As a California transplant, I’ve been hearing (and reading) a lot about conflict between Black and Hispanic communities. (Come to think of it, I often heard similar rumblings in my hometown of Chi.) Think: Rival gangs, rival communities, and individuals rivaling over a relatively small number of quality jobs and economic opportunities, etc.

Well, now I’m seeing the same thing on Madison Ave.

Without getting into confidential specifics, I’ve spent parts of the last two years consulting on several campaigns, pitches and marketing initiatives in which General Market clients identified their primary ethnic audiences as Black and Hispanic. And while that’s not unusual, in these cases a trend has emerged: the General Market client has shifted their “multicultural” budget—which was no more than 4-5% of their mainstream budget—from Black creative efforts and media buys, over to the Hispanic agency and media buys. Also, the correlating strategies have bng ...

S. Carter once famously noted, “In order to survive, you gotta learn to live with regrets.” After 17 years in the advertising and marketing worlds, I’ve got more than a handful of second-guesses. So, I’ve decided to share the 5 biggest screw-ups that I’ve made for your entertainment.

STAND UP

There’s a lot of bad in the business world. There really is. And what keeps it going is not standing up to it. For a long time, I didn’t stand up to the bad in my industry. For a while I didn’t stand up to the discrimination and outright racism, the lying, the falsifying of timesheets to over-bill clients, the stupid people, the “just give the client what they want” thinking…

It didn’t make things any better. Not one bit.

The repercussions of finally standing up to this stuff and taking the hits for doing so sucked. Still does. But, I sleep better at night now.

CLOCKERS

As we get into July, I find myself reminded of one of the main things I love most about summers: Events. Sporting events, community events, parades, festivals, concerts, political rallies, etc. The gatherings of folks feeling the heat just can’t be beat. And where there’s a gathering, there’s a marketing angle about to be worked.

But when it comes to event marketing for multicultural communities, far too many clients are still getting it wrong—by a lot. Over the years I’ve participated in hundreds of ethnic events both as a marketer and as a regular ol’ consumer. Consequently, I’ve put together a list of the Top 5 screw-ups that too many companies make and how to avoid ‘em:

NO EGO-TRIPPING
There’s a famous quote that goes, “90% of success is showing up.” Well that’s crap. The biggest problem Multicultural Event Marketers have is showing up and thinking they’re 90% home. Truth is, showing up is just 90% of the fether ...

I recently signed up for the 50 Million Pound Challenge. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a focused movement to get Black America and communities of color to improve their health thru fitness, education and nutrition. These days, as I move closer to my goals and follow the progress of others, I’m amazed by something:

Marketers are still sleeping on the importance that ethnic consumers place on their health and wellbeing. With few exceptions, today’s marketers are completely missing out on golden opportunities to build lasting conversations and relationships with ethnic consumers by not championing or even acknowledging their health concerns.

For example: All-State, 50MP’s chief sponsor, has made major inroads into urban communities by positioning itself as an advocate for issues already important to these communities. Combined with its popular spots featuring Dennis Haysbert, All-State is ingratiating itself among African American consumers lher ...