Multicultural Marketing News

With African Diaspora Month (formerly Black History Month) in full swing, scores of multicultural marketers are recognizing the 50 million people of African origin living in America and their estimated purchasing power of over $1.2 trillion. Wait.  Didn't you get the memo?  Fact is, immigrant populations from Africa and the Caribbean coupled with U.S.-born African Americans, make up the African Diaspora and while often viewed as distinct and unrelated target markets, they have much in common - music, food, culture, values and most importantly, heritage.  At The Africa Channel, we see the appeal of our African soap operas, like Jacob's Cross; our popularity in the Caribbean; and the record numbers of people who are tracing their ancestral roots back to Africa through DNA testing, as the signs that an African Diaspora movement is alive and well.  Last year, the United Nations declared 2011 the International Year for People of African Descent and made official this movement that has been building for decades.  To date, no corporate champion for this movement has emerged.  African Diaspora Month anyone? Mark Walton (mwalton@theafricachannel.com; 212-899-5017) is Executive Vice President for Sponsorship and Corporate Development at The Africa Channel. Visit www.theafricachannel.com.   Read more >>

Black History Month is a well-known marketing platform and  educational tool.   Barnes & Noble book store is hosting storytime events, promotions and celebrity appearances and highlighting the work of African-American artist April Harrison on tote bags, journals,   posters and signs in its stores, and on its web site (www.bn.com/black-history-month).  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's "What Color Is My World?  The Lost History of African-American Inventors" is one of books featured by the black author who is the all time leading scorer for the National Basketball Association. Tavis Smiley, veteran radio and TV commenter, continues his Black History Special: Memories of the Movement which profiles Civil Rights leaders.   Podcasts of interviews are available at www.tavissmileyradio.com/about.html.  Smiley is one of 70 prominent African-Americans featured on Gale's Black History Month e-research and educational publishing site www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/bio.  The U.S. Postal Service Black Heritage Series honors John H. Johnson, founder of the Ebony and Jet magazine.  His is the 35th stamp in a series begun in 1978. Visit beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview.  Michael Cunningham's book, "Crowns," in multiple reprints, continues to showcase black culture and women in church hats. Visit www.mcphotog.com. Black history is "On-Site, On-Air, On-Line, On-Shelf, and On Point."  To learn more about SMSi and how we can help your company, contact Lafayette Jones, CEO, SMSi-Urban Call Marketing, Inc.at president@smsi-net.com or visit www.smsiurbancallmarketing.com.  Read more >>

Widely known for publishing its award winning print editions of Fútbol Mundial and Béisbol Mundial magazine, the Mundial Group Inc. is reaching new heights with growing digital, online and mobile platforms in the Hispanic sports marketplace. Today, the series of successes continues as The Mundial Sports Network - the largest digital sports network in the U.S Hispanic market - delivers an audience larger than ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes combined, debuting on comScore as the #1 property reaching Latino sports fans online. Contact Bill Jenkins, bill@mundialgroup.net or Michael Vinales, michael@mundialgroup.net to find out how you can get involved! Felix Sención, Founder and CEO, The Mundial Group Inc., 212-213-1400, felix@mundialgroup.net.    Read more >>

Ebony Marketing, has been specializing in ethnic and multicultural marketing research and consulting for over 30 years.  Ebony Marketing is and has been the "go to" company for solving and executing market research in any language, from Mandarin to Farsi, and in any location from Harlem to Beverly Hills. Our highly trained staff of interviewers, moderators, project directors and analysts are all trained multiculturalists and is second to none.  Ebony Marketing has the reach, the range and the rapport to execute both qualitative and quantitative projects and put you in touch with your market. Moving from paper and pencil to online and mobile devices has been a natural progression for the company which provides our clients with cutting edge solutions to difficult marketing problems.  In addition to working on many government projects, Ebony Marketing has served private sector clients such as; Met Life, McDonalds, Health First, Lopez Negrete, Wal Mart and Verizon. Our newest development is the creation of our dedicated ethnic online panels; The African American Panel, The Hispanic Panel, The Asian Panel, The Islamic/Muslim Panel and our Faith Based Panel.  Clients can now delve deeply into these major cultures quickly and in a cost efficient manner. So, the next time you need to do the impossible, call Ebony Marketing where we'll make the impossible possible. For more information call 718-320-3220, or email info@ebonymktg.com or visit www.ebonymktg.com.  Read more >>

Améredia stepped into the New Year on a positive note, winning a Top Business in America recognition from Diversity Business, its second consecutive recognition. The agency received four awards for its diversity leadership in the organization's 12th annual business survey. Setting the stage for more awards to come, this recognition is representative of the diverse culture fostered by Améredia and its consistent growth over the years. The agency hosts the brightest minds carrying a passion for diversity and multiculturalism and manages the most multicultural intensive campaigns. In February, campaigns around Asian Lunar New Year, Brazilian Carnival and Black History Month are examples of the major role that multicultural marketing, and Améredia, are playing in America's everyday life. Our association with key industry organizations is a sign of the agency's emphasis on diversity focused growth. Read our views on the future of multicultural marketing in our Outlook for Multicultural Marketing in 2012 and Beyond. Join our world by connecting with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Subscribe to our newsletter réd, the nation's most comprehensive multicultural e-newsletter. Hear from our thought leaders on our popular blog améredian.  Read more >>

Whether it's developing new products and services, refining existing ones, or building new marketing and advertising campaigns, senior decision makers across the United States routinely rely upon CCR for insights into their unique markets.  Houston's multicultural demographic offers researchers the opportunity to contact an array of cultures and ethnic groups including African Americans, native and foreign-born. CCR can complete surveys in several African dialects reflecting Africa's rich diversity.  In addition, CCR's focus on the African American population has provided sensitive and insightful information on a variety of health issues, economic opportunities, shopping behavior, and verbal and non-verbal communication. CCR offices in Houston and Phoenix offer complete field services throughout Texas and Arizona. CCR has large conference-style focus group rooms with one-way mirrors and large client viewing rooms. Taste tests, telephone interviewing, executive surveys, mall intercepts, door-to-door interviewing, mystery shops, store audits, and computer capabilities are available. Bilingual interviewing, moderators, and translators are also available. CCR also offers project management for multicity projects.  Our extensive experience includes a wide range of industries: Health Care, Financial Services, Retail, Food & Beverage, Entertainment, Communications, and Travel, etc. CCR completes over 1,500 research projects annually, mainly for other market research companies.  Whether you need door-to-door, executive interviewers, focus groups (large or small), multi-language capabilities, etc., your market research needs are served by our staff of more than 60 full-time market research professionals and over 400 interviewers. For more information contact Patricia Pratt, President, 281-240-9646 or ppratt@ccrsurveys.com. Visit www.ccrsurveys.com.   Read more >>

The Global Leaders in Multicultural Marketing Research, Database Enhancements, Modeling and Analytics is pleased to announce the release of E-Tech Version 8.0. E-Tech 8.0 incorporates proprietary geocoding reference files which include but are not exclusive to the latest 2010 Census. Version 8.0 provides 9.98% more African American name research overall, 5.4% additional Asian name research and 4.8% more Hispanic Last Name research than the industry-leading E-Tech Version 7.3. On a national database of over 180 million records this accounted for an increase of 12.66% African Americans, 8.31% Asians, and 8.96% Hispanics. E-Tech Name Research. Leading name research has been a key strength of E-Tech for more than 30 years. E Tech Version 8.0 now incorporates 7.08% more First Names and 7.64% more Last Names than E-Tech Version 7.3.For unique First Name analysis E-Tech 8.0 now has over 102,000 entries. On your database, one of these names can count for a single identification or thousands.Our Last Name tables now have over one million entries. Many of these last names are governed by geographic information using our ENA generator and other proprietary engines. To learn more about E-Tech 8.0 please visit www.ethnictechnologies.com.  Read more >>