An excellent Washington Post article today by staff writer Sholnn Freeman reports on Ford's latest campaign which is "devoting considerable energy to attracting niche customers." The article reaffirms what I have been teaching my students at Johns Hopkins University and telling my clients: ethnic or multicultural marketing strategies can be highly effective.
While the article itself reads like a corporate promotional piece, I love it because it makes for a great case study for my Master's degree course in ethnic marketing.
The story quotes a professor at the College of William and Mary who delivers quite an understatement. There has been evidence that the largest minority groups in the U.S. over-index the mainstream consumer on auto purchases and remain more brand loyal. So it is really a no-brainer that automakers reach out to these consumers. The biggest challenge continues to be how to create a message and brand/product line that is in-culture or fits well in-culture. This is not to say company's like Ford can not help drive the culture a little as well - afterall they spend billions of dollars on consumer advertising. But the Post story reports that Ford is borrowing from some of the most notable figures and media organizations that are strong among ethnic audiences and tying their brand to them.
Freeman writes that, "While many other customers have fled, lots of African Americans have stayed local to carmarkers in Detroit. African American and Hispanic artists celebrate American car brands in music and culture. Hip-hop and R&B have given Cadillac new life with lyrical backing of the over-the-top Escalade SUV and the flashy Cadillac brand itself."
She reports that: "Ford will sponsor a sweepstakes on Spanish-language Univision.com..."
and that "Ford's marketers also think they've got a strong shot with Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese people..."
Click [here] for the article.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
'Slap in the Face' for Blacks
How can a search for a nanny end up like a slap in the face for Blacks?
New York Times writer Jodi Kantor reports in today's paper that, "Like hailing a cab in Midtown Manhattan, searching for a nanny can be an exasperating, humiliating excercise for many blacks, the kind of ordeal that makes them wonder aloud what year it is."
She finds "that many black parents do not have the same child care options as their colleagues and neighbors." And later she writes that, "The problem may be as much about class as race" and attributes the finding to a Harvard sociologist.
Click [here] to read the story.
New York Times writer Jodi Kantor reports in today's paper that, "Like hailing a cab in Midtown Manhattan, searching for a nanny can be an exasperating, humiliating excercise for many blacks, the kind of ordeal that makes them wonder aloud what year it is."
She finds "that many black parents do not have the same child care options as their colleagues and neighbors." And later she writes that, "The problem may be as much about class as race" and attributes the finding to a Harvard sociologist.
Click [here] to read the story.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
The Hispanicization of American Catholicism
The New York Times Magazine has a major Christmas-eve cover story on "The Hispanicization of American Catholocism." From my initial quick read tonight, I find that the story puts heavy emphasis on the changes in the church in Los Angeles, but also paints a national portrait, including the following report from writer David Rieff:
"Nationally, Hispanics account for 39 percent of the Catholic population, or something over 25 million of the nation’s 65 million Roman Catholics; since 1960, they have accounted for 71 percent of new Catholics in the United States. The vast increase, both proportionally and in absolute numbers, is mostly because of the surge in immigration from Latin America, above all from Mexico, that has taken place over the course of the past three decades. Today, more than 40 percent of the Hispanics residing in the United States, legally and illegally, are foreign-born, and the fate of the American Catholic Church has become inextricably intertwined with the fate of these immigrants and their descendants."
Rieff explains these and other significant shifts in the church make-up and writes, later in the story that, "The question, though, is whether these changes represent something lasting. Is this a real turning point in the history of the American church that will lead to its enduring revival or, instead, only another cycle in that history? "
Rieff argues that, "The question, of course, is whether an increasingly conservative hierarchy, both in Rome and in the United States, will choose to allow it to remain so or will alter its course. It is this decision that will in the end determine whether the Hispanicization of the American church signals its rebirth or is a false dawn after all. "
I find it fascinating that this story is able to add another layer to the media's - and of course my own - growing interest in the Hispanic influence on America, and global issues as a result.
Click [here] for the article.
"Nationally, Hispanics account for 39 percent of the Catholic population, or something over 25 million of the nation’s 65 million Roman Catholics; since 1960, they have accounted for 71 percent of new Catholics in the United States. The vast increase, both proportionally and in absolute numbers, is mostly because of the surge in immigration from Latin America, above all from Mexico, that has taken place over the course of the past three decades. Today, more than 40 percent of the Hispanics residing in the United States, legally and illegally, are foreign-born, and the fate of the American Catholic Church has become inextricably intertwined with the fate of these immigrants and their descendants."
Rieff explains these and other significant shifts in the church make-up and writes, later in the story that, "The question, though, is whether these changes represent something lasting. Is this a real turning point in the history of the American church that will lead to its enduring revival or, instead, only another cycle in that history? "
Rieff argues that, "The question, of course, is whether an increasingly conservative hierarchy, both in Rome and in the United States, will choose to allow it to remain so or will alter its course. It is this decision that will in the end determine whether the Hispanicization of the American church signals its rebirth or is a false dawn after all. "
I find it fascinating that this story is able to add another layer to the media's - and of course my own - growing interest in the Hispanic influence on America, and global issues as a result.
Click [here] for the article.
Top Shows Among African American TV Viewers
USA Today published Nielsen ratings data showing the top ten shows among African American TV viewers in mid-November:
Click [here] to see it on the USA Today website:
Click [here] to see it on the USA Today website:
Spotlight: Tops among African- Americans
Avg. viewers (millions)
1 Dancing With the Stars (ABC) 3.1
* Dancing W/Stars results (ABC) 3.1
3 Day Break (ABC) 2.7
4 CSI: Miami (CBS) 2.6
5 Girlfriends (CW) 2.4
* All of Us (CW) 2.4
7 60 Minutes (CBS) 2.2
8 CSI (CBS) 2.0
9 Shark (CBS) 2.0
10 Grey's Anatomy (ABC) 1.9
Source: Nielsen Media Research, week of Nov. 13
Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together (MATT.org)
Nearly a year ago Lionel Sosa contacted me about a new non-profit organization he was putting together, from scratch. The group, which would become Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together, sought to become the first online non-profit organization to build a web portal devoted to dialogue between Mexicans and Americans.
MATT.org has grown into a tremendously successful organization in the months since it officially launched (the site launched on Cinco de Mayo - May 5th). Americans and Mexicans have visited the English and Spanish versions of the website, generating millions of clicks. Virtually all content and projects are posted to both the English and Spanish websites.
Here are a few of the terrific MATT efforts worth pointing out:
1.) MATT.org launched a micro-loan program that allows Americans to invest in Mexican small (or micro) businesses all with the goal of securing or creating jobs in Mexico. More jobs and job security in Mexico equals less desperation and hopefully less illegal immigration. Click [here] to check out a promotional video about the program and to learn more about the process and loan recipients.
In case you missed it, the Nobel Peace Prize this year was awarded the man behind the largest and most successful microloan programs in the world. MATT.org partners with Kiva and Mexico-based ADMIC for the program.
2.) MATT.org has a tremendously successful discussion board section where thousands of people from the U.S. and Mexico debate the important and sometimes less important issues facing our two countries and two peoples.
The comments are lively to say the least; they are noteworthy, sometimes controversial, and occasionally offensive depending on who's posting. Since the site is open to anyone the comments reflect that. Click [here] for the discussion section which feature 10 forums with about 35,000 posts and more than 16,000 members.
3.) MATT.org has begun to circulate a petition urging Congress to make it easier for American citizens to vote in national elections. Click [here] to review and/or sign the petition.
4.) The site features commentaries, news summaries and original reporting as well as statements from the MATT on important issues facing the two countries. I help lead the editorial team at the site and we're developing outstanding content and research projects for the coming months.
5.) And this might be the coolest development thus-far: MATT has established a new relationship with Quepasa.com a fantastic, growing online community with more than 350,000 members. The site has really taken off and is attracting a lot of national media attention and national advertisers.
MATT.org has grown into a tremendously successful organization in the months since it officially launched (the site launched on Cinco de Mayo - May 5th). Americans and Mexicans have visited the English and Spanish versions of the website, generating millions of clicks. Virtually all content and projects are posted to both the English and Spanish websites.
Here are a few of the terrific MATT efforts worth pointing out:
1.) MATT.org launched a micro-loan program that allows Americans to invest in Mexican small (or micro) businesses all with the goal of securing or creating jobs in Mexico. More jobs and job security in Mexico equals less desperation and hopefully less illegal immigration. Click [here] to check out a promotional video about the program and to learn more about the process and loan recipients.
In case you missed it, the Nobel Peace Prize this year was awarded the man behind the largest and most successful microloan programs in the world. MATT.org partners with Kiva and Mexico-based ADMIC for the program.
2.) MATT.org has a tremendously successful discussion board section where thousands of people from the U.S. and Mexico debate the important and sometimes less important issues facing our two countries and two peoples.
The comments are lively to say the least; they are noteworthy, sometimes controversial, and occasionally offensive depending on who's posting. Since the site is open to anyone the comments reflect that. Click [here] for the discussion section which feature 10 forums with about 35,000 posts and more than 16,000 members.
3.) MATT.org has begun to circulate a petition urging Congress to make it easier for American citizens to vote in national elections. Click [here] to review and/or sign the petition.
4.) The site features commentaries, news summaries and original reporting as well as statements from the MATT on important issues facing the two countries. I help lead the editorial team at the site and we're developing outstanding content and research projects for the coming months.
5.) And this might be the coolest development thus-far: MATT has established a new relationship with Quepasa.com a fantastic, growing online community with more than 350,000 members. The site has really taken off and is attracting a lot of national media attention and national advertisers.
Will Obama’s candidacy advance racial bridge-building?
Will Obama’s candidacy advance racial bridge-building? I am certainly excited when I think about the possibility. The New York Times has a profile which implies that Sen. Barack Obama has quite a different take on the challenges facing our country. His old mentor, the famed attorney Laurence Tribe, is quoted as saying he'll be hard to pin down on some issues because of his unique background and identity.
The New York Times’ Jeff Zeleny, formerly of the Chicago Tribune - one of Obama's hometown papers, wrote for Sunday’s paper that, “As the third African-American senator since Reconstruction, Mr. Obama represents a new generation of black leaders who are connected neither by lineage nor by personal experience to the monumental struggle for racial equality.” Zeleny goes on to analyze some of Obama's writings on this subject in the article titled "Testing the Waters, Obama Tests His Own Limits."
Click [here] for the article.
The New York Times’ Jeff Zeleny, formerly of the Chicago Tribune - one of Obama's hometown papers, wrote for Sunday’s paper that, “As the third African-American senator since Reconstruction, Mr. Obama represents a new generation of black leaders who are connected neither by lineage nor by personal experience to the monumental struggle for racial equality.” Zeleny goes on to analyze some of Obama's writings on this subject in the article titled "Testing the Waters, Obama Tests His Own Limits."
Click [here] for the article.
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