By Christian McKenzie
- P&G continues to win awards for content focused on racial bias
- 38% of Black consumers expect brands to support social causes
Over the past few years, P&G (PG +0.53%) has launched a series of commercials and partnerships that focus on social justice. Brand loyalty for Black consumers is driven by the belief that a brand is authentic and socially conscious; 38% of Black consumers 18 to 34 years old expect the brands they shop to champion social causes, compared to 4% of the entire population. P&G knows that it needs to stay focused on the priorities of this consumer group to win their shopping dollars.
Why This Matters: African American spending power is at a reported $1.3 trillion and brands like P&G want a piece of that. Their ads to entice this consumer base include the Emmy award-winning “The Talk” about Black parents educating their children on how to stay safe in non-minority spaces, which earned 1.9 billion media impressions. The brand also worked with ABC’s “Black-ish” on an episode that highlighted this same topic and they’ve recently released an ad called “The Look” geared towards unconscious bias Black men face.
“87% of African Americans, 83% of Hispanics, 81% of Asian Americans, 80% of LGBTQ consumers, and 78% of millennials think more companies should take a stand on important social issues”
Research group Kantar found that “87% of African Americans, 83% of Hispanics, 81% of Asian Americans, 80% of LGBTQ consumers, and 78% of millennials think more companies should take a stand on important social issues.” An executive at Nielsen stated, “if a brand doesn’t have a multicultural strategy, it doesn’t have a growth strategy, because African-American consumers, and all diverse consumers, want to see themselves authentically represented in marketing, and they want brands to recognize their value to the bottomline.” P&G is a brand that sees the buying power and value of its diverse consumers.
Situational Awareness: African Americans are 14% of the U.S. population but are 85.65% of the ethnic hair and beauty aids spend, a $54.4 million market. They also buy more than 22% of the $152 million women’s fragrance market, both are major P&G sectors. “Black consumer choices have a ‘cool factor’ that has created a halo effect, influencing not just consumers of color but the mainstream as well,” noted an executive at Nielsen. Wise brands would only benefit by supporting causes that resonate with this consumer base. But they need to also successfully avoid identity-politics pandering.
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