Sponsor (Sept-Dec 1957)

1. NEGRO MARKET (Continued from pa^e 5 I keting specialists for inside work. Agencies are lining special Negro market researchers for occasional studies even though they're a long wa) from BBIK) tin' Huh agenc) specializing in this area. BBDO in New York has a three-man Negro marketing (li\i-i<>n under the direction of Clarence Unite | with John Procope and Tom Sim-i. Young v\ Ruhicam, New iork. bires a free-lance specialist. tad Arthur Meyerhofi agenc) in Chicago lias long retained the services «>f Negro market consultant Leonard bvan-. These people among a few others are (lie avant garde of Negro marketing— and tlie\ know the odd which confront them. B) and large, the great hulk of advertisers know little about Negro radio even though radio . advertiser roster is filled with hundreds of long-time general product advertisers (see li>t elsewhere in this section i. W In should an advert i-ei u-e Negro media? Can't he sell cornflakes by airing his announcement generally ? W li\ does he need a Negro station or a Negro personality to sell a general conBumption item? Reach or coverage doesn't mean sell. i llie wa) Holte of BBDO sums it up. Coverage in and of itself, he -av-. never sold anything. The use of Negroappeal media heightens the impact of a commercial, creates a favorable climate for a sale, gets a psychological reaction of acceptance from the Negro listener. takes advantage of the strong local perSOnalit) selling which thousands of advertisers seek today. Market basics: Despite the fact that white and black are people in common. the) each have basic differences. Analysis of these differences would occupv thousands of pages in either a sociological or economic tome, hut here are a few basics of which a marketer should be aware. • The segregation between white and black has no analogv in the I . S. It is not comparable to the differences between Catholic and Protestant. Jew and Gentile, the Californian and the \ ermonter. The line between black and white is a color line and this line transcends all other differences or likenesses. • 1 he Negro, because of this color line, is on the defensive — a member of a minoritv different from anv other minorit) in the counti j . I be • oloi line has given him an entirel) different ■ tilt hi < and set oi customs, despiti Og i aphv . • < tne of the biggest mark of -eg legation i in bousing. I vea in North era areas the Negro whethei he Inrich or poor i almost -ti » iK confined to one geographical area and this i uauall) near the central <itv . • Because of this physical closeness in living, there's less of a gulf in consumption and living habit between tinrich and the poor Negro. I be) li\ e together, shop at the same Btores, participate in the -ame communit) ai tiv ities. • The color barrier prohibits the Negro from being as mobile a he might prefer. He ma) have si 2 foi a -teak, as Robert P. Leatherwood of the Seymour, Leatherwood and Cleveland agenc] in Detroit -avs. but tin-Mare few restaurants which would welcome his patronage even at that price. He is limited in hi out-of-home activities so there i a marked tendencv for more in-home entertaining and a better quality of product for the home — better grade of furnishings, china, foods, beverages, clothing. • Main of these elements add up to a strong sense of lovalty. a need for identification with the Negro community even though there is a concurrent struggle for acceptance in the nonNegro communit) . • The best of the Negro radio -tations and newspapers encourage this search for identification — and thev sell their advertisers" products better for doing this. They encourage fund raising for a new Negro hospital or help distribute Salk vaccine in Negro ana-. Thev provide buses for handicapped Negro children or work to get better paving in Negro neighborhoods. This tvpe of identification isn't available in general media, according to one agency marketing man. He points out that a general newspaper in the South, for example, might well be read bv Negroes with resentment. "Editoriallv . the paper i eithei conservative or out-and-out against desegregation or other controversial causes involving the Negro. So from the minute he picks up the paper, the Negro has an unconscious resentment against it. Then he turn to advertising surrounded b) White Citizens Council new or new of some other group antagonistic to him. The climate is bad — and the bad climate i ti.in-fii red to the -k^ on th even though It a -llln "Hi loll i ■ I' i ill. " I ake In w ife. She turn to tin homemaking ami societ) section. She'll nevei see a pii ture of am ft iend there, • •I a report of a Negro wedding, She'll never read about a Negro woman's club meeting. lei -In-. loo. i uij.il ill cop) to bin produi t V IV. dm t \ ha two stri tut it before it -tail-! However, were this newspapei ad to be reinfon ed again sub) on -' lOUsl) M itb an > op) on a lo al N. station, the two -trike would be eliminated." Negro ladio stations have leas area loi -iji b c ontrovers) than do the Nei" print media or the general print media. I!v ami Ln ge there's no editoi • ializing, no taking of a firm stand. \nd Negro radio i b) far th. bland most prosperous "t Negro media. Negro media: BBDO ha tin rundown on Negro media in a inn '.I page presentation on the Ne^p. market compiled for one of it biggi si U ■ i OUntS. Here ale -ome extra' t-: Mewspapers: I be first Negro newspaper wa established in L'.JT and (here are now I 79 Nemo papers two dailies, 168 weeklies, five semi-weeklies and three bi-weeklies. <>nlv three are distributed nationally, ["wenty-siz of these are \l>< papers and their 1956 circulation wa 850,000. Magazines: I he pioneei in this area i Johnson Publications in < bi< ago which publishes most majoi nationall) distributed magazines i ir« ulated to the Negro market: Ebony and Ian. monthlies, and Jet. a weekl) pocketsized new magazine. Ebony i circulated primaril) to upper income and urban ^ In 1956 it cai ried 777 pages of advertising in a total of 1 ,51 1 p. i Radio: The number of Negl I idio stations varie vear bv v.-.n although the total amount of Negro-appeal programing keeps expanding, sponsor's Ihr -■ la-t March showed that stations carried Negro-appeal pro. ning. ' For detailed anal) sis stor) on page I ". ' The BBDO report included this statement on radio: "Negro-appeal radio concentrates on two pro-ram I Negro personalities and Negro f"lk musii I aid the stations are having tremendous success with them. For the most part, these audiences are ■ easily reached bv other Negro media. SPONSOR NEGRO ISSUE • 28 SEPTEMBER 1957 33