Minority Owned Advertising Agencies Earning Top Dollar

By Anthony Macklin
Advertisement companies are as common a business as the neighborhood diner and it takes a special intuition, and skill to stand out from the rest. Black owned advertising agencies have proven that they are on top of the charts when it comes to finding inventive ways to project a product or an idea. Carol H. Williams Advertising for example is responsible for the slogans “finger licking good”, and “strong enough for a man, but made for a woman”, slogans for KFC and Secret. Her company has now made over 190 million dollars in the past year.

Thomas J. Burrell who got his start in Chicago in 1971 made an effort to keep his business Black and find ways to advertise to Black people through large companies. He broke through when he convinced McDonalds, and Coca-Cola to create a marketing plan designed for the Black community which now has proven to be very successful, as his company’s revenue reaches up to 500 million dollars. A relatively new company named LaGrant Marketing which has offices in Los Angeles, and Tennessee has created an outlet for new business owners to target growing minority groups such as Black people in order to create a more productive business has led to an annual revenue of up to ten million dollars a year.
Then there are superpower advertising agencies such as Donald A. Coleman’s Global Hue which now grosses about 890 million dollars a year. They do advertising for groups like Jeep, Wal-Mart, Verizon and even the Census Program for 2010. They specialize in minority appeal for these companies and allow other companies to realize how important it is to gain attention of 35% of the nation that consists of minorities.

Companies have always had issues trying to find ways to advertise to the growing groups of minorities in America, especially the Black community. For some reasons companies tend to not fully understand how important and alive the market is for Black consumers. Maybe the companies undermine the strength of the Black market or fail to see the potential in investing in making a connection to the Black community. Yet for those companies that have figured that simple truth, they can’t proceed in finding a way to connect with the black population and create a beacon for their product. “The Inland Valley News serves a unique niche market.” said Jameela Washington, when questioned about advertising. The Black community based upon previous research is noted to be attracted to new and exciting things, and also things than can connect to their “roots”. If any company were to create something and advertise it so that it is new and relevant but with a cultural tie; most Black people may be inclined to partake in that product.

McDonalds and Nike have been efficient at applying the idea of relativity and a cultural relation. McDonalds featured a large campaign that starred all black actors, and put a cultural tie at the end of each commercial by saying it’s involved in the community. Nike uses very successful and influential black athletes to advertise their products. These types of actions seem as if they are exercising every resource to gain the full potential of the Black community who are notorious for spending large amounts on shoes but spend less on food.

I myself am a willing participant of this strategy; that creates the sense of being categorized. Luckily it is the African American agencies that have taken a step ahead of the curve.