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Multicultural Marketing News – Black History Month Newsmakers, Speakers, Experts and Events

Thursday, Feb 11, 2021
Multicultural Marketing News February 2021

February is Black History Month

In this issue:
Newsmakers
  • Who Will Tell the Story? (INFUSION)
  • Black Lives Matter! (Vision Strategy and Insights)
Speakers
  • Arva R. Rice, President and CEO, New York Urban League
  • CultureBeat® Welcomes Chris Robinson
  • Lauren Wesley Wilson, Founder & CEO, ColorComm Media Group
Experts
  • Horowitz Research
  • EMCAY
  • fluent360
  • Bold Culture LLC
  • Quantasy + Associates
  • Wil Power Integrated Marketing
Events
  • ADCOLOR and Facebook Celebrate Black History Month with Three-Part Content Series
  • CultureBeat Celebrates Black History Month!
  • Explore the Intersectionality of Black LGBTQ Americans – Community Marketing & Insights (CMI)
Who Will Tell the Story?
My creative director who leads the agency’s African-American efforts, Hadji Williams, shared a story about a newspaper ad from his childhood ‘that won many big industry awards and so vividly illustrated the story painted by Madison Ave. about people like me’.  The ad showed a black teen in a tracksuit proudly holding trophies with the headline, ‘If you want to see how fast he can really run, wait until his girlfriend tells him she’s pregnant.’ I also unfortunately recall that ad, and remember how commonplace it all was. Advertising tells stories: About a client. A product. An audience… And so many ads have told such small backwards stories about Black people largely to appease others rather than ask why this segment doesn’t gratefully buy into what they are being sold. Companies lately have stepped up in support of BLM, D&I and the 15% Black Pledge. But effective African-American marketing goes beyond representation, solidarity messaging, or the news cycle. And that’s why so many Black communities are still fighting to have their stories told and honored—even in our spaces where the end goal is to sell more telecom services, burgers or cars. Yes, it starts with supporting Blacks’ contribution to society, pop culture trends, social opinion, entrepreneurship – and shaping the lens on brands. But it’s about being deeply rooted in the community with consistent engagement, offerings, and intentional acts of loyalty, predicated on actions and purpose. It’s about their contribution to your business growth, centering African Americans as customers worthy of equitable investment at every level, and infused into the common business culture and paradigm.  It’s understanding and reflecting Blacks’ multi-dimensional characteristics and lifestyles in meaningful empowered context. At INFUSION, we’ve honed our passion for AA communities into winning work for our clients while fostering lucrative bonds with African American audiences. We understand that Multiculturals, including African Americans, are a people of infusion, whose depth is a cauldron of resiliency, creativity, experiences, histories and narratives. There is no one single African American voice. No one style. No one correct tone. No one way to be Black. No one face… because their substance, meat, soul, and worth takes continual deep dives to comprehend. The future of our industry rests not in tech or economic advancements, but in who will tell and honor the stories that bring us all to richest and truest definition of who African-Americans are, and who they hope to be. And who we all hope to be. By Liz Castells-Heard, CEO & Chief Strategy Officer, INFUSION, 213-688-7217, 213-305-4129, liz@adcastells.com.
View full company profile here.
Black Lives Matter!
“Our lives and the way that we live our lives have always mattered. No longer is it acceptable for marketers to give a ‘head nod’ to our existence. A deep understanding of our lives, our culture, our history and our impact on this country’s history  are required to meet our needs and influence our product and service choices. This expertise is what inspired me to co-found Vision Strategy and Insights.” – Brenda P. Lee
With over 20 years of marketing, consulting, market research and business management experiences, Brenda is uniquely qualified to provide her clients superior data driven strategic consulting services. Prior to forming Vision Strategy and Insights, Brenda founded and managed The Quan Market Research – a marketing consulting company offering marketing management, research and consulting services across various industries. In an earlier life, Brenda managed world-class brands for Campbell Soup Company and The Coca-Cola Company as a brand manager. Prior to her tenure in brand management, Brenda worked as a Management Consultant for Bain & Company. Brenda earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida A&M University; holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania (with emphasis in marketing and finance); and, holds a Master of Arts from the School of Advanced International Studies at The Johns Hopkins University (with emphasis in international relations and international economics). Brenda has also earned a Master Moderator designation by coupling her wealth of qualitative research experience with her advanced coursework at the RIVA Institute. Brenda resides in Baltimore, Maryland with her two daughters. Contact info: brenda@visionstrategyandinsights.com.
View Brenda’s full Speaker profile here.
View full company profile here.
Arva R. Rice, President and CEO, New York Urban League
Arva Rice is a passionate community leader who has dedicated herself to creating pathways to success for young people with a focus on girls and women. Arva currently serves as President & CEO of the New York Urban League. The New York Urban League is leading the way underserved African-Americans are educated, employed and empowered across the 5 boroughs. For the past 100 years we’ve inspired, influenced and ignited over 1 million black people to achieve their highest aspirations. Arva is a member of the Women’s Forum, Greater New York Chapter of The Links Incorporated, a Commissioner for the NYC Equal Employment Practices Commission and Trustee at First Corinthians Baptist Church. Arva is a 2013-2014 Annie Casey Fellow, a national fellowship for government and nonprofit leaders focused on supporting innovation solutions for children. Arva graduated from the Northwestern University. She currently lives in Harlem.
View Arva’s full Speaker profile here.
CultureBeat® Welcomes Chris Robinson
C+R Research welcomes Chris Robinson as a vice president to its qualitative division and MMR’s Speaker Showcase. As one of the newest members of C+R’s CultureBeat® team, Chris brings over 25 years of experience as a client marketer, agency business leader, and market researcher. Trained in improvisational theater, he is a natural at putting respondents at ease and connecting with them to glean insights for his clients. Since 2004, Chris has worked as a qualitative research consultant where he has worked with a broad array of consumers, including African Americans, acculturated Hispanics, children, teens, seniors, doctors, moms, thought leaders, and corporate executives. He has designed and executed studies across many industries, including packaged goods, financial services, automotive, home improvement, beverages, and technology. Before joining C+R in 2020, Chris designed and executed qualitative engagements for Kantar, led the Chicago office for Carol H. Williams Advertising, and headed up African American and Youth Marketing for General Motors. Chris holds a BS from Kettering University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
View Chris’s full Speaker profile here.
View full company profile here.
Lauren Wesley Wilson, Founder & CEO, ColorComm Media Group
Lauren Wesley Wilson is an Award –Winning Diversity and Inclusion Strategist. Lauren currently serves as Founder and CEO of ColorComm Media Group and ColorComm, Inc. In 2011, Lauren founded ColorComm, Inc., the nation’s leading women’s platform addressing diversity and inclusion across the communications, marketing, media, advertising, and digital arena. Lauren has provided 40,000+ professionals with the tools and resources to advance, has secured 500+ jobs for ColorComm Members, and has worked with Fortune 500 companies on their D&I strategy. Lauren has been recognized by PR Week’s 50 Most Powerful in PR, Ad Age ‘Women to Watch’, PR Week’s 40 under 40 Award, The Root 100, New York Women in Communications, among many others. In 2017, Lauren was selected to serve on the Glass Lions Jury at Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, France. Prior to ColorComm, Lauren worked in political communications serving as the Communications Director for Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and as a Media Strategist/Media Booker for President Barack Obama’s Reelection Campaign. Following the Campaign, Lauren worked as a Communications Strategist at the prestigious crisis firm Qorvis/MSL overseeing media strategy and crisis communications for international governments and consumer brands. Lauren graduated from Spelman College with a B.A. in Political Science and from Georgetown University with an M.A. in Communications.
View Lauren’s full Speaker profile here.
Horowitz Research
With over 25 years of being a leader in multicultural market research and consumer insights, Horowitz has the methodological expertise and the cultural finesse to deliver actionable, nuanced insights into the diversity of the Black market across industries. Offering a full range of quantitative and qualitative solutions, Horowitz has helped clients in media, TV, advertising, skincare, haircare, toys, music/podcasts/radio, talent acquisition, automotive, and more unpack the nuance of the Black market. If you are looking to elevate your brand’s African American strategy to the next level, you can count on Horowitz to deliver the grounded research you need to build brands that shine, products that delight, content that resonates, and messaging that engages.
View full company profile here.
EMCAY
EMCAY specializes in Multicultural Marketing aligned to the pharmaceutical industry dynamics. Our award winning African American market campaigns are truly making a difference in helping address healthcare disparities across the nation.  Our services include strategy and business analysis, creative, digital, production, media planning & buying, and local market activation. Most importantly, our services are cross functional and highly applicable to the pharma stakeholder mix, executed flawlessly through a cultural lens. Whether you’re looking to build your initial business case and pilot or setup a corporate capability inclusive of multiple cultures, aka COE, across your entire corporation, we are the most experienced team in the industry. Our team has built some of the most successful multicultural pharma campaigns. From launches to post LoE, from diabetes and CV to oncology and rare diseases, we have done it.
View full company profile here.
fluent360
fluent360™ is one of the foremost agency leaders shaping the multicultural marketing industry. Equal parts integrated marketing agency and cultural hub, we specialize in giving brands a resonating voice to effectively speak to various cultural segments– both ethnic and consumer niche followings. As a multi-talented, multicultural agency, we offer a full spectrum of communication services from our Chicago, Nashville and New York City offices. fluent360 works across Hispanic, African American, Asian American, and LGBTQ with seasoned specialist teams for each audience sector. We call this “True Multicultural” – an agency approach designed for the realities of today’s consumer.
View full company profile here.
Bold Culture LLC
Bold Culture is a data-driven multicultural communication consultancy with expertise in cross-cultural marketing insights and developing inclusive workplace cultures. Through its dual-lens of marketing and talent development, Bold Culture offers marketers, advertisers, recruiters and HR managers tailored research & insights, workshops, audits, strategic plans, roundtables, ongoing consulting, and connections to diverse talent at all levels. Bold has a specific focus on helping companies connect to Black, Latinx, LGBTQIA+ audiences and talent across their intersections. Reach out to Darren Martin Jr at darren@boldculture.co or text us at (917) 745-5475 for more information.
View full company profile here.
Quantasy + Associates
Quantasy + Associates is a fully integrated brand services agency, taking on our client’s biggest challenges because we believe culture as a whole will be better when they’re solved.
What we believe at Quantasy + Associates:
At Quantasy we’re introducing a new era of thinking.
We’re marrying influence and creativity to unlock new possibilities.
We’re innovating in new and unexpected ways to drive culture in the right direction.
We don’t seek opportunity, we create it.
We don’t just embrace change, we drive it.
We are the voice of the new generation,
Asking new questions to finally get new answers.
View full company profile here.
Wil Power Integrated Marketing
As President & CEO of Wil Power Integrated Marketing, Wil Shelton has grown the company into a global salon, stylists and barber marketing agency offering a full range of traditional and digital marketing services to the multi-cultural masses in the beauty and grooming industries. He is the driving force behind the company’s business development and creative strategy. Under his direction, the agency designs and executes targeted campaigns to connect global brands to the industry authentically to reach their multicultural consumer. Prior to starting his company Wil started out being a salon owner and hairstylist and that is where Wil’s vision for Wil Power Integrated Marketing was born of hard-won experience. He knew a different kind of agency was needed-a firm that takes a holistic and integrated approach towards promoting salons, stylists and barbers, while consistently over-delivering on value and responsiveness. With a network with over 100,000 African American salons and barbershop nationwide and the ability to reach over 100 million consumers annually, Shelton feels that it’s important for brands to have multicultural divisions or arms because most brands are setting up multicultural departments. “Multi-Cultural marketing is becoming more and more an important part of the business for the hair industry,” he said. “Brands are taking advantage of this and they are seeing it in their bottom line.” Wil specializes in aligning both new and familiar brands with his company’s core ability to produce creative campaigns that authentically speak to the multicultural consumer. One of his many successful partnerships includes pairing AT&T with top beauty salons and barbershops. Wil Power Integrated Marketing’s expertise paid off for global brand AT&T when they were tapped to maximize awareness around the AT&T Code of Culture campaign with authenticity.
View full company profile here.
ADCOLOR and Facebook Celebrate Black History Month with Three-Part Content Series
This Black History Month, ADCOLOR has teamed up with Facebook to present a three-part content series titled The Black Voice: Upheld, Included and Heard. The series will tackle the topic of inclusion from three distinct angles, exploring how attendees can shift from awareness to concrete action. Each session will be led by trailblazing leaders, creators, brands and agencies who are advancing their industries and creating progress in the areas of DE&I. 
The three sessions are as follows: 
February 11 | 6:30pm ET: Cultural Appropriation in the Process 
What can the community do to respectfully elevate culture in media? How can brands integrate the very cultures and creators that inspire their creative work? Who are the people and brands that have done it well?
February 18 | 6:30pm ET: Equality in the Creator Economy
How can influencers know and demand their value? How can companies ensure they are being fair and equitable partners when engaging creators, especially people of color?
February 25 | 6:30pm ET: Supporting the Black Voice
How do we represent black voices authentically in the mainstream? How can brands sustain a commitment to black audiences and black-owned media?
The series will be free and viewable on ADCOLOR’s virtual event site. To attend, please join the ADCOLOR community here and be sure to follow ADCOLOR on social (@adcolor) for additional updates.
CultureBeat Celebrates Black History Month!
C+R Research’s CultureBeat® team is very excited to celebrate Black History month with articles shining the spotlight on the celebratory nature and resiliency of the Black community, the Black Family – and specifically the role of Black Fathers, and more. Additionally, join us for our next live panel with members of the Black community. We’re reconnecting with panelists from two of our most-viewed live discussions, “Amplifying the Voice of the Black Consumer.” You’ll hear directly from Black consumers about where they feel things are now and whether they believe that brands support them. REGISTER NOW!
During this moderated conversation, you’ll learn about Black consumers’:
  • Current views & personal experiences
  • Reflections on the impact of the social movement triggered by the killings of Blacks
  • Outlook on recent political shifts and the impact they anticipate
  • Reactions to what companies/brands are doing and have done to support the Black community
Opinions around what’s still left to be done, including how companies/brands can support & elevate the Black community
View full company profile here.
Explore the Intersectionality of Black LGBTQ Americans
The Center for Black Equity (CBE) and Community Marketing & Insights (CMI) have released the Black LGBTQ Community Survey results, in recognition of Black History Month, February 2021. Earl D. Fowlkes, Jr., President/CEO of the Center for Black Equity said, “The Center for Black Equity initiated the new research in order to better understand the hopes and needs of the Black LGBTQ Community for the upcoming years. This survey is an important first step, so data can help inform progress in developing solutions to health, economic, and social issues impacting communities of color.” CMI is an LGBTQ-Owned and -Operated research company, founded in 1992 and is an NGLCC-Certified LGBT-Owned Business Enterprise. The company operates a large LGBTQ research panel, and helped organize research partners as well as sixty Black LGBTQ Prides, media, organizations and influencers who recruited participants for the study. The full survey report on Black LGBTQ Americans is available to download at no charge. To receive a free copy, please send your request to: research@cmi.info
View full company profile here.
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February 2021 Newsletter

Asian Lunar New Year – Year of the Ox begins Feb 12th
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