HustleKnockin'

Dear ABC: CBS thinks your Wednesday night line-up is too white.

Go White Cougars.

I confess... the hype got to me. I settled in for a Wednesday night of network programming. On ABC, no less; which meant I took in a triple shot of Modern Family, Cougar Town and Eastwick.

O.
M.
G
!!!!

All I can say is the following:

1) Between ModernFamily, CougarTown, + Eastwick is ABC scaring off Black viewers on purpose or just accidentally?

2) Dear ABC: CBS thinks your Wednesday night line-up is too white.

3) Cougar Town is like watching MILF porn being re-aired on commercial TV. (or so I've been told.)

4) Tho, I have to admit: after a couple shots of Absolut, I'd still do Courtney Cox—provided Sarah Palin and Tina Fey aren't interested.

5) Modern Family is billed as a multicultural American show without a single black cast member. in fact, it's an all white show—save for the one corny sexpot latina chick. (Rosalyn Sanchez, I think) Now, I'd repeat that except clearly ABC didn't care enuff to address this in production so...

Now entertainment is entertainment, but the opportunity to reflect the reality of your audience usually creates more options for the entertainment vehicle to grow. And when you're in a society that's fully 35% nonwhite--over 100 million Black Hispanic and Asian people, that's a huge opportunity— business and creatively speaking...

How do you miss this?

Oh well. At least we have BET. *hurls*

What's Wrong With Our Future?

 

In the end, the question remains: “If not me, then who?” Back in the day, Hilary Clinton bit an old African proverb—“It takes a village to raise a child”—for one of her goofy books. But in typical white liberal fashion, she missed the point. It’s not that you need a village to raise a child as much as the fact that the village will raise your child, with or without you.

Kids don’t grow up in vacuums. Maw ‘n’ Paw Kettle can teach Junior right and wrong, make him memorize the Bible, the Qu’ran, the Torah, and do life-affirming chants until the cows come home. But once he goes outside, junior belongs to the village. Soon as your little princess turns on the TV, radio, or logs on, the village starts teaching. As far as the world is concerned, you must learn and class is always in session. So if the village is foul, your kid will be foul. And to all those “Oh, not my child” parents: Yes, your kid, too.

People do what they see, what they’re told, what they’re shown, and most of all, what they can get away with. That’s just how human beings learn. If it was stupid when Charles Barkley said, “I am not a role model,” then it’s also stupid for every businessperson to pull the same card. (And don’t forget, Mr. Round Mound was pushing Nikes when he said that.)

I think a big reason many kids still feel Tupac so many years after his death is because ‘Pac knew most adults, especially those in business, government, and entertainment were full of crap. ‘Pac once said (either while on his way to jail or on his way out) that he was America’s child and America helped make him what he was. He even summarized this philosophy in a popular acronym: THUG LIFE: “The Hate U Gave Little Innocents F***s Everybody.” He was more honest about his flaws than his critics were about theirs. We felt that. And when kids see how most adults roll today, it’s no wonder they still feel it.

Young people don’t care much about politics because they see that most politicians don’t care enough about government to run it honestly. Kids don’t care much about school because they know that most of the adults running the schools keep running them into the ground. Youth listen to us condemn gang violence only to form bigger gangs so we can fight arbitrary wars and hunt down folks we don’t like. They hear adults complain about rampant teen drug use, sex, and pregnancy only to rationalize the ‘60s and ‘70s as “I was just experimenting, everybody was doing it… things were different then.”

DL Hughley once said about raising boys, “You’ll never learn to be a man until you see a man.” If adults can’t be the change we want our kids to be, how will they ever see the change they’re supposed to become? How can adults spend our 9-to-5’s promoting, accepting, condoning, and profiting off of all that we abhor, then come home and pull a “Do as I say, not as I do?”

"What's wrong with our future?"
—Heavy D

Comin’ Straight Outta LoCash!

Comin’ Straight Outta LoCash!

In an arena where culture is currency, commodity, and industry, fighting to make it anything else can be career suicide. When confronted by the machine, you either roll with it or get rolled on. You can defy clients and bosses and argue with consumers and coworkers, but in the end it’s like bringing a garden hose to a forest blaze. Plus, no company will tolerate that behavior for very long. And beyond standing on corners with a bullhorn screaming about culture vultures, Willie Lynch-isms, etc. you won’t have much of a social life, either.

Then again, you could just accept the game and get paid. I think that’s why I stayed as long as I did. I know marketing. I can sell any product or service to any consumer. I can sell clouds to the sun, if need be. And like most every black professional that came before me I told myself, “Why not do what I’m good at? If I don’t someone else will.”

And to be honest, having clients and coworkers come to me for insights into my heritage and culture was sort of an ego trip. No matter how much research they did, no matter how many “black friends” they had I always knew more than them. I lived what they focus grouped. I brought added value. It made me feel important and respected. After a while, I even felt, ick, validated.

See, America makes you an opportunist and at
 the same time they institutionalize you.
So the fact that niggas get big record deals,
big money and then go to jail shouldn’t surprise you—
that’s what lies do.
—Black Ice, 410 Days in The Life

My struggles often got me thinking about the marketing pioneers that inspired me, folks like: Madame CJ Walker, Oprah Winfrey, and Russell Simmons. In the 1920s Walker became America’s first black female millionaire. But she built much of her cosmetics empire by reinforcing Anglo-European standards of beauty and sophistication to market hair-straightening products and bleaching creams to black women. (Yet despite her millions, her race left her with few if any, protected civil rights.)

Then there’s the godfather of hip-hop. “Hustle” Simmons (as he’s known to some) has flipped the “urban lifestyle” into a gazillion dollar global empire encompassing everything from music and fashion (Def Jam, Baby Phat/Phat Farm) to Broadway and movies (Def Poetry, SLMG) to credit cards (UniRush Financial). But as much as I admire Russell and other hip-hop moguls (i.e., Shawn Carter, Sean Combs, etc.) I often ask myself, “Just what have we sold?”

Oprah Winfrey is of course our first black female billionaire and the only American female to achieve such without inheritance or marriage. She made hers thru hard work, innovation, and dedication. But she’s become one of the most powerful brands in the world, by catering to the largest consumer group possible: white women. I’m not saying she sold out, but as thousands upon thousands of women of color have noted over the years, “Oprah doesn’t talk to us (black women); she’s for white women.”

I’ve met countless black women who feel so disconnected from and more importantly alienated by Oprah. They talk about her show’s focus on “soccermoms,” desperate housewives, etc. They talk about how out of touch she seems to be with average black women but seems so “at home” with average white women… As a male, her show isn’t really marketed towards me, so I’m no authority on this one way or the other; but after watching my fair share of Oprah over the years, I can see their point.

Maybe it’s progress. Then again Oprah could just be a hustler who sees the game so well that she’s simply pimping soccermom narcissism and white liberal myopia/boredom, etc. to create a branded, mass-marketable illusion of postmodern Americana paradise. But whatever the case, Oprah’s a grown woman; she be what she be. Besides, she has over a billion more opportunities to leave the world better than she found it.

Conversely, black power-hitters like Tom Burrell (founder Burrell Communications) Carol H. Williams (founder CHW Advertising), Stanley O’Neal (Merrill Lynch CEO), Dick Parsons (Time Warner CEO), Ann Fudge (one-time Young & Rubicam CEO), Ken Chenault (American Express CEO), Renetta McCann (Starcom North America CEO), Earl G. Graves, Sr. (Black Enterprise, Inc. Chairman/CEO), John Thompson (Symantec CEO), et al., have climbed their respective mountains without compromising a thing. So it would be foolish to say that the only way minorities can succeed in business is to sacrifice their soul.

Still, much of my career had me asking some admittedly stupid but plausible questions: Should minorities only work for minority companies? Should minority companies only cater to minority consumers? Should black consumers “buy black” no matter what? After all, if you have a dollar and lose 12 or 15 cents, you’re not ruined; but if you lose 87 cents (the equivalent of non-Black America) you might as well get a whole new dollar. And who’s to say you won’t get clowned by your own folk? (God knows we’ve been as trifling as any.) Or do you just suck it up and work for whoever’ll hire you and sell whatever’s in demand to whoever wants it?

I dunno. Again, I know those are stupid questions, but what we’ve done so far hasn’t been smart, either. If Debra Dickerson was right when she wrote about the mind being the last plantation, the marketing world has taught me one thing: As it relates to culture and entertainment black folks still haven’t risen much above sharecropping.

I’m just trying to make a dollar out of what makes sense.
—Mos Def

Winter of our Dissed Content

Winter of our Dissed Content

A major example of inherent blackness and culture as product is BET. BET began about 20 years ago focused on black viewers, a group largely ignored and under-served by mainstream marketers and media alike. For a time BET was Black America’s only TV outlet for black humanity, creativity and commercially viable entertainment. But in a desire to expand, BET has adopted a more “universal” strategy.

As network execs touted in April 2005, their goal is to make BET a network for all ethnicities, particularly those in the coveted 18-34 demographic, not just the African American community. The most obvious manifestation of this is BET’s tagline. In the late 1990s BET phased out its once proud “Black Entertainment Television” theme in favor of a hipper “Black Star Power.” In 2005, Black Star Power got flipped into even more universal “It’s My Thing.” And with these changes have come more mainstream-friendly fare, more slapstick urban comedies and movies, fewer heritage-driven shows and the cancellation of news and public affairs programming such as BET Nightly News and Lead Story, and of course an increased emphasis on near X-rated music videos and hiphop-related programming.

Still black activists, politicians, educators, and viewers alike have decried the downward trend in BET’s programming. But as a business BET is more answerable to its shareholders and marketing partners than anyone else. And despite those complaints, founder Bob Johnson and current owner Viacom continues to push black stereotypes around the world. Why? Because BET’s ever-expanding audience and overwhelmingly mainstream marketing partners cosign it—the more they dumb down, the more their audience and ad revenues grow...

Such is The Hustle.

But BET is not alone in this. Before black consumers see a movie, a TV show, hear a radio show, buy an album, or read the latest mag, those vehicles must be pre-sold to distributors, retailers, and advertisers. And if those decision makers don’t like it or don’t think it will sell, then those “properties” as they’re called, won’t see the light of day.

Consequently, so-called ‘black radio’ walks the same path with cookie-cutter mainstream-friendly play lists, general-market savvy on-air personalities and often-degrading antics. More and more, black magazines are tailoring their content to “appeal” to mainstream advertisers and distributors as well as be more “sensitive to the tastes” mainstream readers. And of course Hollywood tailors even its most “urban” movie and television properties in hopes of achieving crossover success. And while this hustle generates income from advertisers like my former clients, it continually hurts minority artists and communities by putting us all in little black boxes. But as BET and others have learned, The Hustle is too profitable to be knocked regardless of the cultural costs.

Everyone wants to talk about the number of
African-American viewers and their spending power.
Now is the time to put up or shut up.
Bring the blue-chip advertisers and the powerful programming
that does us right!
—Oscar Joyner, president of Reach Media

Down By Law...

Down By Law

Companies usually hire targeted firms for one of three reasons: (a) they’ve saturated the general market and are reluctantly turning to minority consumers as revenue boosters. (b) They have “image concerns” and hiring a minority firm is a nice way to avoid EEOC lawsuits, boycotts, or bad PR. (c) Their brand needs to be “cool” and aligning it with urban culture is often a quick superficial fix.

 But regardless of the motive, there are always strings attached to targeting black consumers. First off, most targeted work is usually “black” versions of strategies and campaigns designed for mainstream consumers. Usually, a client comes with, “Here’s what we’re doing for our core (white) audience; we need a black version.” The “Black version” often means “throw a Black face upfront, add some slang and funky music but keep everything else the same.” Some called it synergy; most called it blackface. Secondly, Black consumers are seldom if ever a business’ sole target—at some point the goal is to reach white consumers. So even if you’re targeting minorities you can’t offend or alienate whites. So by default whites remain the judge of what is “black” or “too black,” even for Black people.

Consequently, from the debasing minstrel imagery of 1890s’ advertising right on thru today, most marketing campaigns targeting Blacks are based on a version of blackness that whites and non-blacks are comfortable with. So for years every other commercial folks saw had Blacks playing basketball. Wearing Kenti-cloth or backwards baseball caps. Or playing saxophone or tap-dancing. Or sepia-toned, impossibly good-looking “buppies.” Or MLK, Jr. references, mostly in February. And of course, overtly grateful black folks singing and dancing about how much they love a certain product. In short: stereotypes.

Today the basketball construct has been resurrected as “streetball,” a theme that’s been hugely successful since 2000 with everyone from Reebok, Nike, and AND-1 to Frito-Lays, Mountain Dew, McDonald’s, Sprite, etc. The saxophones and random singing Black folks have been replaced by (mostly buffoonish) emcees, deejays, and “street” dancers. And of course every industry from liquor to cars to fashion to sports to food continues to milk hip-hop, further reducing it to a global circus of stereotypes and caricatures. Despite the progress, most days I didn’t know if I was marketing brands or producing new millennium minstrel skits.

Dear Gatekeepers...

Redefining “where you fit in.”

In order to keep someone else down,
 you must stay down there with them.
—Booker T. Washington

First off, the term “gatekeepers” applies all in power, specifically those who have the influence to change but aren’t sure where to start or how to take things to the next level. Secondly, let’s clear up one popular myth:

Whether many like it or not, extra elbow grease, added perseverance, and greater commitment to education by minorities is only part of the solution. Corporate folks and America as a whole must be equally committed to equality or it simply won’t happen. And I’m not talking about tokenism, lip service or ad-hoc programs, but true, systemic diversity and opportunity that reflects America and the values we claim America represents and holds dear.

As most of us have noticed, the American consumer gets darker and more diverse each year. Hispanics, already our largest minority group are expected to spend some $1 trillion annually by 2008 with Blacks to be spending near $921 billion by the same time.1 Our Asian and Middle Eastern communities are growing almost exponentially in population and affluence as well. Soon, America will be full-blown autumn—red, brown, yellow, and earth-toned faces as far as the eye can see. And once that booming sub-segment of multiracial and multi-ethnic kids mature and have kids of their own, America will be one big pair of Khakis—beige. Now why should any of these consumers be diverse and open-minded in their purchases if businesses won’t do the same in hiring, marketing, community investment, etc.?

From now on, the businesses that survive and thrive will be those diverse enough to build with people. The rest will just fail. With all that said, I now offer 16 keys on creating real corporate diversity and equal opportunity for all once and for all:

Get In Where You Fit In (pt. 3)

13. Lose the “minor-leagues” mindset.

Too many folks, particularly successful/privileged blacks treat the Black community like it’s the minor leagues of American society. We don’t live around Blacks any longer than we have to. We don’t want our money in Black-owned banks. We won’t support Black retailers. Most won’t use Black vendors or Black contractors. Most Black executives only see BLACK ENTERPRISE as a stepping-stone to FORBES. We still measure our success by the degree to which white institutions and consumers accept and support us.

For all of the talk I hear at Black business conferences I know very few Black executives who make any real efforts to recruit and/or train Black candidates. And just like mainstream professionals, they make the same excuses for why. Willie Lynch is dead. The paper bag test is dead; all this soft self-hating, crabs-in-a-barrel crap needs to die, too.

As individuals, as professionals and as people, we need to love ourselves. We need to believe that we are just as talented, just as worthy, and most importantly, when given a fair chance just as capable as everyone else. Success is not white. There’s nothing inferior or minor-league about black professionals, black consumers or black businesses. We are major not minor. But until we believe in ourselves no one else will.

Us must discuss us trusting us.
—KRS-ONE

14. Get Out More.

From now on the people with the broadest minds, broadest experiences, and broadest sense of possibilities will have the most opportunities to succeed. But in order to be one of those people, you gotta get out more. Meet people from different parts of your city and state and different cities and states and different countries. Meet folks in different industries. Soak up as much knowledge and experience in as many areas as possible. Get off the block.

There’s still a lot of segregation in America. Lots of folks at various levels are circling the wagons to perpetuate it. Still, we all have to expand our minds and get out more. I had to learn to meet different folk in different cities as well as from different countries. I had to learn to be more open-minded about people and my partnerships. It was necessary in order for me to grow. And guess what? I’m still growing, still learning. And I’ve still got a ways to go. We all do.

Again, this isn’t about “going mainstream” or turning your back on your community; this is about growth, and empowerment. Don’t accept staying within the same 5 or 10-mile area as living. Don’t think that being at one company or having one set of skills is enough because it’s not. Not anymore. This world is too big for that type of thinking. The possibilities are too great and more importantly, there’s way too much at stake.

It pains God’s heart that He gave you a whole house
and you only use a closet.
—Bishop TD Jakes

15. Bridge the Gap.

We have to close the generation gap between old and young black professionals. Too many young businessfolks are trying to reinvent the wheel each time out because older folks aren’t passing down their knowledge and connections and younger folks aren’t seeking ‘em out.

Secondly, black parents must do a better job of exposing our kids to the business world. Whether you’re in business or not, let your kids know that business is a viable, realistic option. Like culture and heritage, business opportunities are often passed down thru generations. One reason so many doors have been closed to blacks in the past is because those in charge kept things “in the family,” thus making it even harder for outsiders to get in.

A child’s future is largely based on their experiences—they’re only as good as their options. So broaden their options. By age 10 every black child should know that business is as real of an option as sports or entertainment. By 14, they should believe that owning stock in a sneaker company is cooler than owning sneakers. If we do that, each generation will be able to build on the successes and advances of last, thus create more opportunities, more equity and ultimately, more equality, and self-determination.

I for one believe that if you give people a thorough understanding
of what confronts them and the basic causes that produce it,
they’ll create their own program,
 and when the people create a program, you get action.
—Malcolm X

16. Do 4 Self.

Independence and self-determination are seldom if ever, achieved by working for someone else. So if your company is “doing you wrong,” you should consider going the independent route. Start your own business. Freelance. So do for self. When you run things, you set policy, you help who you want to help, you get to branch out and run with your own ideas and go as far as your talents will take you. (See “Do 4 Self ” chapter.)

Ain’t no stoppin’ us now…
—McFadden & Whitehead

17. Pray.

I’m not preaching but I have to say this: I have never done anything worth doing in my life without knowing that God was working it. God’s in the “overcoming business.” You want to do big things, talk to the Big Man. Again, I’m not preaching, but as my pops says, “I’m not telling you what I heard, I’m telling you what I know.”

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock and it shall be opened unto you.”
—St. Matthew 7:7

Well, them’s my sweet seventeen. And please, use these strategies plus whatever position or influence you have to help others. Let’s plant these seeds and grow together.

 

ADWEEK quotes me for diversity, bias and Obama piece

Company Cancers...pt. 4

==========KNOCK THE HUSTLE 2 EXCERPTS======================= ++++++++++++++++++COMING WINTER 2008+++++++++++++++++++++++

Company Cancers, pt. 4

Change or Pack

As a boss, no matter which Company Cancer you’ve got, the solution is simple: They have to change or they have to go. If you let them stay, you’re cosigning their behavior. And once they make life miserable for everyone else, which they will, good people will quit. Professionals will leave. Money will be lost. Company Cancers are never good for business so get them before they get you.

Also, if you’re an employee who works with a Company Cancer I recommend two things. One: Confrontation. No violence; just let them know that you won’t tolerate their attitude, incompetence, stubbornness, etc. anymore. Make it simple and plain that as long as you’re colleagues you will not allow them to make your job or your life difficult.
And while you’re at it, go to the higher-ups and let them know the deal. Let them know that if they don’t step in and help resolve this then they’re part of the problem and you’ll walk before you stay at a place that encourages this type of behavior.

Company Cancers...

Sometimes, people want advice on stuff, so here goes. Plus it's funny. still.

========KNOCK THE HUSTLE EXCERPTS================

COMPANY CANCERS, pt 1

Everybody has a job with somebody
that’s this close to you whoopin’ they a**!
—DL Hughley

In sports, they’re called “cancers”—athletes whose mere presence consistently makes life miserable for everyone around them. When they’re not whining about salary or playing time they’re fighting with teammates or the press. At some point their behavior eats away at everything around them leaving you no choice but to cut ‘em loose.

Well, companies have cancers, too. There are three types; and if you let ‘em take root, they’ll shatter your dreams and assault and batter your team. Here’s a little recon on each:

Self-made Messiahs

Ever see Backdraft? It’s an old Kurt Russell and Robert DeNiro flick. The gist: A fireman secretly sets fires then plays hero by putting ‘em out later. That’s a Self-made Messiah; they’re fire-starters. They create all kinds of drama just to make themselves the solution. They’ll make mountains out of molehills then charge up those hills blowing their own horn of self-adulation.

Brand Leslie

On my first day at one of my last full-time gigs a vice-president warned me to “beware of ‘Brand Leslie’.” Leslie was my new boss and a vice-president creative director. Real good at her job; but after a few weeks, it became clear why they called her Brand Leslie: she made sure it was always all about her. Any opportunity that came up for her look good she took—even when it wasn’t good for those around her or under her. Whenever someone else’s screw-ups created more work for her team Leslie countered with, “Here’s a chance for us to ‘score points’.” When bosses or clients imposed ridiculous demands and deadlines, she’d say, “Let’s ‘make good’ on this one.” She was like a coked-up gymnast—always jumping through hoops and bending butt-over backwards just because someone somewhere might be keeping score.

Leslie was classic, but over the years, I worked with others. Here’s a 5-point profile: 

ADVERTISERS TELL RADIO TO KEEP MAKING THE CASE FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN MARKET

ADVERTISERS TELL RADIO TO KEEP MAKING THE CASE FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN MARKET

RADIO INK
(September 21, 2007)

A top national advertiser on Thursday (9/20) told Urban radio broadcasters that major advertisers are at long last seeing the value of African-American and Hispanic audiences.

Harkening back to her fifteen years working for an agency, State Farm vice president of marketing Pam El said during a marketers' panel at Interep's ninth annual Power of Urban Radio Summit that modern advertisers are much more savvy about targeting ethnic groups than they were back in her agency days.

"Clients would say, 'We need some of that,' meaning Urban or Hispanic radio," she said. "But clients today are all more sophisticated; we know about the 'tanning' of America. The smart brands are intent on reaching this audience, and corporate America is finally waking up. And people at the agencies know, too. If the plan is good, it gets through."

Lexus Gets New Black Agency

LEXUS GETS NEW AGENCY
By Gregory Solman

Lexus has named independent Walton/Isaacson to handle its African-American creative and media chores following a review.

The Beverly Hills, Calif.-based shop recently developed marketing promotions for Burger King featuring Diddy, and it also handles minority advertising for Right Gin, Pepsi, Maytag and Axe body spray, among others.