DEI

“We've been giving them grace for 400 years.”

After the murder of George Floyd and the societal, if not economic power of the Black Lives Matter movement, corporate America pinky-promised that it would open its hearts and minds, and most importantly, its wallets, to help close racial disparity gaps. Now, media agencies are trying to step up to the plate and invest equitably in Black-owned media properties.

Stat: Less than 2% of total ad spend went to Black-owned media companies in 2020, despite Black consumers representing 13% of the population, according to Nielsen data cited by Ad Age.

And yet—despite promises and pledges from agencies—Black-owned media executives are seeing few tangible wins.

• “We’re having performative conversations with them,” Todd Brown, CEO of Urban Edge Networks, told Marketing Brew.
• On March 4, Munson Steed, publisher and CEO of Black lifestyle media company Rolling Out, took a meeting with Dentsu. Yet he said fewer than 5% of the meeting attendees had their cameras on. “They don’t care,” Steed told us. “Most ad reps or media buyers are going to buy what they bought last year.”
• “We are having positive conversations. Now I need action,” Michele Ghee, CEO of Ebony and Jet Magazine, wrote to Marketing Brew in an email. “We expect brands to step up and honor their commitments to the Black marketplace using Black media as their vehicle of choice.”

Their requests are simple: Invest in Black-owned media specifically, not just “minority” owned, which might mean white women, or Black-targeted—which would include BET, owned by ViacomCBS.  

Black media owners say they're sick of hearing the same excuses. While some brands will readily write checks for untested media (uh, Quibi?), Black-owned media companies claim they don’t get the same treatment. 

400 years: Describing a meeting between Verizon and Publicis for Black-owned publishers, Brown was frustrated to be asked for patience.

“They all talked in general terms about the status quo of the industry and this notion of ‘Kumbaya,’ you know, we're going to get around to you,” he said. “And they were asking us to give them grace. We've been giving them grace for 400 years.”

Read more about why Black media executives are wary of agency’s pledges here.—RB

STREAMING

Seven minutes in heaven

Roku’s latest series is slightly meta: It’s a show about what you can watch on the platform. 

More specifically, “Roku Recommends” is a weekly 15-minute program hosted by entertainment reporter Maria Menounos and former NFL wide receiver Andrew “Hawk” Hawkins that premiered this week. 

During the show, the two discuss the top five series and movies of the week based on Roku’s trending data. The hosts won’t solely be plugging shows from The Roku Channel; content from Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and other streamers is also fair game. 

But it’s really an advertising play. The show is the first to come out of Roku’s brand studio, which officially opened for business in March with the goal of producing “creative ad formats and TV programming tailored for marketers.”

• Walmart is the show’s first sponsor, and Roku said several other “national advertisers” have signed on as well. The series will live on The Roku Channel as well as its main platform.
• Roku Recommends will not only give people an overview of what to watch each week, but also offer advertisers a chance to grab viewers’ attention before they move onto a subscription-based streamer where ads are a no-go. In other words, someone might watch the series to get ideas for what to binge next—and see messages from the likes of Walmart—before settling on a Netflix show. 

Bottom line: On average, people spend roughly seven minutes searching for something to watch, according to Nielsen data cited by Roku. This is Roku’s attempt to help marketers make the most of those seven minutes.—MS

SPONSORED BY ITERABLE

Did You Forget Something? 🛒

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Check out their Template for Shopping Cart Abandonment—a little guide to help you navigate customer behavior and bring those purchases home. Tips and tricks include:

• How to get a clear understanding of shopping habits by utilizing key data points
• Critical questions to ask yourself when it comes to measuring, testing, & optimizing   
• What to do every time a shopper leaves items in their cart and walks away

Retailers, don’t let those shopping carts collect dust. 

Download Iterable’s guide today.

MOBILE

For Pride, brands embrace the QR code

This Pride Month, the rainbow is out and the QR code is in. Okay, fine, the rainbow is decidedly not out—but some advertisers are latching onto those little pixelated squares you’ve been scanning at restaurants for the past year. 

• Skittles partnered with queer activist Blair Imani to roll out “QueeR codes.” Scan the codes on murals commissioned by LGBTQ+ artists—which are popping up across the US—to learn about the artists themselves.
• Macy’s also went for an out of home approach this year, painting rainbow heart-enshrined QR codes on the sidewalk outside its Herald Square, NYC, store. The codes reveal a custom Macy’s Pride + Joy (aka the department store’s larger Pride initiative) filter on Instagram, a Macy’s spokesperson told Marketing Brew. 
• H&M put its own twist on the QR code by developing a “web based scanner app” for Pride Month. Open the app, scan anything rainbow-colored, and you’ll land on a web page with stories about LGBTQ+ H&M employees and influencers.

Looking ahead: QR codes are kind of like middle schoolers who listen to Pavarotti—ahead of their time. “Now that these codes are understood, accepted, and part of the consumer's everyday life, brands have an opportunity to get creative with how they have to use them and the type of information they will share,” ZenPup CEO and cofounder Jen Weatherhead told Digiday. 

ICYMI: They’re also becoming more popular among TV networks.—PB

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• MediaMath—one of the only remaining major independent ad tech firms—is once again exploring a possible sale.
• Spotify’s new Discovery Mode feature is being investigated by Congress over artist concerns. 
• Twitter debuted Twitter Blue, a subscription service for those who want extended tools on the platform, such as an undo button and folders for organizing tweets.
• Disney’s ad sales department is launching an accelerator program for minority-led businesses.

SPONSORED BY LINKEDIN MARKETING SOLUTIONS

Not all who wander are lost, but the same shouldn’t go for your ads. You want your marketing efforts to be good, right? So, why are they reaching who knows who, who knows where? Help your ads stay on the right track, and read our article on the four secrets of advertising. 

FRENCH PRESS

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren't those.

Strategies: Not sure what “licensed content” means or what it could do for your marketing strategy? Find out here.  

Stories: These 32 Instagram Story hacks are pretty helpful, but mostly we just like that Hootsuite compared its must-try Instagram hacks guide to a beach read. 

Mobile: You can make a lot of mistakes on a cell phone that some might say are even worse than drunk texting an ex—like these 10 v harmful mobile SEO mistakes, for instance. 

It’s like a museum of text messages. Texts We Love is Attentive’s new browseable showcase of real text message marketing campaigns, sent by leading brands. Experience how you can make SMS one of your top revenue channels with Attentive’s 30 day free trial for qualified brands.*

METRICS AND MEDIA

Stat: In a recent Spotify and Magna survey, 43% of respondents said they’re receptive to podcast ads. But only 17% said the same of TV ads.

Quote: “They’re selling soap, man!…You wanna know what’s happening in American culture? Watch advertisers.”—President Joe Biden on the prevalence of mixed race couples in advertising during his speech in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this week. 

Read: Retail Brew’s deep dive on if (and how) mask brands can outlast the pandemic.

ICYMI

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Women in their thirties love TikTok—and brands are taking notice
• All about HBO’s new ad-supported streamer
• Why advertisers can’t buy their way into this year’s Pride month