What's Black About It?

Chicago, IL

(BlackNews.com) - Two of the nation's foremost African-American marketers have joined forces to author a landmark book that contains power strategies designed to help companies capture more of the $723 billion dollar buying power from the African-American consumer. Written by Pepper Miller and Herb Kemp and titled, What's Black About It? Insights to Increase Your Share of the Changing African-American Market, this pioneering reference is being hailed as a long-awaited tool and a standout in the universe of marketing references. Gleaned from their decades of market research and observations, What's Black About It?

Insights to Increase Your Share of the Changing African-American Market offers in-depth, qualitative insights and quantitative information on Black culture. It also gives a unique glimpse into the breadth and depth of the Black experience.

Herb Kemp

The authors say that the book debunks myths and provides rare clarity into the mindsets, aspirations and subtle differences. Importantly, if understood, appreciated and applied, the information can motivate marketers to create inspired and intelligent advertising and marketing campaigns that will resonate with the customer and propel sales.

Published by Paramount Books, What's Black About It?... presents historical, psychological, and cultural influences that dig far deeper into the Black experience than the demographics that are at the heart of other ethnic marketing books and market research reports. The book is an even more compelling guide than other marketing tools because it contains conclusions supported by pop-culture sidebars, statistics and insights from focus groups that have never been cited before in any other reference.

The authors say they were inspired to write such a book because the messages that bombard the airwaves often fail to connect with African Americans.

Says Miller, Many advertising agencies and corporate marketers are too often guilty of viewing Black life through media images that hype, distort, exaggerate and 'caricaturize' the black experience.

Kemp adds, Most marketers don't realize that the African-American consumer market is projected to exceed $1 trillion by 2010 and is one of the largest, highly-visible and most-influential segments; yet, seemingly, it is also the most misunderstood and undervalued by today's corporate consumer marketers.

Pepper Miller

According to William Mitchell, Director of Customer Research for American Airlines, What's Black About It? Insights to Increase Your Share of the Changing African-American Market is a first-rate book that will, no doubt, alter the way Corporate America views and markets to African-American consumers.

Kevin Giglinto, VP Marketing for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, adds: This book illustrates the power of reaching out. It not only shows the importance of marketing to and communicating with the African-American community, but it also defines how rewarding those efforts can be.

And Jay Forbes, VP Customer Development, Drug Store News & Retailing Today, describes it as a great read for any marketer seriously interested in succeeding with the fast-growing, economically-powerful African-American demographic.