By CultureBanx Team
CBx Vibe: “Re Up” Belly
Beats is arguably the world’s most iconic headphone brand. Its success was built on the success of hip hop culture and catapulted to new heights when Apple (AAPL +0.06%) acquired the company. There have been very few product advancements, so is Apple leaving Beats and African-American aestheticism behind?
Why This Matters: Apple needed to tap into black culture to differentiate its headphone product from the competition. The company shelled out around $3 billion to acquire the Beats back in 2014. Herein lies the dilemma for Apple, even though they own Beats outright, it’s clearly in direct competition with their in-house AirPods brand.
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In 2017, Nigeria had more than 4.6 million privately owned vehicle
Ghana’s economy expanded by 8.5% last year
CBx Vibe: “Offshore” Rae Sremmurd
German carmaker Volkswagen (VOW3.DE +1.93%) has signed memorandums of understanding to expand its business in Nigeria and Ghana. The locally assembled vehicles should hit the market in January 2019.
Why This Matters: The company plans to assemble cars in Ghana and transform Nigeria into an “automotive hub on the western coast of Africa over the long term.” Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo stated the country will welcome investments in agriculture, finance and factories, as the economy expanded by 8.5% in 2017.
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CBx Vibe: “Is You Ready” Migos
The democratized new digital world has enabled African Americans to create and control their own story like never before. More than half of all black people have lived their entire life in the digital age, thus making it a central focal point on driving how they operate daily. Due to this brands must meet these powerhouse consumers on the front lines of the digital battlefield.
Why This Matters: The digital landscape gives black people unlimited exposure to the most recent trends and social influencers shaping the U.S. economy today. Brands looking to connect authentically with African Americans need to understand they are multi-platform media consumers. This ethnic group spends over 46 hours a week tuning into TV and more than 19 hours weekly on smartphone apps and the internet, according to Nielsen.
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PBC operator manages Floyd Mayweather, Deontay Wilder & Errol Smith
Annual TV rights fees could reach more than $50M
CBx Vibe: “Tune In” Massari
Boxing while black leads Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) to ink a four-year agreement with 21st Century Fox (FOXA -0.22%), for the rights to carry its circuit of fights. The two groups hope a consistent level of exposure to the sport can bring it back to mainstream popularity.
Why This Matters: Boxing manager Al Haymon operates the PBC circuit and his clients stand to benefit greatly from this new deal. Champions Floyd Mayweather, Deontay Wilder and Errol Smith are just a few of the boxers Haymon manages. Now that PBC has more broadcast partners there’s going to be an increase in the number of fights taking place, this should also raise the amount of money fighters make.
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CBx Vibe: “D.R.E.A.m” Freeze Clark & Frank Righteous
What started out as a risky venture for 7th Floor Clothing founders Frank Miller and Preston Clark quickly turned into one of Akron’s premiere retail companies. The two men remixed the Cleveland Cavaliers logo on a championship t-shirt, already claiming the team had won before they played in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. “It was a big gamble because the team had never won a championship, said Miller.”
They’ve moved beyond t-shirts to a full scale clothing company. “We create a lot of capsule pieces around current events and they’re all limited items, said Clark.” LeBron James also gave the company a major assist by wearing their signature "Kiss the Trophy" hat. It depicts a frog with a crown wearing a Cleveland Cavaliers jersey and kissing a championship trophy. In 2016, the company posted revenues of $356,000.
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CBx Vibe: “Bad Company” ASAP Rock
Nigeria is once again taking aim at Africa's largest mobile phone company MTN, this time hitting the company with at $2 billion tax bill. The latest skirmish with authorities highlights just how bad things are getting for the telecom giant on the continent.
Why This Matters: Nigeria’s Attorney General said the high tax bill was due to "the importation of foreign equipment and payments to foreign suppliers over the last 10 years." With about 54 million customers, MTN is Nigeria’s biggest wireless carrier and its most lucrative market. The country’s business brings in a third of MTN’s annual core profit. Nigeria’s AG asked the South African company to carry out a self assessment in response, but rejected the company’s findings, according to Bloomberg.
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CBx Vibe: “Goals” Futuristic
AT&T’s (T +0.26%) new WarnerMedia company has taken a big step to diversify Hollywood at all levels. The media conglomerate comprised of Warner Bros, Turner and HBO announced a company-wide policy on diversity and inclusion, in front of and behind the camera.
Why This Matters: The first project to fall under the new policy is Warner Bros' "Just Mercy," directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Michael B. Jordan, according to deadline. Jordan was one of the first actors to confirm he’ll include inclusion riders in projects from his production company Outlier Society.
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CBx Vibe: “I Might Need Security” Chance the Rapper
Discrimination on Wall Street reared its ugly head once again, only this time six current and former black financial advisors at JPMorgan (JPM -0.01%) decided to fight back and won. Instead of going through what was shaping up to be a long drawn out legal battle, the nation’s largest bank settled an ongoing lawsuit with the aforementioned employees for $24 million.
Why This Matters: The lawsuit was brought by advisers across the country, Jerome Senegal in Texas, Erika Williams in Illinois, Brent Griffin in Wisconsin, Irvin Nash in New York, Amanda Jason in Kentucky and Kellie Farrish in California. The six plaintiffs claimed JPMorgan sent white advisors to wealthier places and assigned black colleagues to less lucrative branches, along with denying them opportunities.
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