ETHNIC MEDIA The melting pot just got hotter

AdMedia,  Aug 17, 2004  by Steven Shaw

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Anyone would think that brown people don't buy cars," says Glenn McGahan of Nativeworks Group. McGahan is simply echoing a complaint often heard from many owners and operators of Maori and Polynesian media.Nativeworks was formed, says McGahan, because he recognised shortcomings in mainstream agencies' ability to deal with ethnic markets.

"Even if you're not wealthy," he says, "you still need to buy groceries, clothes, petrol, cars. Those industries don't target Maori, Pacific or Asian consumers - and when they do it's in a stereotypical manner."McGahan says smaller media owners can't afford the costs of research. "The market is therefore disadvantaged in terms of finding out what people are reading and consuming in terms of media. When buying media, everyone talks about quantification, and ethnic media don't rate because they're not being surveyed."That's what normally is thrown back when you're advocating multicultural media. But how do you quantify postcards that you leave in a shop, or outdoor media like billboards?"Insight is needed as well as figures, McGahan says. "In terms of a multicultural market, there isn't anything that can tell me what media preference Asian immigrants have. Do they prefer it in their language or in English? What's the language preference in a household that's Maori-Pacific- Asian?McGahan also points out that NZ census information is limited and people with a multicultural background are off the radar. Of new Pacific Islands-targeted magazine Spasifik, he says, "I can pick this magazine up and it's a true representation of the population. It's aimed at everyone. If I pick up North & South or Metro, they only portray part of our society."We have an aging Pakeha population, and a growing, emerging Maori-Pacific-Asian population, who are younger in median age. This population is going to have more impact socially and politically as it grows."But McGahan thinks times are changing. "There are some genuine people in private and public sectors who have interest in this emerging market from a commercial point of view. But they are far outweighed by those who are just ticking boxes."It's not only the ad agencies who need to change but also people in charge of marketing in both the private and government sector. If you're going to ignore 30% of the market then you live at your own peril."Gary Wilson, co-founder of Mana magazine, says the days of struggling are still here. "Clearly Mana is well respected and eagerly read, but it has nowhere near fulfilled its potential."Wilson describes the lack of consumer advertising within Mana as a disappointment. "It's as if advertising agencies don't see Maori as potential consumers - like they don't buy Toyotas or use cosmetics? It's a fairly limited understanding of their own country."New Zealand is becoming more Maori-conscious, he says, but he points out that mainstream media still don't reflect Maori society or tell Maori stories. Mana was set up, he says, to deliver "more professional news coverage of stories that the mainstream was incapable of providing".Mana is pitched at all New Zealanders, according to Wilson. "With both radio and the magazine, we serve all readers. By telling Maori stories - we also serve non-Maori. There's nothing exclusive about the magazine."It's widely read," he says, "ACNielsen says we have about 150,000 readers [based on selling 10,000+ issues]. But an enormous pass on-rate can be encouraging and discouraging all at once. I would suspect we're one of the most passed-on publications in New Zealand."High pass-on rates are par for the course with publications such as Mana and the Waikato-based Tu Mai. A national, monthly glossy mag aimed at urban professionals, Tu Mai's average print run is 5000 issues, and editor Ata Te Kanawa estimates the pass-on rate to be between 10 and 15. She'll find out soon enough - Tu Mai has finally been "bold enough" to have the circulation audited, and is expecting figures through from ACNielsen in August. "There hasn't been any credible research done on Maori and Polynesian reading habits," says Te Kanawa. "But we still get subscription enquiries on forms from magazines that are three years old - so we know they have a huge shelf-life."Government clients recognise that Maori and Pacific Islanders make up their client base," says Te Kanawa, who is grateful for their ongoing support, "but I don't know when the time will come when we're recognised as consumers. The agencies see brown people as the spunky novelty accessory to advertising. But we don't use cellphones, we don't wear fashionable clothes, and we don't have sex - what's with all that?"Bill Young, sales manager at Maori Television Service, says the attitude from advertisers has largely been wait-and-see. "We did a round of presentations early in the year just prior to launching and generally the feedback was pretty positive. They liked what they saw; they liked the brand. Some of them adopted a wait-and-see attitude in terms of the channel and what it would look like when we went to air."Glenn McGahan thinks that's interesting, given the fact that 60% of viewers are Pakeha or non-Maori. "They like Kai Time, Korero Mai and Mitre 10 DIY Marae," he says. "Those are the top shows. But there aren't a lot of agency ads on Maori TV and you've got to question that."A few corporate clients have come on board with Maori TV, including retail colossus The Warehouse. But there are still comparatively few when compared to the social services sector. "There are people out there who are hesitant, and probably some who are sceptical as well," says Young. "The thing is that what we're trying to do here is a bit different to what other media are trying to do. It's New Zealand, it's the same country, but here's a whole new perspective on it."We have a few things we need to achieve, including revitalisation of te reo Maori. There's also a whole social side of Maori that's not visible in general media. We're trying to bring that to light through news and current affairs programmes."Then there's a big urban youth audience. Hip-hop culture is really big with Maori and Pacific Island youth. We're packaging that in as well with shows like Tuhono TV."Accessibility is an issue, he concedes. "At the moment it's 50-50 Maori and English language. We're trying to increase the amount of English subtitling to make it more accessible for more people. The whole situation is moving, it's dynamic. I think it will keep growing until it reaches a point where everyone goes, 'oh - I get it'."We're working with ACNielsen, getting their peoplemeter ratings. We're getting figures, which give us a general overview of numbers watching; we have a general idea of numbers across a month and across a three-month period. But because we're a niche broadcaster, ratings don't help us a lot in terms of trying to understand our audience."It turned out that the audience was about 65- 35 in favour of non-Maori as opposed to Maori viewers, which surprised us somewhat. We knew there would be a pretty big non-Maori audience, but the proportion did surprise us. It was quite empowering - the programming does appeal to a wider audience."Some cultures are already recognised by agencies and their clients as big spenders in certain areas. Eric Yuan is ceo at New Zealand Mirror, a national fortnightly Chinese newspaper, with distribution of 18-20,000. Yuan estimates readership at 100,000. Advertisers with the NZ Mirror include Cathay Pacific and Westpac.According to Yuan the market in New Zealand for ethnic media is relatively new. "It's new for New Zealand," he says, "but not for America or Canada or Australia where the multicultural markets have matured." Yuan says the boom in immigration here over the past few years has resulted in a need for more ethnic-targeted media.To get around any communication problems with agencies and potential clients, Yuan took on a Pakeha New Zealander, Graeme Jones, as national advertising manager. "I can't speak or even read Chinese," says Jones, "I don't think it really matters in my position because it really comes down to negotiation with the customer and it's the same for media agencies as well. They feel quite happy to talk to me."Jones has dealt extensively with agencies - Total Media, Spark, Saatchi & Saatchi, Universal McCann, and Lavender to name a few. Around 70-80% of advertising content still comes from small businesses, but NZ Mirror is doing well in terms of catching the bigger fish. Telecommunications companies and universities were the first large advertisers to come on board, companies that Jones says "have always thought about the Chinese market anyway"."When we first started, most attempts at a Chinese newspaper were just advertising - with no content. And that's what media agencies thought all Chinese newspapers were. We wanted to bring something to the community, do things properly and have some news and editorial content. I think that's why we've had this level of success. People pick it up to read it, not because it's free to pick up."Based in Wellington, Maori Media Network has been operating since December 2000. MMN represents 22 iwi radio stations and offers a single point of access for agencies and clients looking to place ads. MMN also works with iwi newspapers and Tu Mai magazine. MMN account manager Jacqui McVie agrees that insight is more valuable than figures in ethnic media and would like to encourage agencies to look beyond the numbers. "Often an iwi station can be the lifeline of a local community," she says. "There's a real intimacy and a trust factor that's hard to replicate in the mainstream."In addition to representing, we have set up a one-stop shop for Maori media. We also provide services such as bilingual voice talent to enable campaigns to be prepared from go to whoa. In the past people have been so afraid of getting things wrong that they've done nothing."What we really are aiming for is for agencies to come to us prior to pitching their clients so that we can provide some insight for them and information on listenership. Each station is different - it's not just one-size fits all."Niu FM has been on air since August 2002 and broadcasts on 13 frequencies nationwide as well as broadcasting on Sky digital. Formed through a government-led initiative (with funding of almost $7.7 million over four years), the prime purpose is to connect Pacific communities throughout the country.Glenn McGahan is a fan of Niu FM. "They've got Pacific humour, Pacific values, they start the morning with a prayer and they know who their audience is."McGahan sees Niu FM as a perfect sequel to the success story of Mai FM. "Mai FM were a commercial station owned by an iwi," he says, "and they took on the big boys."TRN are moving into hip hop with Flava FM - but they're still working to Pakeha models. That doesn't cut it as an ethnic station - it's a mainstream station playing ethnic music. But it's a compliment to Mai and Niu that the big boy on the block is recognising their success and their traction in the market."Sina Moore, ceo at Niu FM, says the network's listenership is "very loyal and they listen for a long time". "Our prime audience is Pacific communities," she says. "The target audience is 20-45 year olds. We're niche in that we're branded as a Pacific network. We have whole families and communities listening." Niu FM broadcasts in English during the day and in seven Pacific languages in the evenings, giving each Pacific community one evening to hear its own voice.Despite the Government funding, Niu FM will have to be successful commercially. Moore says she's not at all worried; in fact things couldn't be better. "There are a number of retailing corporates who want to target the large Pacific population, but we are also getting a significant amount of government advertising coming through - when it's about meningococcal or health, this is the network. With our frequencies we reach about 75% of Pacific people geographically around the country, and have total listenership of over 100,000. So education, health, and housing - they're all starting to come on board. And we're just starting to tap into the retail corporate side."For me, Niu FM is about providing a window for the rest of New Zealand, to get a picture of what the Pacific experience in New Zealand is about in a really different way."We are leading in lots of key areas - we're not just good sports people and good musicians. We're leading in business; there are high profile political leaders. Out of the 50,000 odd listeners we have in Auckland, 67% identify as Pacific, we have quite a high Maori audience at 20%, 8% identify as European, 4% Asian. We're finding that a lot of people are listening because they relate to it. If we look at our Pacific youth, kids today are being brought up in families that are part Maori, part Cook Island, part Samoan. There is no one Pacific identity any more."Niu FM is doubling its sales team - from four to eight account managers - to cope with its market success. With a website (www.niufm.com) reaching out globally, Moore sees long-term potential for the station to grow into a broader media organisation.She'd also like to see a Pacific TV service. "Population projections indicate New Zealand is going to be a lot more brown," she says, "the Pacific experience is going to be the new mainstream. I see the future in other media, magazines like Spasifik. We've already started working collaboratively across different mediums - this is just the beginning in terms of reaching our communities."

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