Victoria Lalta

Growing up in the 1960s meant watching television commercials filled with white faces.

Seeing a person of color in a commercial was quite rare, and if you did, it was usually in a negative or subservient light. Companies weren’t so quick to reach out to blacks and other minorities, for fear of backlash from already loyal white consumers.

When Indian star, Aishwarya Rai became an endorser for L’Oreal hair color and mascara, I was thrilled to see a beautiful ethnic face on American television. It was a confirmation that Indians are a growing niche market, the 4th largest immigrant group in the country.

But other ethnic groups still go underrepresented in advertising. African Americans, for instance, were estimated in 2006 as having the buying power of $799 billion, yet many companies missed out on maximizing marketing ROIs by failing to adequately address this demographic. But there are exceptions.

Procter and Gamble has taken the lead to aggressively target African Americans since the late 60's, starting with its Crest commercial featuring Bill Cosby.

Today Procter & Gamble products are endorsed by celebrities like Queen Latifah, Angela Bassett, and Tiger Woods to name a few. P&G is ranked the top company advertising in black magazines in the month ending August 2008, spending $12.4 million in advertising dollars.

Reaching out to various groups in the U.S. and worldwide is one reason that Procter & Gamble has built a strong global brand. It speaks to the people who will buy its products.

Which companies do you think fail in reaching out to minority consumers and why?

Photograph Credit:
Sabrina Segal