NEW STUDY BY NBCUNIVERSAL, MAGNA, AND IDENTITY REVEALS THE CRITICAL ROLE BRANDS PLAY IN CULTURE

Deconstructing Diversity Today Flips the Script on Outdated Archetypes, Unveiling the Multifaceted and Fluid Nature of Identity and How Brands can Connect with People in Culturally Relevant Ways

 
NEW YORK – May 19, 2021 – Today, NBCUniversal, MAGNA, and Identity revealed Deconstructing Diversity Today, a new research study that explores the full spectrum of diversity, and the role that brands play in acknowledging and amplifying cultural identification. The study flips the script on outdated cultural archetypes, and reveals the multifaceted and fluid nature of how people identify today. The study also outlines tangible next steps that marketers can take to connect with multicultural audiences in authentic, culturally-relevant ways.

Deconstructing Diversity Today, reveals the true richness of polyculturalism, as people strongly identified with, on average, eight different communities. While heritage and culture serve as building blocks to identity, the study also demonstrated that culture today is in fact more fluid and incorporates the freedom to choose how individuals define themselves. In addition, nearly all respondents had a strong desire to learn about cultures beyond their own, ultimately allowing people to understand themselves better.

“In a time when consumers are feeling more overwhelmed than ever, content that reflects the rapidly-shifting nature of culture and identity – while also recognizing the increasing importance of intersectionality, diversity and equality – has a better probability of standing out of the clutter and winning the hearts and minds of consumers,” said Oscar Allaín, SVP of Cultural Research & Strategy at Identity, UM Worldwide’s cultural consultancy arm.

“This new study with our partners at MAGNA and Identity demonstrates NBCUniversal’s continued commitment to investing in research that uncovers essential truths and insights about engaging with multicultural audiences,” said Yusuf Chuku, EVP, Client Strategy & Insights, Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal. “The findings revealed today bring to life the fact that for multicultural consumers, their identities are rooted both in their heritage and culture, as well as their interests, their communities, and their desire to learn about cultures that are different from their own. Together, as an industry we have both an opportunity and an obligation to create stronger, more authentic connections with all people.”

Key findings from Deconstructing Diversity Today include:

  • Identity is not just driven by personal heritage, but also by culture, broadening the possible connection points for brands beyond race and ethnicity alone.
    • 87% feel a strong attachment to multiple communities.
    • 93% want to connect with cultures other than their own.
  • It’s crucial that brands recognize the multi-faceted nature of all people, as many don’t currently see themselves represented in media.
    • Respondents consistently shared the desire to be seen as more than a single identifier.
    • Lack of representation triggers lack of engagement – 33% reported not identifying with communities due to either a lack of media representation in general or inaccurate media representation.
  • Media serves as an important cultural connection point, by both sparking and satisfying cultural interests. This is particularly true for visual forms of media, such as video and social media, as opposed to non-visual media.
    • Multicultural audiences are 6x more likely to rely on visual forms of media.
  • Brand involvement in satisfying cultural curiosities is an expectation regardless of race and ethnicity. Particularly, Hispanic and Black audiences responded with feeling strongly, with three-quarters expecting brand involvement.
  • Marketers have a clear opportunity to play an impactful role in cultural identification.
    • 80% indicated representation in media as a way for brands to get involved, underscoring the potential influence in the hands of marketers.
    • Ensuring authenticity was the most cited desire, and when done well, has the power to make people feel good.
    • Ultimately, when brands do a good job in helping people connect with their identity, they are more open to messaging, driving the bottom line for brands.

 
Multiple research approaches were leveraged to complete Deconstructing Diversity Today, including qualitative and quantitative techniques featuring a large-scale survey of over 3,500 people, in-depth one-on-one interviews and focus groups. Specific steps were taken to ensure voices from diverse audiences could be accounted for, such as offering the survey in multiple languages, a moderator that identified as a key cohort, and booster samples for multi-cultural audiences, people who identified as LGBTQ+, and people with disabilities.

Deconstructing Diversity Today serves as a follow-up to Total Market Fallacy: Using In-Culture Marketing To Drive Your Growth With Hispanics, produced by NBCUniversal in partnership with MAGNA in 2018. Total Market Fallacy found that the use of a generalized market strategy oversimplified the needs and nuances of marketing, indicating that ads tailored for the masses consistently fell short among Hispanic audiences.

The full study can be found here.

 
About MAGNA
 
MAGNA is the leading global media investment and intelligence company. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, industry-leading negotiation and unparalleled consultative solutions deliver an actionable marketplace advantage for our clients and subscribers. We are a team of experts driven by results, integrity and inquisitiveness. We operate across five key competencies, supporting clients and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, accountability, connectivity and enablement. For more information, please visit our website: https://magnaglobal.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Identity

Identity is a diversity consultative practice under UM and IPG Mediabrands. With specialties in the Hispanic / Latino / Latinx, Black/African Americans, Gen Z consumer segments, Identity designs cultural solutions to help organizations futureproof their business and thrive internally and externally. Identity adheres to a proprietary approach, known as CULTURESMART™, as a way to strategically map the DNA of cultural influence, to unlock opportunities and accelerate the momentum for brands. By doing this we can focus on the most influential, high growth audiences and cultures most relevant for a brand.

About NBCUniversal

NBCUniversal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a premium ad-supported streaming service. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

 

Media Contacts:

Zinnia Gill
Director, Global Corporate Communications
IPG Mediabrands
[email protected]
(646) 965-4271

Adriana Cirianni
Associate, Corporate Communications, Advertising and Partnerships
NBCUniversal
[email protected]

Marketers And Programmers Are Seeking Cultural Relevance When Reaching Multicultural And Diverse Groups

By Brad Adgate, Published by Forbes

Among the ongoing trends in the U.S., have been the growth in original scripted entertainment shows and the country is becoming more ethnically diverse. These two trends are also interrelated.

In 2009 there were 210 scripted programs across all TV platforms, ten years later that figure more than doubled totaling 532 programs earning the sobriquet “Peak TV” along the way. Over the same period of time, the nation has become more diverse. The 2010 Census reported that non-Hispanic whites accounted for 63.7% of the population. Census estimates for 2019 show that non-Hispanic whites account for 60.1% of the U.S. population, but multicultural populations are already near half among those 18 to 34 years. As the population of Hispanics, Blacks, Asian-Americans and other ethnic groups increase, the Census projects that in 2045, non-Hispanic whites will account for less than 50% of the population.

As the population of ethnic groups grows, so does their buying power. In 2020 the buying power of Hispanic consumers totaled $1.5 trillion, an increase of 212% over the past decade. Furthermore, the collective buying power of Blacks, Asian-Americans and Native Americans reached $2.4 trillion and is increasing.

Hence, a challenge is how do programmers and advertisers make their content more relevant to ethnic groups, the LGBTQ+ and disabled market?

To address the growing influence of the multicultural market, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) established the Alliance for Inclusive Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) in 2016. The mission statement of AIMM is, “to reverse the downward trend of multicultural and inclusive marketing by empowering marketers to accurately portray cultural diversity and richness in today’s marketing efforts.” The organization helps CMO’s in reaching their full multicultural market growth potential.

Advertisers and the entertainment industry are aware of the importance of this growing market. Today virtually every large advertising agency has a division that focuses on multicultural marketing. Among the scores of AIMM members include advertisers, ad agencies, media networks and nonprofit organizations. AIMM has a number of prominent board members including Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, Procter & Gamble PG +1.9%, John Dillon, Chief Brand Officer, Denny’s DENN +0.6% and Alicia Enciso, Chief Marketing Officer, Nestlé.

The emergence of AIMM comes at a time when hate groups targeting ethnic communities have been growing.  A recent #SeeAll initiative from AIMM was a “call-to-action” to support the Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders community and end hate in all forms. Over 90 companies including Google GOOG +1.4% and Verizon VZ +1.1% have pledged to show support to the AAPI community. In addition, during the Primetime Emmys last fall, AIMM ran a Public Service Announcement (PSA) featuring Billy Porter, Lin Manuel-Miranda and others that encouraged Hollywood to do more to promote authentic cultural representation.

To address the growing trend in cultural diversity and ensure what you see on the screen is a fair and accurate representation of what you see in society, AIMM and partner company CIIMatters have launched a new tool called Cultural Insights Impact Measure (CIIM) that measures the effectiveness of ads and programming to diverse audiences. Among the attributes used are respect, values, authenticity, good role models, positive reflections, celebrations, pride and identity. Each content is evaluated across seven racial, ethnic, and diverse segments, then assigned a cultural relevance impact score.

The study from CIIM found the degree of perceived level of cultural relevance for an individual correlates with the viewer preference of the content, resulting in a significant lift—-highly culturally relevant shows have nearly twice the viewer preference of shows with low cultural relevance. “CIIM clearly shows that the media industry in general is lagging behind the country’s cultural inflection point. Currently, the vast majority of content does not culturally resonate with multicultural and inclusive audiences while the majority of shows strongly resonate with non-Hispanic whites —directly impacting brand outcomes and how individuals see themselves on screen and in society,” explains Carlos Santiago, co-founder of AIMM and president of SSG.

In 2019 a small pilot study consisting of 60 programs and 150 ads was conducted and in 2020 nearly 150 programs were put through CIIM. With a base exceeding 300,000 evaluations of ads and shows, the power of culture in communications is more evident than ever. CIIM’s work proves that ads with authentic cultural representation can triple purchase intent and explain 40% of the increase in sales. For shows, cultural relevance explains 30% of a program’s preference

Gail Horwood, Kellogg’s Chief Marketing Officer and AIMM Board Member, “In Kellogg’s sales attribution tests, consumers’ perceptions of authentic cultural representation impacted our campaigns’ success by 47%. The CIIM tool proved to be so valuable to us that we have integrated it into our marketing process for all creatives.”

The 2020 study also found the entertainment and advertising industries still have a long way to go in placing diversity and fair representation, there were, however, a few encouraging signs. For example, streaming providers, led by Netflix NFLX +0.7%, had accounted for nearly half of the effective content across segments. When all content was factored in, the leading networks were Univision, BET and OWN. NBC ranked first among all general market networks. Below are some top-line findings from the 2020 study.

The top shows by segment were:

§  White Non-Hispanic: When Calls the Heart (Hallmark)

§  African American: Sunday Best (BET) and Greenleaf (OWN)

§  Hispanic English: House of Flowers (Netflix)

§  Hispanic Bilingual: Mira Quien Baila (Univision)

§  Hispanic Spanish: Pequenos Gigantes (Univision)

§  Asian: Killing Eve (Hulu)

§  People with Disabilities: Special (Netflix)

§  MC&I: House of Flowers and Blood and Water (Netflix)

§  LGBTQ: The Fosters (ABC Family/Hulu)

Top networks were:

§ Endemic African American: BET and OWN

§ Endemic Hispanic: Univision

§ General Market Network: NBC

§ Streaming: Netflix

§ Downloadable: YouTube

Best-in-culture networks:

·       Univision

·       Telemundo

As AIMM’s Carlos Santiago notes, “The multicultural market is youthful and already accounts for a majority of the U.S. population in younger age groups. Also, with a heavy concentration in larger cities, the multicultural market is an appealing target for many advertisers and programmers.” Currently, over 320 brands use the CIIM tool to measure the ad effectiveness in accurately portraying the diversity to audiences they want to engage with. Among the blue-chip marketers include Lexus PLXS +2.1%, Volvo, Denny’s, Constellation Brands STZ +1.1%, Google, Citi, Verizon, Walmart WMT +1.9%, Kellogg’s, Tide, Secret, and Johnson & Johnson JNJ +1.4%.

The official launch of CIIM and findings from the 2020 study will be released on May 13, just prior to the 2021 upfront TV presentations. CIIM will disclose information from 146 TV shows (whether they were renewed or cancelled) across a number of networks from 2020. For the report, 22,000 respondents selected programming they were familiar with for 62,000 program evaluations. The respondents scored the performers for providing authentic cultural representation for Hispanics, Blacks, Asian-Americans, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities and others.

The entertainment and ad industries are continuing to concentrate on the ethnic market. Earlier this month, IPG Mediabrands announced they will work to invest a minimum of 5% in Black-owned media channels in aggregate across all clients by 2023 and launched their first annual Equity Upfront™. The goal of the week-long upfront is to underscore the scope and importance of Black-owned media companies in reaching Black audiences. As IPG notes, nationally Black-focused media spend in 2020 was below 2% of total ad dollars, despite accounting for over 13% of the U.S. population.

More recently, NBC announced they will not televise the Golden Globe awards in 2022 putting on hold their decades long relationship with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the not-for-profit organization behind the award show. The HFPA has been criticized for their lack of diversity in their membership among other ethics issues. In addition, both Netflix and WarnerMedia had announced they would disassociate from any Globes-related events until these issues have been addressed. It had been reported the HFPA had no Black journalists among the 87-member group.

Read the full article at Forbes

IPG Mediabrands Shares Media Equity Commitment to Encourage Investment in Black-Owned Media

Published by MarTech Series

Following the successful launch of this year’s first-ever Equity Upfront™, Mediabrands will work with brands to invest a minimum of 5% in Black-owned media by 2023

IPG Mediabrands today announced that it will work to invest a minimum of 5% in Black-owned media channels in aggregate across all clients by 2023. Mediabrands recently held its inaugural Equity Upfront™, which served to underscore the scope and importance of Black-owned media outlets in reaching highly valuable and influential Black audiences.

Nationally, Black-focused media spend in 2020 remained below 2% of total spend, according to Nielsen Ad Intel, despite Black consumers being 13%+ of the population. In 2021, MAGNA estimates the available impressions for Black-owned media equates to 3% of total impressions available across all media types.

“The time is past due to embrace the opportunities to connect with influential audiences through Black-owned media,” said Daryl Lee, Global CEO at Mediabrands. “Innovation and growth are flourishing across Black-owned media outlets, providing brands with deeply authentic ways to reach diverse audiences in a supportive, meaningful manner. We are excited to be adding our voice to a growing industry conversation in support of greater diversity and equity in media spend.”

The Black population in the United States is 48 million, with an average age of 32 and represents $1.4 trillion in buying power, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth and MAGNA estimates. This young and affluent audience shapes the culture, is entrepreneurial and drives growth.

Black-owned media channels are an important avenue to reach this vital segment of the U.S. population. Some of the outlets presenting at Equity Upfront™ included Blavity, Ebony, Essence, ReachTV, Revolt, The Source, Urban One and more, each uniquely positioned to help brands engage with Black consumers as part of their growing and powerful audience.

“Our MAGNA analysis unearthed a rapidly growing universe of available impressions reaching highly sought-after Black audiences. We have been working with our clients to match client business goals with the authentic reach and engagement of these properties,” said Dani Benowitz, President, US, of MAGNA, Mediabrands’ leading global media investment and intelligence company. “We are confident that embracing a new framework for equity investment in media will deliver tangible returns for our clients and provide opportunities to redefine a media ecosystem where all audiences feel welcomed and included.”

A 2019 MAGNA and IPG Lab report revealed how engaged Black audiences are, with two-thirds wanting companies to speak up about the social issues they are passionate about. Media is a key connector for brands that want to drive change.

MAGNA launched the Equity Upfront™ as part of a long-term equity and equality strategic investment initiative designed to foster deeper exposure for and partnerships with Black-owned media partners. In addition to hosting monthly equity sessions that present the unique content and marketing capabilities of Black-owned media across available media channels, MAGNA and Mediabrands will host inside track sessions that create opportunities to learn, iterate and grow together. In 2021, MAGNA will also host equity sessions for Asian American and Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and LGBTQI identifying media companies.

“Mediabrands and MAGNA are taking the steps to redress a long-term systemic gap in how all underrepresented groups are considered in media planning and investment processes. The work that MAGNA is doing to identify gaps in equitable investment, properly identify and size the equity landscape and shape breakthrough partnerships with overlooked media, will be the most consequential work we do in our careers and we are excited to share it with the industry today,” said Lee.

Read the full article at MarTech Series

IPG pledges to spend 5% on Black-owned media by 2023

By Robert Williams, Published by Marketing Dive

Dive Brief:

  • IPG Mediabrands, the media and marketing services unit of agency holding company Interpublic Group, pledged to allocate at least 5% of total media spending among its advertiser clientele to Black-owned media by 2023, per an announcement shared with Marketing Dive. The announcement follows the agency’s first Equity Upfront to highlight the role of Black-owned media outlets in reaching Black audiences.
  • The goal is to help lift spending on Black-focused media, which last year was less than 2% of the total, according to Nielsen Ad Intel data cited by IPG. Black consumers make up at least 13% of the population, but available impressions for Black-owned media are equal to 3% of the total impressions available among all media types, according to data compiled by sister agency Magna.
  • IPG Mediabrands’s commitment to Black-focused media comes as advertising agencies face greater pressure to improve diversity, equity and inclusion, not only in their internal operations, but also in their business decisions as racial justice continues to be a significant concern.

 

Dive Insight:

IPG Mediabrands’s pledge to increase spending among Black-focused media outlets signals a deeper commitment to inclusion weeks after the agency hosted its first Equity Upfront to help showcase overlooked channels. There are 48 million Black consumers in the U.S. and their total spending power is about $1.4 trillion a year, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth and Magna. With a median age of 32, Black consumers also tend to be in a key demographic group sought by marketers, per Nielsen.

“The time is past due to embrace the opportunities to connect with influential audiences through Black-owned media,” Daryl Lee, global CEO of Mediabrands, said in the announcement. “Innovation and growth are flourishing across Black-owned media outlets, providing brands with deeply authentic ways to reach diverse audiences in a supportive, meaningful manner.”

IPG’s clientele includes blue-chip brands such as American Express, BMW, Johnson & Johnson and CVS Health/Aetna, all of which participated in the weeklong Equity Upfront in March. The sales event was similar to other upfront presentations, except that it featured Black-focused media outlets such as Blavity, Ebony, Essence Communications, ReachTV, Revolt, The Source and Urban One.

Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios, the media company founded by Byron Allen, also participated in the Equity Upfront. Allen, whose media holdings include The Weather Channel, has been a major critic of advertisers and their agencies, accusing them of not spending enough on Black-owned media outlets. Amid his threats to sue major brands if they didn’t spend more on Black-owned media, he commended IPG Mediabrands for hosting the Equity Upfront, Ad Age reported. The agency’s pledge to allocate more media dollars to Black-focused media is a significant step in its inclusion efforts.

Amid the mass protests for racial justice last summer, IPG evaluated the racial makeup of its leadership team and released its findings. It found that African Americans made up just 2.6% of senior- and executive-level managers among its businesses in 2019. IPG said it would publish its diversity figures on an annual basis moving forward.

“We will invest time and resources to cultivate more inclusive leadership and management through learning and practical experiences, including support for all managers and human resources, to ensure we are allies and advocates for each other day-to-day,” Michael Roth, executive chairman of IPG, said in a blog post that accompanied its diversity report.

Read the full article at Marketing Dive

IPG MEDIABRANDS INCREASING AD SPENDING WITH BLACK-OWNED MEDIA COMPANIES AFTER FULL COURT PRESSURE

By Derek Major, Published by Black Enterprise

IPG Mediabrands, a self-described client-first, community-driven group of 13,000 media and marketing specialists, has committed to invest at least 5% of its advertising budget in Black-owned media across all its clients by 2023.

The announcement comes as brands and their advertising agencies are being pushed to spend more with Black media companies. IPG’s commitment leaves room for clients to spend more than 5% of their ad budgets in Black-owned media.

“The time is past due to embrace the opportunities to connect with influential audiences through Black-owned media,” Daryl Lee, global CEO at IPG Mediabrands, said in an emailed statement. “Innovation and growth are flourishing across Black-owned media outlets, providing brands with deeply authentic ways to reach diverse audiences in a supportive, meaningful manner. We are excited to be adding our voice to a growing industry conversation in support of greater diversity and equity in media spend.”

According to Nielsen data, last year, Black media companies received less than 2% of total ad spending. That’s almost non-existent when considering Black Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population and represent $1.4 trillion in buying power.

Byron Allen, CEO of the Allen Media Group emailed General Motors CEO Mary Barra requesting a meeting concerning the company’s ad spending. The group discovered just .5% of GM’s ad revenue goes to Black-owned media.

Barra brushed aside the meeting and GM’s Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Wahl responded saying she would meet with a group of Black media CEOs. That prompted Allen, rapper O’Shea ‘Ice Cube’ Jackson, Black Enterprise CEO Earl ‘Butch’ Graves, and several owners of Black-owned media companies to take out a full-page ad in local newspapers where GM is headquartered, calling Barra a racist.

“Mary, you have asked us to meet with your Chief Marketing Officer, Deborah Wahl. We have absolutely no interest in that because when Deborah was Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s, in our opinion, Black Owned Media was, once again, severely neglected, minimized and discriminated against. To be clear, Black Owned Media and not minority owned, because minority includes white women and large corporations like General Motors can hide behind and tout their minority records while continuing not to do business with Black Owned Media companies.”

GM did announce it will increase its ad spending with Black media companies to 4% by the end of next year. Verizon has also made a smaller, yet similar pledge.

According to IPG, one issue in getting companies to invest in Black media companies has been a lack of Nielsen measurements and tools that media sellers rely on. However, because advertisers don’t invest in Black media companies, they have less money to invest in the tools necessary to develop those tools.

IPG has highlighted working with Black media companies including Urban One, ReachTV, Revolt, Blavity, Ebony, and Essence. The agency will also continue hosting monthly equity sessions that present the content and marketing capabilities of Black media.

Read the article at Black Enterprise