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 like few other brands.

Financial behemoth ING is making similar inroads with similar efforts including its ING Presents Marc Anthony Junto en Concierto series, the focus of which is ending childhood obesity and increasing fitness within the Hispanic Community.

But where’s the rest of Madison Ave? Where are the other marketers recognizing the importance of health initiatives in the communities they want to build brands with? Where are the shoe companies, beer companies and restaurant chains on issues of diabetes, STDs, healthcare, teen pregnancy, cancer, etc.

I frequently hit neighborhood festivals and community events all over the country; and beyond the occasional logo snipe, cheap banner and a couple interns manning a booth, with 99-cent tchotchkes I still see very little effort to reach out to ethnic consumers on this front.

Now perhaps it’s the result of misconceptions, perhaps it’s being burned by the results of under-funded efforts... Whatever the cause, marketers have to recognize that consumers of color are, in fact, health conscious and concerned with their quality of life above and beyond what logos they support; and where there are events and vehicles that respectfully present empowering info with a healthy dose of culturally relevant entertainment, you have opportunities to build strong intimate relationships and serious bonds.

Nothing says that you care about a consumer more than helping aide efforts to improve their health—be it thru sponsoring workout programs, funding clinics and other existing efforts or by starting up your own proprietary efforts.

Simply slapping a logo on a concert isn’t enough. Cheap info booths with pamphlets and untrained personnel won’t cut it, either. No. Ethnic consumers deserve the same strategically-sound and insight-filled promotional and branding efforts that we budget for mainstream audiences.

And sometimes there isn’t an obvious fit (i.e. Budweiser and drunk-driving prevention.) Sometimes the point is to just get involved and make your presence known. It may not always produce an award-winning ad campaign or a sexy case study; but having consumers know that your company is concerned about their wellbeing, even when it’s not obviously cool or profitable, is a recipe for long-term prosperity.

Companies like All-State and ING are setting a standard that virtually every marketer can and should want to follow. Marrying health initiatives and concerns with brands is good for the body and good for the bottomline.

Let’s not miss out on this one.