Economic Conditions Hindering Direct & Digital Marketers

General economic conditions continue to torment marketers as the top barrier to improved performance of their direct/digital and related marketing campaigns in Q3 2011, according to a study released in November 2011 by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) in partnership with Winterberry Group. Data from the “Quarterly Business Review Q3 2011″ indicates that survey respondents [...]

Measurement Top Marketing Bottleneck

Here’s a great read! Leaders are Learners – The Center for Excellence in Advertising at Howard University Measurement, analysis and learning is the most frequently cited bottleneck affecting marketers, according to a study conducted in Q4 2010 by Unica. Data from “The State of Marketing 2011″ indicates 57% of North American and European marketers consider measurement, [...]

Welcome to the Center for Excellence in Advertising at Howard University

Local Ads: Social, Digital Offer Low CPMs, Lowest Barrier of Entry

March 29th, 2012

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Local TV stations are integrating with advertisers, and extending their coverage and conversations with viewers, through social media, reports Ad Age. The magazine was reporting from the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) Transformation Conference in LA, and on a panel called “Socializing Local TV.”

As an example, President Valari Staab of NBC Owned Television Stations described how Facebook helped a local NBC affiliate dominate coverage of Hurricane Irene in its market. Viewers engaged about the hurricane on the affiliate’s Facebook page, which provided enough content and interest that the station’s news broadcast went on-air live at 3 P.M. versus 6 P.M. “We slaughtered our competition on the coverage,” as Staab described.

Local advertisers can benefit from a station’s social extensions, remarked panelist Dunia Shive (president-CEO of Belo Corp., a Dallas-based owner of 20 broadcast stations and two cable stations). Still, Shive believes the connection between advertising and breaking news is tenuous. Belo plans to introduce a mobile streaming product later this year in 32 U.S. markets. ” We’ll have to see
how consumers react to that launch and how content is used, and then build digital-ad opportunities,” said Shive.

Local advertisers will likely latch on, for the lower cost-per-thousand (CPM) impressions alone. Local ad spending fell 2.4% in 2012, according to analyst group BIA/Kelsey. The group expects local advertising to bounce back this year, and continue through 2016 with a compound annual growth of 2.6%. BIA/Kelsey chief economist Mark Fratrik told Media Life that “Online/interactive/digital probably wasn’t hit as much [in 2011] because it’s new and exciting and it tends to be lower-priced CPMs…There’s sort of a movement from higher-priced media to lower-priced media.”

The good news, according to Fratrik, is that smaller and medium-sized local businesses can now afford digital and interactive ad vehicles. He raised the example of a plumber in the suburbs who can taret paid search in a 12-mile radius, which newspapers find difficult to do and local TV finds impossible.

Source: Media Buyer and Planner

Published on March 28, 2012

Global Ad Spend Growth Forecast at 4.8% in ‘12

March 29th, 2012

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l global advertising spend is expected to grow 4.8% to reach $489 billion USD this year, per a ZenithOptimedia updated forecast released in March 2012. This is an upgrade from the 4.7% growth forecast in December, attributed to signs that large companies are investing more in marketing, and a reduced risk of collapse in the eurozone. The company also expects ad expenditure to increase 5.3% in 2013 (up from 5.2%) and 6.1% (up from 5.8%) in 2014.

TV, Internet Poised for Growth

ZenithOptimedia expects global spending in two major ad verticals, TV and internet, to grow significantly between this year and 2014. TV ad spend is expected to hit $193.66 billion this year and increase about 13.5% to $215.3 billion in 2013. Meanwhile, internet ad spend is predicted to reach roughly $88 billion this year before growing an impressive 35.1% to $118.94 billion in 2014.

Ad spend in radio, cinema, and outdoor is expected to grow at a smaller rate, while expenditures for newspapers and magazines should moderately decline.

TV to Maintain Dominance, But Online to Grow Share

The share of global ad spending represented by TV is expected to remain at roughly 40% until 2014, although inching slightly down from 41.1% this year to 39.9% in 2014. The share of expenditures held by the internet vertical, though, predicted to reach 18.2% this year, is forecast to rise 21.4% to 22.1% in 2014.

The cinema vertical is expected to grow minimally from 0.5% share this year to 0.6% in 2014, while radio and outdoor will both see slight declines. Magazines are expected to lose 11.5% of their ad share, dropping from 8.7% to 7.7%. The largest decline is predicted for newspapers, representing an anticipated 18.6% ad share this year but only 16.4% in 2013, close to a 12% drop.

Display, Paid Search to Propel Internet Growth

Display internet advertising spend, expected to reach $32.92 billion this year, should grow an impressive 47% to $48.4 billion in 2014. Similarly, paid search spend is forecast to grow 31%, from $42.46 billion to $55.59 billion. Classified internet ad spend, pegged at $12.69 billion in 2012, is expected to grow a comparatively small 18% to $14.95 billion in two years.

Developing Markets to Fuel Global Growth

Other Zenith Optimedia analysis indicates that a key driver of ad spend growth will be 10 developing markets, led by China, predicted to deliver 49% of the growth between 2011 and 2014. The sheer size of the US – 3.4 times that of the next-largest market, Japan – means it will contribute the most new ad dollars to the global market over the next three years ($19.5
billion), despite its relatively slow growth of 12.65% over the 3-year period. More detailed information on the US ad market can be found here.

The next four largest contributors are all developing markets: China (which contributes almost as much as the US, $17.16 billion),
Russia (US$4.14 billion), Brazil (US$3.92 billion), and Indonesia (US$3.82 billion). In fact, by 2014, China’s ad market is predicted to be 98% of the size of Japan’s, while Brazil’s market will rival the size of the UK’s.

Source: Marketing Charts www.marketingcharts.com

Senior Marketers Seen Lagging in ROI Analysis of New Digital Tools

March 29th, 2012

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A great read. Enjoy. LaTanya Junior Chief Marketing Officer, CEAHU

Only 14% of senior marketers whose companies use social network marketing say they are tying their efforts to financial metrics such as market share, revenue, profits, or lifetime customer value, while only 17% of those whose companies are using mobile advertising say they are doing so, according to a survey released in March 2012 by Columbia University’s Center on Global Brand Leadership and the New York American Marketing Association (NYAMA). This compares to 41% whose companies measure the financial impact of their email marketing, and 47% whose companies do so for their traditional direct mail marketing.

This is despite adoption of new digital tools such as social network accounts (85%) and mobile ads (51%) having risen to a point where they rival the adoption rates of more established channels such as sponsorship and events (90%), print advertising (85%), direct mail (74%), and TV and radio ads (59%).

Among marketers that do measure the ROI of social media, soft metrics appear to be the focus. According to survey results released in January by Wildfire, the top metric used by social media marketers for ROI is increased fans, likes, comments, and interactions (38%). Similarly, an Awareness survey released in December 2011 found that few marketers are tying social media marketing initiatives to lead generation (38%) and sales (26%), with a far greater proportion using soft metrics such as social presence (76%), measured by number of followers and fans, and website traffic (67%) to determine the success of their
campaigns.

Cross-Channel Integration Proves a Challenge

Meanwhile, 7 in 10 CMOs responding to the NYAMA survey said that a cross-platform model for ROI is a major goal. However, this goal may remain elusive as long as integration remains a challenge: 77% of marketers overall report that getting their traditional and digital marketing to work better is still a key objective. In fact, half of the companies report they have either recently or will soon reorganize their marketing departments to improve this integration.

Budgets
Not Resting on ROI Analysis

Data from “Marketing ROI in the Era of Big Data” indicates that although 70% of senior marketers say their efforts are under more scrutiny than ever before, 57% are not basing their marketing budgets on any ROI analysis. In fact, roughly two-thirds report
establishing their marketing budgets in part on historical spending, and 28% on gut instincts. And when looking at specific spending decisions, 21% say they use financial metrics for little or none of the decisions, while 7% are making most or all of the decisions absent any metrics at all.

Other Findings:

Overall, 45% of the organizations surveyed are satisfied with their ability to measure marketing ROI. Those most likely to be satisfied are large organizations with sales of $25 billion or more (55.5%). Only 33.1% of consumer product organizations and just 26.1% of industrial product organizations are satisfied with their ROI marketing
measurement.
54% of CMOs are satisfied with their ability to measure marketing ROI, but only 43% of those below vice president level are
satisfied.
When asked to define marketing ROI, 37% of the respondents did not mention financial effects. 19% did not think that
measuring the financial impact of their marketing was considered marketing ROI.
37% of the respondents said they used brand awareness as a universal metric to make marketing decisions. Of those, more than 3 in 5 said it was their only marketing ROI metric.

About the Data: The 2012 BRITE-NYAMA
Marketing in Transition Study was conducted by Research Now between January 27 and February 8, 2012. 253 corporate marketing decision makers, director-level and above, were surveyed online. These professionals are employed at large
companies (90% have a global annual revenue of over $50 million; 45% are over $1 billion). Respondents were from diverse industries: 42% were from companies that were primarily B2B, 28% primarily business-to-consumer B2C, and 30% a
combination of B2B and B2C.

Source: Marketing Charts – www.marketingcharts.com

Featured Book: Breaking Through: The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America

December 21st, 2011

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The Center for Excellence in Advertising at Howard University — MUST READ BOOK PICK!!!

Breaking Through by David A. Thomas and John J. Gabarro

Biography

David Thomas is H. Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He joined the HBS faculty in 1990 and became a tenured professor in 1998. He is the head of the Organizational Behavior Unit and from 2005 to 2008 served as Senior Associate Dean and Director of Faculty Recruitment

In one of the first in-depth studies to focus on minorities who have made it to the top, Breaking Through examines the crucial connection between corporate culture and the advancement of people of color. American companies may tout their equal opportunity initiatives, but with 95% of all executive-level positions in the United States held by white males, most of these programs clearly fall far short of their goals when it comes to diversifying upper management. Yet, even in the face of such overwhelming odds, some minority executives do break through to the highest leadership ranks. What can we learn from these success stories? The often surprising conclusions drawn by authors Thomas and Gabarro represent important milestones both for the study of organizational practice and for minorities planning their own course of professional achievement. Here are the determining factors–both individual and organizational–that correspond to the advancement of minority executives to the highest levels.

Biography

John J. Gabarro is UPS Foundation Professor of Human Resource Management, Emeritus, in Organizational Behavior at the Harvard Business School where he has also served as Baker Foundation Professor.

Gabarro’s research has focused on leadership, executive succession, professional service firms, and organizational change. He is the author or co-author of eight books including When Professionals Have to Lead with Thomas DeLong and Robert Lees (Harvard Business School Press, 2007), Breaking Through with David Thomas, which won the 2001 George Terry Prize, given by the Academy of Management for contribution to management theory and practice and the Dynamics of Taking Charge which won the New Perspectives in Leadership Award and was named one of the best business books of the year by the Wall Street Journal. Gabarro is also a recipient of the McKinsey Foundation Award and the Johnson Smith Knisely Foundation Award for research on executive leadership. His current research focuses on leadership in professional service firms.

Gabarro has taught in Harvard’s MBA, Executive and Doctoral Programs. He has served as faculty chair of Harvard’s International Senior Management Program, twice as head of its Organizational Behavior Unit and most recently as faculty chair of HBS Executive Education’s Advanced Management Program.

Gabarro has worked with a number of firms including Credit Suisse, Ernst & Young, Ford Motor Co., Goldman Sachs, IBM, Morgan Stanley, and General Electric, where he served as lead consultant for GE Capital’s workout initiative. He is currently a director of Towers Watson & Co., having previously served as a director of Jupiter Saturn Holding Co., Watson Wyatt & Co., the Wyatt Company, and Town and Country.

Gabarro completed his MBA, doctorate and post-doctoral work at Harvard before joining its faculty.

(See also John Gabarro and Jack Gabarro)

OgilvyOne Names Insider Regional Director (source: Direct Marketing News)

December 21st, 2011

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OgilvyOne North America has named Harvey Kipnis regional director, said Toni Lee, director of public relations at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. Kipnis, formerly managing director of OgilvyOne New York, will be replaced in that role by Dimitri Maex, former managing director of OgilvyOne New York’s consulting and analytics group.

Kipnis and Maex will report directly to John Seifert, chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather North America, said Lee.

In the newly created role, Kipnis, who led OgilvyOne New York for two years, will oversee the entire North American arm of OgilvyOne and work to expand the group’s reach throughout the region, according to an Ogilvy statement.

Maex will oversee all of OgilvyOne New York, Lee said. He will focus on implementing enhanced accountability and measurement systems, especially for social, as well as continue to expand OgilvyOne New York’s CRM, creative, data and analytics capabilities, as well as its sales enablement solutions, the Ogilvy statement said.

Maex said he’s looking forward to doing more to optimize the way people act on insights derived from gathered data.

“There are very senior marketing people, decision-makers, and it’s always baffling to me how little real information they often have to make big decisions,” said Maex. “A big challenge, predominantly in the data sphere, is to get out the basement, get out of the plumbing, and elevate the information and make it available so that it supports the bigger decisions in marketing.”

He’s also hoping to facilitate a closer marriage between new technologies and tradition methods, especially as relates to creative.

“We’re only scratching the surface,” he said. “What we’re seeing today is the birth of a new type of creative that embraces both and can ultimately change the way they work.”

In July, OgilvyOne New York named Alfonso Marian chief creative officer.

Source: Allison Schiff December 20, 2011; Direct Marketing News

Social Media Marketing Increasingly Mainstream

December 13th, 2011

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This article is a great read! Especially if you’re wondering which areas of social media you should explore. Mabel Simon, Intern CEA

Almost 2 in 3 companies describe the extent of their social media activity as either heavy (21%) or average (43%), representing a 21% increase from 2010, according to [download page] a November 2011 report from Econsultancy in partnership with LBi and bigmouthmedia. Data from the “State of Social 2011 Report” indicates that concurrent with this increase is a drop in the proportion of companies that say they have only experimented with social media, (down 23% from 40% in 2010 to 31% this year), indicating that more marketers are moving beyond experimentation with the channel and giving it a mainstream role within their organization.

The same pattern is evident on the supply side: while fewer agencies say their clients are experimenting with social media (46% this year vs. 56% in 2010), a greater proportion say their clients are either engaging an average amount (39% vs. 34%) or are heavily involved (13% vs. 8%).

The maturation of social media marketing is likely due to the positive effects marketers are seeing: according to an April 2011 report from SocialMedia Examiner, 88% of marketers believe their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their businesses, while 72% have experienced improved traffic and subscribers. Furthermore, according to a November report from Webmarketing123, social media leads have proved valuable, with 55% of marketers reporting having closed a deal from a social media lead.

Twitter Leads All Platforms

87% of global company respondents to the Econsultancy report use Twitter as part of their social media marketing or online PR activity, compared to 82% who use Facebook. The other giants of the social media space, YouTube (69%) and LinkedIn (57%), are also used by a majority of companies. After that, there is a considerable drop-off to the next platforms, with 19% reporting use of Wikipedia, ahead of Foursquare (15%), Google+ (14%), Vimeo (13%), and Stumbleupon (12%). Delicious and Digg (both at 11%) are the only others with double-digit penetration. The report notes that when the survey was conducted Google had not officially launched a version of Google+ for businesses, but that some companies may have included a +1 button on their site.

Compared to 2010, the proportion of companies using Twitter rose 5%, while YouTube’s popularity grew 19% and LinkedIn’s 12%. Of the top 4 channels, Facebook’s penetration rose the least, inching up 2.5% from 80% in 2010. Meanwhile, Foursquare almost doubled its popularity, increasing to 15% of company respondents from just 8%.

Among supply-side respondents the top 4 also dominates, although Facebook (92%) nudges Twitter (88%) for the top spot.

More See Range of

Facebook andTwitter Purposes

According to the report, compared to last year, more companies are using Facebook for a variety of purposes spanning from marketing and sales to brand monitoring and customer service. While the most popular use of Facebook remains as a marketing channel, rising 12% from 67% to 75% of respondents, other purposes have seen more drastic rises in popularity. For example, this year 52% are using the social network to react to customer service issues and inquiries, representing a 56% rise from the 29% who did so in 2010. A similar proportion (51%) are using it to gather customer feedback, up 38% from 37% in 2010. The supply-side responses show a similar across-the-board rise in popularity of the various uses of Facebook, with customer service response also making a large jump from 28% to 49% of respondents.

As with Facebook, the biggest increase in how Twitter is used is for customer service, which grew by 43% of company respondents, from 35% to 50%. Meanwhile, usage of Twitter as a marketing channel (77%) and to publicize new content (74%) remain the leading two categories among companies.

Confidence Grows,

But Still Room to Improve

Even though Facebook and Twitter have gained widespread use among companies, a majority believe they can do better integrating their use of the platforms into their over-riding social media strategies. This year 37% of companies said they used Twitter well, up 37% from the 27% who reported such confidence last year. Even so, 50% still believe they can improve their use of the channel, although this is down from 59% of respondents in 2010.

Supply-side respondents’ growing confidence in Facebook is more muted: 27% say they are using the social network well, compared to 25% in 2010. Meanwhile, 58% feel they have room to improve, compared to 55% in 2010.

About the Data: The Econsultancy report is based on an online survey of more than 1,000 respondents, carried out in September and October 2011. Respondents included client-side marketers (or PR and online communications specialists) and supply-side respondents working either independently or for a range of different types of agency or technology vendor.

Source: www.marketingcharts.com

Execs See Increased Marketing Effectiveness from Social Tech Use

December 13th, 2011

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Still haven’t integrated Social Media into your marketing strategies yet? This article may change your mind. Interesting read. Mabel Simon, Intern CEA

69% of global executives who say their companies have benefited from the adoption of social technologies (such as social networking, blogs, video sharing, or microblogging) say that their technology adoption has increased the effectiveness of their marketing, according to [registration page] a November 2011 report from McKinsey. Data from “How Social Technologies are Extending the Organization” indicates this to represent 9.5% growth from 63% of respondents in 2010, and 28% growth from 54% in 2009. Other benefits reported include increasing customer satisfaction, cited by 47% of executives, down slightly from half in 2010, and reduced marketing costs, cited by 43%, also down slightly from 45% in 2010. Social technology adoption is also seen to be beneficial for internal purposes: roughly 3 in 4 executives pointed to an increased speed to access knowledge, while about 6 in 10 cited a reduction in communication costs.

Overall Adoption Continues Climb

According to the report, 1 in 2 companies currently use social networking tools, up 25% from 40% in 2010, and almost double the 28% who reported their use in 2009. Blogs are the next most popular technology, employed by 41% of respondents, up from 38% in 2010. 38% report using video sharing tools, representing 15% growth from 33% in 2010, while 23% use microblogging tools, rising 19% from 19% last year.

High tech, telecommunications companies show the highest adoption rates, with 86% currently using at least 1 social technology tool, ahead of business, legal, professional services companies (77%), public administration and pharmaceutical companies (both at 74%), and retailing and transportation companies (both at 69%).

According to a study conducted in Q4 2010 by Unica, a combined 89% of North American and European marketers either used (53%) or planned to use (36%) social media marketing, while a combined 87% either used (50%) or planned to use (37%) rich media channels such as videos and podcasts.

Technologies Used to Spur New Ideas

Among the respondents using social technologies, the largest proportion reported using them to scan the external environment (75%) and to find new ideas (73%), with project management (55%) and strategic plan development (43%) trailing relatively distantly. Respondents also reported that different technologies were better suited to specific types of business processes: for example, microblogging (13%) was more popular than wikis (9%) for scanning the external environment, but wikis (17%) were far more popular than microblogging (5%) for managing projects.

Boundaries Expected to Blur

Looking ahead 3 to 5 years, many respondents expect profound organizational changes as a result of fewer constraints on social technologies at their companies: 35% say that the boundaries between employees, vendors, and customers will blur, while roughly one-third expect that teams will self-organize and that decisions will be based primarily on the examination of data rather than reliance on opinion and experience. Roughly one-quarter also say that their organization’s formal hierarchy will become much flatter or disappear together, while about one-fifth expect financial transparency to increase dramatically.

About the Data: For its report, McKinsey conducted an online survey of 4,261 global executives across sectors, geographics, company sizes, tenures, and functional specialties.

Source: www.marketingcharts.com

Hispanics Display Unique Mobile, Web Habits

December 13th, 2011

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Looking for new ways to market Hispanics? This article explores many aspects. A blog may be the way to go! Mabel Simon, Intern CEA

US Hispanic adults 18 and older display mobile and internet habits notably different from the non-Hispanic and general adult populations, according to data released in October 2011 by the Prosper Insights Hispanic Insight Center. For example, almost 68% of Hispanic adults download mobile apps, 28% more than the 53% of non-Hispanic adults who download mobile apps.

In addition, 56% of all adults download mobile apps, meaning Hispanic adults are 21% more likely to do so.

Cable TV, Magazines

Trigger Hispanic Search

When it comes to triggers for online search, Hispanic adults are much more likely to have their search behavior triggered by cable TV and magazines than non-Hispanic adults or the overall adult population. The leading online search trigger for Hispanic adults is magazines, used by almost 41% of Hispanics. This makes them 17% more likely than non-Hispanic adults (35%) and 14% more likely than overall adults (36%) to perform a magazine-driven online search.

In addition, 35% of Hispanic adults have online searches triggered by cable TV, 21% more than non-Hispanic adults (29%) and 13% more than overall adults (31%). Hispanics have similarly higher rates of online searches triggered by blogs, cell phone and email advertising. Their rates are significantly lower for the triggers of direct mail and reading an article.

Hispanics Blog More

Hispanics use blogs more frequently than other adults. About 15% of Hispanic adults read blogs regularly, 25% more than non-Hispanic adults (12%) and 15% more than overall adults (13%). Hispanic adults also maintain blogs (6%) at a rate 50% higher than non-Hispanic adults (4%) and 20% higher than overall adults (5%).

In addition, 6% of Hispanic adults post to blogs, compared to about 5% of both non-Hispanic and overall adults (roughly 20% more likely to post).

Other Findings

51% of Hispanic adults perform online research before shopping in a store regularly, 27.5% more than the 40% of non-Hispanic adults and 24% more than the 41% of overall adults who do so.
24% of Hispanic adults perform online search via cell phone, 71% more than 14% of non-Hispanic adults and 50% more than 12% of overall adults.
Hispanic adults are much less likely than non-Hispanic adults to own a desktop computer but somewhat more likely to own a wireless laptop or netbook, Droid or iPad, and much more likely to own an iPod or iPhone.

Pew: Latinos Less Plugged In

US Latinos are less likely to access the internet, have a home broadband connection or own a cell phone than whites or blacks, according to an August 2011 study from the Pew Research Center Project for Excellence in Journalism. Data from “The State of the News Media 2011″ indicates that about two-thirds of Latino (65%) and African American (66%) adults went online in 2010, roughly 14% less than the 77% of white adults who did so.

Furthermore, only 45% of Latinos have broadband access at home, 13% less than the 52% of blacks and 31% less than the 65% of whites with home broadband access. Just more than three-quarters, 76%, of Latinos owned a cell phone in 2010, 4% less than the 79% of blacks 11% less than the 85% of whites who owned cell phones.

About the Data: Data was collected by BIGresearch in June 2011.

Source: www.marketingcharts.com

Women Drive African-American Purchases

December 12th, 2011

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Great read! Especially if you’re interested in the components of African American purchases. Mabel Simon, Intern CEA

Women see themselves as the primary drivers of a variety purchases in the African-American consumer demographic, according to [download page] a report released in September 2011 by The Nielsen Company. Data from “The State of the African-American Consumer” indicates the category with the largest gap in whether women see themselves or men as the primary purchase drivers is health/beauty, with 77% of women saying they are the primary drivers and only 1% saying men are the primary drivers.

While there are no categories where men are seen as the primary purchase drivers (automobiles/other transportation has the highest rating for men being the primary drivers, 20%), there are few categories where a large percentage say men and women have equal influence on purchase decisions. These are locations for social activities (women 50% and men/women equally 47%), personal electronics (women 47% and men/women equally 41%) and automobiles/other transportation (women 49% and men/women equally 31%).

African-Americans Spend Less Per Trip

in Major Channels

Examining the average amount spent per trip in major retail channels by African-Americans compared to non-African-Americans, the study finds African-Americans spend less per trip on average in many channels.

For example, African-Americans average $52.60 per trip in the supercenter channel, 16% less than the non-African-American average of $62.50.

In addition, African-Americans spend an average of $34.10 per trip to grocery stores, 18% less than the $41.80 spent by non-African-Americans. The gap is narrower in per-trip spend averages in the mass merchandiser (5%) and drug store (12%) channels.

African-Americans Shop More

One possible reason for African-Americans spending less per trip in many retail channels is that they average more annual shopping trips than other ethnic groups. African-American households average 165.7 annual shopping trips per household, 8% more than the 153 average annual shopping trips of other households.

Meanwhile, the average basket ring dollars spent per year by African-American households is $6,138, 11% less than the $6,883 spent per year by other households. Per trip, African-American households have an average basket ring of $37, 18% less than the $45 spent by other households.

Interestingly, African-American households are less deal-prone than other households, spending an average of 20.9% of their purchase dollars on deals, 20% less than the 26.3% of other households’ purchase dollars spent on deals.

High-Income African Americans Spend

More than Other High-Income

Households

While African-Americans show the same product category preferences, those with household earnings greater than $100,000 tend to make fewer trips and spend 41% more per trip than the average household in this group. Additionally, higher earning African-Americans patronize major retail chains with higher regularity and go to convenience and dollar stores at a much-reduced level than the group average and spend 300% more in higher-end retail grocers like Whole Foods than other high income households.

Other Findings

African-American consumers devote a lower dollar share of their total consumer-packaged-goods spending to store brands (17.7% compared to 18.3% for White non-Hispanic).
46% of African-Americans agree/strongly agree they always buy the brands they trust, compared to 36% of White Non-Hispanics.
The buying power of African-American consumers is projected to reach $1.1 trillion by 2015.

Young Consumers Increasingly

Multicultural

By January 2012, Nielsen estimates released in June 2011 predict that almost half (45%) of the 12-24 market will be multicultural. In contrast, only 37% of the 25-54 market and 24% of the 55-plus market will be multicultural.Breaking down the expected 2012 cultural mix of the 12-24 market by ethnicity, 55% will be white (non-Hispanic), 22% will be Hispanic, 15% will be African-American, and 6% will be Asian.

Source: www.marketingcharts.com