HOLLYWOOD, FLA. — He first grabbed the advertising and marketing world’s attention two weeks ago in Orlando, at the Association of National Advertisers (ANA)‘s Masters of Marketing conference. On Monday, Procter & Gamble Co. Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard tapped into that groundbreaking presentation by reiterating his notion that “multicultural marketing is mainstream marketing.”
That said, Pritchard’s appearance at the ANA Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference, which began Sunday and concludes Tuesday with in-person and virtual-only presentations and plenty of safe distancing options for the 500 attendees, took the conversation up a notch by seeing the most influential man in the ad world call for more dollars directed toward multicultural and Black-owned media.
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The biggest takeaway from Pritchard’s appearance at the multicultural marketing affair was that his peers in the marketing and advertising world should not only form direct partnership with diverse-owned media companies, but also form consortiums with them.
Procter & Gamble Co. is committed to this, Pritchard said. Why? Such an investment can develop “more resonant programming that creates more ad inventory,” and that’s something that can help foment growth in the multicultural owned-and-operated ecosystem.
The topic of Black and multicultural-owned media is a controversial one. In conversations with conference attendees on the first of the three-day conference, some noted that companies such as iHeartMedia had taken the lead on developing such platforms as BIN: Black Information Network. Should they be considered secondary to a company such as Urban One, founded by Cathy Hughes and led by her son, Alfred Liggins III, when seeking to invest in media targeting the Black consumer?
Balance, and supporting the minority broadcaster and communications company, is the goal, the ANA marketing industry attendees greatly said.
With Chesley Maddox-Dorsey, CEO of American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) in attendance on November 6, news that P&G seeks to accelerate its investment in multicultural owned-and-operated media is certainly a proclamation worthy of applause from her organization and others in the space.
Pritchard noted as an example of this seventh “habit” P&G’s renewed commitment to Can’t Cancel Pride, a fundraiser for the LGBTQ+ community celebrating visibility and inclusivity for all produced in partnership with iHeartMedia.
THE ROAD TO EQUITY
The need for marketer and advertiser investment and collaboration with diverse-owned media was a conversation also had by Heather Stewart, General Director for Global Media and Marketing Services at General Motors.
At General Motors, the aspiration is to be the most inclusive company in the world.
To accomplish this, GM over the past two years has responded to social justice movements with commitments to Black-owned and diverse-owned media. “The evolution from investment to impact” was discussed, as GM’s Diversity Media Strategy and Investment Brianne Boles-Marshall elaborated on how the company’s efforts created a stronger ecosystem for diverse-owned media.
Speaking to conference attendees immediately following Pritchard’s Opening Keynote, Stewart shared that there is “not enough diverse-owned media.” As such, we are now at a place “where it needed to come alive and become part of the conversation.”
Today, more than 50 diverse and minority-owned media working with GM were in the room. And, Stewart said GM has doubled its investment in diverse media as a result of their DEI efforts transcending to marketing.
A MULTIVERSE MOMENT
The ANA Multicultural & Diversity Conference kicked off Sunday afternoon with companies including Pod Digital Media, focused on multicultural podcasting, in the exhibit hall along with Oyenos, a Hispanic-market podcast company.
Inside the session hall, Paula Cuneo, who serves as Director of Social Impact Marketing for Horizon Worlds and Avatars for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp parent Meta Reality Labs, offered an explanation of what the metaverse is, and what’s to come. With iHeartMedia already invested in the metaverse, Meta is calling on diverse creators to investigate trends and how marketers can best capitalize on VR, AR and other digitally-delivered connectivity platforms.
Pernod Ricard USA vodka brand Absolut is already seeing results it likes, thanks to a LGBTQ+-focused activation around the Coachella music festival. For McDonald’s, activating Asian American and Pacific Islander gamers by extending a pop-up store to the metaverse, with anime characters integrated into the Golden Arches branding, providing a brand-building opportunity for the QSR.
Brand-building and awareness, along with lifestyle affinity, seems to be the goal Unilever brand Degree sought to achieve with its “metaverse marathon” with hip-hop act Fat Joe. With insights showing that some younger metaverse users had negative body image issues and weren’t ever going to engage in a 26.2-mile athletic event, Degree created a virtual marathon around Fat Joe. For Unilever, this was seen as a way to gain inclusivity in the growing metaverse.
With Degree Deodorant Director Desi Okeke of Unilever on stage, she said the experience helped overcome the finding that 7 in 10 people are made to feel incapable of trying something new by someone else.
