February 1 marked the start of Black History Month, celebrated in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands in honor of the important figures and events in the history of the African diaspora.  Many companies take this time to recognize their most inspirational black employees, but it’s also a good time to revisit marketing strategy. Are you activating black consumers as effectively as you should?

Collage Group offers an unparalleled and growing repository of African-American consumer insights you can immediately incorporate into your strategies. If you are a Collage Group member, login into our Instant Insights tool, search for “NFL” and scroll down to “How big a fan are you of the following sports, if at all [Football (NFL)].” Choose the race/ethnicity demographic cuts.  You should get the chart below which shows just how overwhelmingly popular NFL football is with black consumers, despite all the politics and controversies.  (Not a member? scroll down to download free content on the African-American segment.)

Next, challenge your assumptions with a review of your advertising themes using our recent ad rating research  to recognize the distinctly different perceptions African-Americans have about the use of American themes in ads.  In our total market study of consumer perceptions of brand favorability after watching 20 ads (n=3861), we found that black consumers are notably less positive in their response to advertising.

Follow up by checking out our research into the emotional profiles of America, as we transition to a multicultural future.  Explore the dramatically different perspective of black Americans and seek inspiration in their profound sense of exceptionalism.

Across the last 18 months Collage Group has produced a wide variety of additional content, helping members develop authentic content to better connect with African Americans, understand digital behaviors and beauty trends, and improve African-American health care outcomes.  In April, be sure to check out the release of our updated Essentials of African-American Marketing, and scroll down to download a free sample of that report now.

Need customized support to increase your ROI?  Collage Group has completed almost 100 custom engagements helping member companies better understand their black consumers.  Contact your Client Services representative to discuss how we can better support your efforts to tap into this extraordinarily influential and growing segment.