Minorities in America's Consciousness · Marketing to Minorities: Expansion and Development (1950s-1990s)

Before the late 1950s, nearly all advertising in the United States was geared toward the interests of the white consumer, excluding African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans, and other minorities.1 Even advertisements that appeared in minority media simply darkened the skin color of the subjects depicted in general media publications. Starting in the 1950s, Advertising agencies recognized the African-American population, the largest minority population of the time, as a potentially high-profit market with individual needs and wants. This led to industry researchers beginning to segment the market and target their advertising toward specific populations in order to attract more buyers. As a result, businesses created advertisements that addressed the desires of African-Americans instead of assuming African American consumers’ needs and desires mapped directly onto those of whites.

"Influence of the Afro-American." John Benjamin Harris Papers. Box 1. Folder: “The Case for Negro-Oriented Newspapers. For Eastman Kodak Company, 1967."

John Benjamin Harris, a prominent advertising executive in the late 20th century, noted in his MBA thesis that the African-American community was a domestic market that could be easily tapped.2 In 1966, he authored a research report, “The American Negro and His Media,” that argued that African-Americans frequently listened to radio and TV, especially through different kinds of black-oriented media. His research showed that readers of African-American newspapers like the Washington Afro-American were more likely to retain the information in those advertising pages and regard them as more trustworthy.3 Harris’s market research concluded that African-Americans were more likely to be brand-conscious and loyal to brands that showed a strong, non-stereotypical interest in their community. Companies with ads that used prominent black figures such as architects and doctors rather than typical sports stars were viewed positively by the African-American focus group in Harris’s research. Advertising specifically to African-Americans then became a phenomenon in the advertising industry, with Bob Dore Associates circulating a pamphlet to advertisers arguing for the viability of advertising in African-American media and the expansion of their market share.

"See The Man Who's Selling Fords." J. Walter Thompson Company Competitive Ads. Box 1968-30. Folder: "Ford"

"Ford Thunderbird Mock-up." Goldfarb Consultants Ford Research Reports. Box 1. Folder: Black Consumer Market Research.

This trend becomes more evident through the two Ford print advertisements pictured to the right. Here, the conclusions of market research in the 1950s and 1960s are put into practice with the Ford Thunderbird sketch (bottom) in contrast to the newspaper ad (top) that features all-white models. The accompanying report in the Goldfarb Consultants papers notes that the African-American focus group enjoyed advertisements featuring members of their race being successful, but found this particular concept generic and the use of “Esquire” too pompous.

"Automobile Consumer Analysis." Goldfarb Consultants Ford Research Reports. Box 1. Folder: Black Consumer Market Research.

While African American consumers finally gained the attention of advertisers and marketing researchers during this time, other minority groups still remained largely ignored in advertising research. Several tables of statistics in the United States list races as white and Negro or white and Negro/Non-white. In the Goldfarb papers, an analysis of automobile owners in the United States only differentiates between white and Negro consumer demographics, proving that Ford was not thinking about targeting Hispanics, Asians, or other minorities who they still may not have seen as prospective automobile owners. Advertisers assumed that the other minorities were negligible and not worth the effort of targeted advertisements until the 1980s.

Norris, James D. Advertising and the Transformation of American Society: 1865-1920. New York: Greenwood, 1990. 159. Print.
“1955 MBA Thesis.” John Benjamin Harris Papers. Box 1.
“The American Negro and His Media.” John Benjamin Harris Papers. Box 1.
“Arrive in Style.” Goldfarb Consultants Ford Research Reports. Box 1.
Shankar, Shalini, and publisher Duke University Press. Advertising Diversity : Ad Agencies and the Creation of Asian American Consumers. Durham ; London: Duke University Press, 2015. 57. Print. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
Norris, James D. Advertising and the Transformation of American Society: 1865-1920. New York: Greenwood, 1990. 56. Print.