Color Code Red

American Demographics, Feb 1, 2004 by Louise Witt

But general market advertising doesn't necessarily mean advertisers make an impression on black consumers, says Smikle. "General market advertising as viewed by African Americans is like mail addressed to 'occupant,'" he says. "It's as though they're saying, 'We know you're there, but we're not addressing you.' When I see a commercial or an ad, I want to see someone who looks like me. This is an age-old marketing fundamental."

Ebony's Burns points out that Roper ASW's Starch research on brand effectiveness proves magazine advertising is more effective if it targets the readers. Advertisers' Starch scores are higher with African American consumers in Ebony than in mainstream magazines, he says. "African Americans may read general market publications for their editorial content, but they're not concerned about the ads; they're not specifically designed for them," Burns says. "When you place an ad in Ebony, readers know its' specifically for them.

By not advertising in such established African American publications, as Black Enterprise, Ebony, Essence and Jet, corporations are overlooking a vibrant consumer market. African Americans spend about $543 billion a year, according to 2000 figures from Target Market News. (There are a little more than 38 million African Americans.) "If black America was a country, it would rank No. 11 in gross national income behind Spain," Burns says. "This is an untapped market of opportunity."

Besides, Burns says, African Americans tend to buy more of certain products and services than the general population. Black women, for instance, tend to buy more cosmetics, fragrances, oral hygiene products and feminine care items, he says. "We're over-indexing in certain product categories, but are advertisers taking advantage of that?" he asks. "No, they are not."

With less advertising support, African American publications face more challenges than their general-market counterparts. "That's a given," says Black Enterprises' Edmond. "That's the hurdle you have to get over."

It seemed that 4-year-old Vanguarde Media, Inc. had cleared that hurdle. The New York City-based company published three successful publications aimed at the African American audience: Heart & Soul, a health and wellness magazine for women, Honey, a fashion and style magazine for young urban women, and Savoy, a style and fashion magazine for men. Together they reportedly had 1 million readers.

But Vanguarde ran into financial problems after its main backer, Provender Capital Group, a New York venture capital firm, refused to invest more money in the company. (Calls to Vanguarde weren't returned by press time.) As a result, in late November, the company filed for Chapter11 bankruptcy protection and its publications shut down their operations.

Yet, Vanguarde's demise wasn't a result of lack of advertiser support. The firm's magazines posted significant increases in their ad pages and revenue through October compared with the same period the previous year, according to The Deal, a New York business publication. That's why Jefferson says she thinks the Vanguarde publications will be revived at some point. The advertising exec says some of her clients, which include McDonald's, Toyota and Procter & Gamble, were the first ones to buy pages in Vanguarde's magazines. "We were their charter advertisers," she says. "We were at the table at the inception."