African American Marketing
The advertising industry is ever diligent to leave no stone unturned in its never-ending quest for a new buyer of whatever product it is charged with selling at any given moment. The African American marketing audience is no exception.
There was a time not so very long ago that almost everyone seen in a television commercial (and most programs) was white but this has changed dramatically over the last couple of decades. Now people representing most of Americas major ethnic groups are portrayed and marketing done in this mainstream venue is often geared to the black audience.
There has also been an increase in the number of magazines published with the African American marketing segment as its target audience. The well-established, traditional magazines devoted to African Americans, such as Jet and Ebony, have always featured advertising aimed directly at the African American audience but the magazine publishing industry in general isnt as segregated as it once was.
As with TV advertising, ads in magazines often feature beautiful African American men, women, and children modeling clothing and accessories from the highest echelon of the fashion industry. Advertisements showcasing luxury automobiles often portray black drivers enjoying these expensive vehicles. Exotic vacation destinations and cruise lines cater to the African American marketing audience, too.
Fortunately, advertisements for many staples of the typical American life feature African American actors in lead roles and others have African Americans as part of group scenes. Some very popular over-the-counter medicine commercials star African American couples touting the benefits of these products and advertising for many of Americans best-loved foods feature black actors.
While its a welcome relief to see so many African American actors featured in these mainstream advertisements, its also comforting to find a growing list of products used almost exclusively by people of color in advertisements in magazines that are not race specific.
As more African American professionals enter the advertising and marketing industries, its easy to expect to see more and more African Americans in marketing campaigns for all sorts of products. Its also easy to expect to see products preferred by the African American market finding a bigger presence in print media and television programming geared to the American population in general as racial barriers are being diminished in these realms at last.
