When Ford Motor Co. wanted to make inroads with urban car buyers, it became a cartoon. Literally.
It all started when Ford fielded a pitch from ABC Radio Networks last year about sponsoring The Doug Banks Morning Show, a nationally syndicated urban morning program with 2.7 million listeners in 47 markets. “To be honest, we originally were looking at The Tom Joyner Show but it was already crowded with sponsors like Chrysler and Volkswagen,” says Leisa Byars, Ford manager of global media, agency, events and alliances.
ABC Radio had taken the Urban Flava Creator — Banks’ cartoon superhero alter ego that had originally been featured in a b-to-b sales kit to demonstrate the on-air personality’s power over the urban market — and developed the Urban Flava Creator Webisodes, a series of 90-second short films with full-motion animation that debuted last summer on dougbanksshow.com. Publicis Dialog, New York City, handled. “Most radio marketing follows a traditional cookie-cutter approach,” says Kevin Miller, senior VP and chief marketing officer at ABC Radio. “This program has so many arms and legs to make this character viable for the audience and the marketers.”
Sponsors are integrated into the short films, such as brands appearing on billboards or in storefronts of each episode. Ford is represented as “the Urban Flavamobile,” an Explorer that the Flava Creator and sidekicks ride around in during their adventures.
Offline, Ford also sponsors the Doug Banks Jam Sessions, a series of live concerts in 10 markets than run from March through September. At each concert, Ford gives away a different vehicle. “It’s a way for Ford to connect with people of diverse backgrounds,” says Byars. “The urban mindset is different and we want to show that Ford gets it.”
Urban marketing has become the new American melting pot. Rather than tailoring a campaign to a specific ethnicity, more and more brands are launching campaigns that cater to the 40 million fans of hip hop culture (which influences everything from fashion to food), simultaneously appealing to African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, whites and most of all…youth.
Urban culture is merging with the mainstream. Fashion brands such as Phat Pharm, Ecko and Sean John can be found in department stores right alongside standbys such as Ralph Lauren and Nautica. Last summer, Calvin Klein conducted an urban sampling campaign for its fragrance Crave, hiring recording artist and entrepreneur (and Sean John founder) P. Diddy’s promotions agency Blue Flame Marketing to create an urban beach experience while distributing 15 million samples.
At the same time, urban culture is also embracing mainstream brands. Stratham, NH-based Timberland has always based its hardy image on the outdoors, yet its boots have become the must-have fashion accessory for male urban youth. The company is conducting research to figure out how it can strike up a dialog with this new audience without losing the credibility it already has. Timberland has hosted media events in New York and Los Angeles, inviting entertainers and ballplayers.
Last summer, Minute Maid tried to juice its sagging Fruitopia brand by shifting from a kid focus to an urban theme, running a mass media and P-O-P campaign (the largest for the brand in three years) dubbed Stretch Your Tongue, emphasizing the “diverse and free-spirited elements of Fruitopia.” (In Fruitopia’s case, however, the urban connection may not have been enough — yet another brand repositioning is expected in 2003.)
Ultimately, there doesn’t seem to be a significant breakdown between the African-American and general markets anymore. “Look at Courvoisier — 70 percent of the U.S. customer base is black,” says Kevyn Lewis, president and CEO of Southfield, MI-based ethnic marketing agency GlobalHue. “Does that make it a ‘black brand’? Um, no, it’s French. Look at the Budweiser True campaign. Is it black or mass market? It’s both. Urban marketing is about selling to people outside of their race. That’s beautiful. That’s America.”
But while urban marketing takes many of its cues from African-American culture, all African-Americans obviously aren’t urban. With spending power estimated to eclipse $680 million by 2006, according to New York City-based MarketResearch.com, African-Americans comprise the largest buying power bloc among minorities, accounting for two of every three dollars spent. African-American women outnumber African-American men by 14.1 percent, giving females a more prominent role than women in other ethnic population segments. With that in mind, can urban marketing still be used to target African-Americans when it’s being exported to so many other ethnicities?
It’s a tightrope, but brands that can pull off legitimate urban marketing will earn consumer loyalty — not an easy thing these days. “Brands have to focus on promoting where the consumer is at the core rather than this ‘We Are the World’ type marketing,” says Ivan Burwell, president of Denver-based Street Source. “For years, Cadillac was associated with an older demographic. Now you’re seeing the popularity of the Escalade with the urban market. SUVs weren’t designed for the inner city, they were designed for snow. But the influence of the brand has transcended those lines.”
“You can juxtapose a squeaky clean brand with urban marketing, it just has to be honest,” agrees Jameel Spencer, president of New York City-based Blue Flame Marketing. “Look at the McDonald’s commercial with kids sitting in the parking lot rhyming about fries — nobody believes anyone is actually doing that. Brands have to show up seamlessly in the surroundings.” Last summer, for example, Sean John announced its new fashion line by distributing logoed capes to salons and barbershops in over 30 urban markets.
Marketers also need to discover what urban marketing is, not just what they think it is. “A lot of agencies have categorized on demographics,” adds Que Gaskins, CEO of the Ad*ditive, New York City. “People don’t buy because of color and race, they buy according to psychographics. A lot of brands use the same formula — sports and music. When brands hear ‘urban’ they often come up with a stereotype. There’s so much more to urban marketing.”
When Verizon Wireless, Bedminster, NJ, wanted to revitalize its stagnant pre-paid phone card business, it incorporated the passion for music and artwork of urban culture while overhauling pre-pay’s image of being a hip choice for urban youth, rather than a last resort for the financially challenged. “The original approach was, if you don’t have credit or you get rejected for credit, just go to the store and buy one of the cards,” says Lewis of GlobalHue, which handled the campaign. “That created a pretty negative stigma.”
Verizon introduced Free Up, a campaign that emphasized the program as freeing savvy users from monthly bills. The campaign redesigned the packaging and the cards with colorful artwork (previous cards simply listed the available minutes). Verizon also conducted college tours, sponsored the NBA’s grassroots Hoop It Up tournament (December 2002 PROMO), which offers local basketball stars the chance to compete, and signed R&B recording artist Tweet as spokesperson. “The client actually came back to us and said, ‘You’ve created a new brand,’” says Lewis.
In 2003, Verizon will be expanding the Free Up line, allowing users to download ring tones and online games under a new sub-brand, Get It Now. “This campaign was originally conceived as an urban effort but with the ability to be very diverse,” says Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney. “Pre-paid has wide applications, and so does urban marketing.”
That’s got marketers seeing green.
Champagne taste
Having more money than you know what to do with isn’t a burden for most of us, unfortunately. For young professional athletes, however, it’s a real concern. Last year, the Black Sports Agents Association, West Hollywood, CA, and New York City-based Elite Traveler, the only magazine for the affluent that’s distributed aboard private jets, teamed up to host a series of lifestyle retreats designed to educate young pro athletes on the finer things in life.
“If you or I wanted to learn about what wine to order or what to wear, we could take a class,” says Douglas Gollan, president of Elite Traveler. “These guys don’t really have that option. We provide a safe environment with their peers and offer lessons for those who suddenly have $10 million in their bank account.”
Activities include wine tastings, fashion seminars, jewelry and watch showings, and personal finance consulting. Sponsors include Rolex, Bentley and American Express. “For marketers, this is a way to get to know the next Shaquille O’Neal before he’s a superstar and has a group of gatekeepers around him,” adds Gollan.
Network
