Author: Jazmin Brooks

By Jeanine Poggi, published by AdAge

Agency pledge comes as ad world looks to diversify its media spend in this spring’s ad haggle

IPG Mediabrands is committing to invest a minimum of 5% in Black-owned media across all of its clients in aggregate by 2023.

This comes as brands and their agencies reevaluate their media spend heading into this year’s upfronts, with plans to shift dollars into minority-owned media companies that have long been overlooked.

Black-owned media companies, led by media mogul Byron Allen, have rallied together in recent months to call for brands to spend a minimum of 2% of their ad budgets in Black-owned media.

Mediabrands’ commitment to invest 5% in aggregate leaves room for clients to spend more or less, depending on the extent to which they are already working with these media companies.

Black-owned media companies represent less than 2% of total spend in 2020, according to Nielsen Ad Intel, despite Black consumers representing 13% of the population. Black consumers also represent $1.4 trillion in buying power. In 2021, IPG’s Magna estimates the available impressions for Black-owned media equated 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,” Daryl Lee, global CEO at Mediabrands, said in a 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.”

One hurdle in getting brands to invest in minority-owned media companies has been the lack of Nielsen measurement and deep analytical tools that brands have come to expect and rely on from media sellers. There’s also been concern regarding scale.

But it’s been a bit of a chicken-or-egg scenario: Advertisers don’t invest in these outlets, which in turn means they have less dollars to invest in content to grow audiences or build more sophisticated ad products, continuing the cycle.

Breaking the Patterns

The goal this year is to break those patterns. Mediabrands’ commitment is aimed at investing in these companies to help them build their reach, which in turn can help advertisers better connect with more diverse audiences.

Elsewhere in the industry, General Motors announced last month that it would dedicate 4% of its advertising budget to Black-owned media by 2022 and 8% to 2025 after its CEO Mary Barra was called out by Black-owned media executives for refusing to meet with them.

Verizon also said it would commit at least 2% of its ad budget with Black-owned media as part of its new responsible marketing action plan.

Mediabrands recently held its Equity Upfront, highlighting Black-owned media companies including Urban One, ReachTV, Revolt, The Source, Blavity, Ebony and Essence, and their audiences to clients.

“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, U.S., of Magna, Mediabrands’ 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.”

The agency will continue to host monthly equity session that present content and marketing capabilities of Black-owned media across channels. It will also host session for Asian American and Pacific Islander, Hispanic and LGBTQ+ identifying media companies.

Read the full article in AdAge

Published by SHOOT Online

NEW YORK – IPG Mediabrands 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–which is Mediabrands’ global media investment and intelligence company– 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, U.S., of MAGNA. “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 SHOOT Online

By Steve Barnes, Published by O’Dwyer’s

IPG Mediabrands says it will work to invest a minimum of five percent in Black-owned media channels in aggregate across all clients by 2023. The announcement follows the division’s first Equity Upfront, part of a long-term equity and equality strategic investment initiative designed to foster deeper exposure for and partnerships with Black-owned media partners. Nationally, Black-focused media spend in 2020 remained below two percent of total spend, according to Nielsen Ad Intel, despite Black consumers being more than 13 percent of the population. In addition to hosting monthly equity sessions that present the content and marketing capabilities of Black-owned media across media channels, Mediabrands and MAGNA, its global media investment and intelligence company, will host inside track sessions to provide learning and growth opportunities. Later this year, MAGNA will also host equity sessions for Asian American and Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and LGBTQI identifying media companies.

Read the full article at O’Dwyer’s

By Kyle O’Brien, published by AdWeek

Many still have trouble accessing content easily

One glaring oversight is leading many marketers to fail to connect with a substantial audience.

A recent study found that brands need to prioritize accessibility and inclusivity in their communications planning to more effectively reach people with disabilities.

Communications agency Current Global, media investment and intelligence company Magna and IPG Media Lab conducted the “Digital Accessibility: The Necessity of Inclusion” study, which found that while people with disabilities, representing 15% of the global population, consume all types of media, many of those people have trouble accessing content comfortably and easily.

Missed Connections

People with disabilities have a collective global buying power of $8 trillion and represent a significant audience that marketers may be excluding by default or by design. Consider these numbers cited in the study:

• 285 million people are visually impaired; 39 million are blind and 82% of all blind people are age 50 or older.
• 466 million people have disabling hearing loss; by 2050, that number will rise to over 900 million.
• Between 1-3% of the population have an intellectual disability, as many as 200 million people; intellectual disability is significantly more common in low-income countries—about 16 in every 1,000 people.
• About 18.5 million people have a speech, voice or language disorder.

 
That’s a relatively large segment of the population that isn’t been served properly by marketers.

The study participants were from the U.S. and the U.K. and had visual, hearing, cognitive or speech disabilities. This segment of the population consumes all forms of media, including visual content like TV, social media and short online videos, but social media platforms can be difficult to use for people with all types of disabilities. Problems include small text, misleading buttons, ads interfering with posts, too many menu options and difficulty of navigation.

Building a Better Toolbox

 

Read the article in AdWeek