“What makes this ‘Black’?”
On most every assignment Black marketing professionals have to answer the same degrading question: “What makes your work ‘targeted’ or ‘inherently Black’?” You see, as a Black advertising professional or marketing firm your biggest bargaining chip isn’t ability but race; but it’s also your biggest crutch.
You see, if you can’t do work that’s “inherently Black” most marketers and clients won’t hire you to do anything else. Conversely, it’s an unspoken but widely enforced industry-rule that “targeted” marketing firms aren’t allowed to bid on general market accounts. Most companies have the mentality of, “Why should I hire a Black marketing firm to reach white consumers when my general market firm does that?” Many also wonder, “Why should I hire a Black firm to reach Black consumers if my general market firm can crossover and reach Black consumers, too?” It’s the marketing industry’s version of Jim Crow and it’s been in effect ever since Aunt Jemima rocked ‘do rags.
Over the years, when I worked on major brands such as Aleve, Cingular Wireless, Mello Yello, Procter & Gamble, SBC, Sprite, Wm. Wrigley, Jr. Co., etc. I did so thru “general market” firms where white consumers were the focus. Occasionally they’d try to reach minority consumers but they usually screwed it up. I lost count of the number of times I saw random white people running around screaming, “How do you say ‘such-n-such’ in Spanish?” or “This won’t offend anyone in Chinatown, will it?” But even today, there’s still a “whites only” mentality at most general market shops, which sucks because again, that’s where most of the real money and opportunity is.
“Spoony Gee”
My first exposure to “Inherent Blackness” came back in 1999 when I worked on Kool-Aid thru Uniworld, a targeted agency in New York. As their targeted shop, our job was to help Kool-Aid reach black consumers. I think Ogilvy & Mather was the “lead agency,” which meant they handled all of the general market work. (They may have launched the classic Kool-Aid Man campaign back in the day, but I’m not sure.) Anyway, as a Kraft Foods brand, Kool-Aid is a longtime staple in many Black, ‘scuse me, “urban” households. My role was to bring a younger urban perspective to the traditional “drink it and smile about it” flavor Kool-Aid’s targeted work had up until then.
My first TV spot was based on Walt Disney’s Fantasia and my dad. Growing up my dad always made Kool-Aid with the same large spoon. Since he rarely used that spoon for anything else, we called it The Kool-Aid Spoon. Turns out a lot of people who made Kool-Aid had their own special spoon—it was usually the only spoon they had that fit the big pitchers they used.
So I took that “magic spoon” memory and combined it with Fantasia to create “The Magic Spoon,” an animated spot in which a packet of Kool-Aid brings a spoon to life, which in turn stirs up a kitchen full of fun including a pitcher of delicious Kool-Aid. When I presented the spot to my creative directors and superiors they all said the same thing:
“We love it, it’s a great spot. But what makes it inherently Black?”
The fact that everyone liked the spot and understood it was irrelevant. What mattered most was that the spot had no blacks, (no people at all, for that matter), and the music wasn’t hip-hop or R&B, there was nothing overtly “Black” about it. And because of that it was argued that Kool-Aid’s “general market” agency could’ve done this ad. And if general market agencies can reach black consumers then clients don’t need to hire black agencies. And if clients don’t hire black agencies then black professionals have to look to general market agencies for employment. And since general market agencies still won’t hire black professionals in any reasonable numbers, you as a Black marketer are out of work.
So I went back to the drawing board and developed another spot—one that would be clearly Inherently Black. It was a nice “family reunion” spot filled with happy, well-spoken, well-dressed, mainstream-friendly black people drinking Kool-Aid and smiling about how good it made them feel. There were even some black people singing about Kool-Aid at the end. The client loved it, bought it, shot it and it aired a few months later.
You see, if you can’t do work that’s “inherently Black” most marketers and clients won’t hire you to do anything else. Conversely, it’s an unspoken but widely enforced industry-rule that “targeted” marketing firms aren’t allowed to bid on general market accounts. Most companies have the mentality of, “Why should I hire a Black marketing firm to reach white consumers when my general market firm does that?” Many also wonder, “Why should I hire a Black firm to reach Black consumers if my general market firm can crossover and reach Black consumers, too?” It’s the marketing industry’s version of Jim Crow and it’s been in effect ever since Aunt Jemima rocked ‘do rags.
“Spoony Gee”
My first exposure to “Inherent Blackness” came back in 1999 when I worked on Kool-Aid thru Uniworld, a targeted agency in New York. As their targeted shop, our job was to help Kool-Aid reach black consumers. I think Ogilvy & Mather was the “lead agency,” which meant they handled all of the general market work. (They may have launched the classic Kool-Aid Man campaign back in the day, but I’m not sure.) Anyway, as a Kraft Foods brand, Kool-Aid is a longtime staple in many Black, ‘scuse me, “urban” households. My role was to bring a younger urban perspective to the traditional “drink it and smile about it” flavor Kool-Aid’s targeted work had up until then.
My first TV spot was based on Walt Disney’s Fantasia and my dad. Growing up my dad always made Kool-Aid with the same large spoon. Since he rarely used that spoon for anything else, we called it The Kool-Aid Spoon. Turns out a lot of people who made Kool-Aid had their own special spoon—it was usually the only spoon they had that fit the big pitchers they used.
So I took that “magic spoon” memory and combined it with Fantasia to create “The Magic Spoon,” an animated spot in which a packet of Kool-Aid brings a spoon to life, which in turn stirs up a kitchen full of fun including a pitcher of delicious Kool-Aid. When I presented the spot to my creative directors and superiors they all said the same thing:
“We love it, it’s a great spot. But what makes it inherently Black?”
The fact that everyone liked the spot and understood it was irrelevant. What mattered most was that the spot had no blacks, (no people at all, for that matter), and the music wasn’t hip-hop or R&B, there was nothing overtly “Black” about it. And because of that it was argued that Kool-Aid’s “general market” agency could’ve done this ad. And if general market agencies can reach black consumers then clients don’t need to hire black agencies. And if clients don’t hire black agencies then black professionals have to look to general market agencies for employment. And since general market agencies still won’t hire black professionals in any reasonable numbers, you as a Black marketer are out of work.
So I went back to the drawing board and developed another spot—one that would be clearly Inherently Black. It was a nice “family reunion” spot filled with happy, well-spoken, well-dressed, mainstream-friendly black people drinking Kool-Aid and smiling about how good it made them feel. There were even some black people singing about Kool-Aid at the end. The client loved it, bought it, shot it and it aired a few months later.
