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'Movement' marketing

Procter & Gamble shapes a new campaign around black women.

There's a little-girl memory that Najoh Tita-Reid recounts, as a way of explaining what's behind a new campaign by the nation's biggest advertiser.

A child in suburban Pittsburgh, she goes to play dolls with her neighbors, all of them white. Her doll stands out with its black color and features, and one girl says pointedly: "Najoh, our dolls can't play with yours."

Why not? "Because your doll is ugly," comes the reply.

Fast-forward 30 years, and Tita-Reid is helping lead a Procter & Gamble Co. campaign called "My Black is Beautiful," which combines marketing with forums meant to foster dialogue about black women and the way they are portrayed in popular culture.

The marketers involved say it's a movement, not just advertising. But it aims at a group with growing buying power, estimated at more than $400-billion and is tied to brands including Olay skin care, Pantene shampoo, CoverGirl cosmetics, and Always and Tampax feminine care products.

P&G placed a special ad section in the Essence December issue and is working on store and community promotions. There's a Web site, plans for a multicity "conversation tour," and grants to community organizations to support young black women.

The campaign has similarities to rival Unilever's "Real Beauty" initiative for Dove, which focused on self-image. It fits with a marketing push by P&G, which spends $7-billion a year on advertising, to build brand image and goodwill - and sales.

"It's getting beyond the selling of the product," said Mike Robinson of Cincinnati's LaVerdad Marketing & Media, focused on ethnic marketing. "You're going to get more share of the heart, more share of the mind, and ultimately, more share of the wallet."

Experts say mass marketers generally have been slow to target a black female population that is increasing in income, education and professional advancement. They say gains by black women are a major reason black spending clout is growing at a faster rate than the overall U.S. population's - the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia estimates black buying power of $799-billion in 2006 will be $1.1-trillion in 2011.

"My Black" began with P&G research that showed black women were frequent users of beauty products, spending at three times the rate of the general female population. A P&G/Essence poll found black women say they are portrayed worse than other groups in the media and pop culture.

"This was an affirmation of what we know about this woman," said Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications Inc. "There is so little content in media today that reflects African-American women overall. What does exist tends to be more stereotypical."

Tita-Reid, associate marketing director of the multicultural team, sees "My Black" helping pave the way for her baby daughter.

"I see an incredible future for her; I see African-American women celebrated for their beauty and diversity and being empowered to challenge the way they are portrayed," she said.

Fast facts

The manifesto

The Procter & Gamble Co.'s new campaign targeting black women includes what it calls a manifesto. Here's its beginning:

From the color of my skin, to the texture of my hair, to the length of my strands, to the breadth of my smile. ...

To the stride of my gait, to the span of my arms, to the depth of my bosom, to the curve of my hips, to the glow of my skin, my black is beautiful.

It cannot be denied. It will not be contained, and only I will define it. ...

[Last modified November 14, 2007, 01:05:40]