Race And Marketing: Does Skin Color Still Matter In America?

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This article was written as a result of a heated discussion
we had on a particular Internet marketing forum recently,
regarding another article we wrote titled, "Why People Buy:
The Psychology Of Sales And Marketing."

The subject of race came up during the discussion, and we
didn't feel that an Internet marketing forum was the proper
forum to discuss racial issues. So, we decided to write this
article to voice our opinions and viewpoints about the
subject of race and marketing.

There's a strange phenomenon occuring in the National
Basketball Association. The league is getting whiter and
more foreign, and many African-American fans and players
suspect there's a lot more going on than international
meritocracy.

The perception--and perception is reality in matters of race-
-is that the NBA is trying to phase-out African American
players because of corporate (white) fans and international
marketing money. In other words, the thinking is, more white
guys who can play equals big bucks. So what, if they're from
another country.

What's going on here? Is this blatant racism at work? We
think it is, yes. However, those who debunk the race theory
are quick to point out the fact that the stockholders,
ticket buyers, and corporate sponsors are predominately
white. And it's simply not smart business to ignore your
financial backers. Therefore, they argue, it goes a lot
deeper than blatantly phasing-out African Americans. It's
about money, and the people who control it.

What a bunch of bull! Let's get real here, shall we? We're
talking about big business, people. This should be strictly
about putting the best possible product on the floor every
night--period. The color of a player's skin shouldn't
matter, but to some, it clearly does. The NBA is
obviously "too black" for some in corporate America. A small
percentage of corporate America wants to see more white
players. It's that simple. And what corporate America wants,
corporate America usually gets--even if it ends up turning
into an unnecessarily expensive lesson in economics in the
long run.

We just don't understand that kind of backward-ass thinking.
Here's why: Over the last 20 years, Michael Jordan and Tiger
Woods phenomenal popularity has been unprecendented in the
history of sports marketing.

Currently, Tiger Woods is practically the epitome of sports
marketing as he transcends the sport itself, which is
exactly what makes him unique. Nike CEO Philip Knight
explains that every time they discover a one of a kind
athlete like this one, they have to "adopt" him. The reason
behind this is that such an athlete is bound to result in
something unique no matter what.

Tiger is the world's greatest athlete and he is getting
compensated accordingly. Fans across the globe are glued to
their television sets to see his next amazing exploit, even
if they don't know the difference between a 3-wood and a 9-
iron. Tiger has elevated the seemingly mundane game of golf
to another level. He has single-handedly brought golf to the
masses.

With the phenomenal success and popularity of Tiger Woods
and other African American athletes, it's obvious, that the
average white person walking the streets in America could
care less about skin color. This is especially true of
young, white adults in the 18 to 24 age group--the ones who
propel the majority of CD sales.

How else do you explain the mind-boggling success of hip hop
music, which has become the dominant music genre in America
and around the world?

These white kids simply don't care what the artist's skin
color is. They just like the music. That's all they know and
care about. It's the decision makers running our private and
public institutions, and largest companies whom apparently
have the biggest problem with race.

Yet, it's also obvious that the vast majority of corporate
America does not practice racism. This is evidenced by the
growing number of African American and other minorities
appearing in television commercials as well as receiving
their own tv shows on cable. So, perhaps what we're talking
about here is more a problem of institutional racism, than
anything else.

Perhaps that's why most of the African American televison
shows are on cable. And perhaps that's why major network
television shows like Seinfeld, Friends, Home Improvement
and many others present a world completely devoid of color.
These shows are completely white. What major city in America
has no black people?

Yet, there is no complaint from mainstream America about the
lack of proper representation of minorities on network
television. And corporate America eagerly buys ad space on
these lily-white tv shows. In fact, NBC used to boast about
having a "Women Only" lineup with no African-American women.
Since when is femininity solely the realm of white women?

The aforementioned example speaks volumes about television
executives in Hollywood. Until their narrow-minded, racist
attitudes change, we'll continue to see "non-reality"
television shows like Friends and Seinfeld on network
television.

On the flip side of that are Hollywood movie executives.
They're finally starting to see the "big picture" (no pun
intended.) Never before in the history of movie-making have
we had six African American major box office stars, all at
the same time: Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Eddie Murphy,
Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson and Wesley Snipes.

Slowly but surely, corporate America is finding out the hard
way that racism just doesn't work anymore. However, learning
those lessons has been extremely expensive for corporate
America. In 1992, Shoney's paid $132.8 million to settle a
class-action discrimination suit brought by 20,000 employees
and unsuccessful job applicants.

In 1994, Denny's paid $54.4 million to settle two class-
action suits brought by black customers who claimed some
restaurants refused to seat or serve them. Yet, both
companies appeared in FORTUNE magazine's inaugural list of
the best 50 companies for African Americans, Asians and
Hispanics just four years later.

How did they become role models for diversity? First, by
recognizing and acknowledging the fact that race does indeed
matter. Secondly, by finally opening their eyes and becoming
business savvy by realizing that African-Americans, Asians
and Hispanics spend an estimated $920 billion annually and
that this is a business, not a social issue for them.

$920 billion annually and growing is a tremendous amount of
clout and buying power. And any institution that consciously
chooses to ignore the specific ethnic groups responsible for
those numbers, is not only engaging in abhorrently bad
business practices, but stupidity as well!

Perhaps the offending institutions should ask their
stockholders what they think about that.