CAB: Planning Guide Pushes Ethnic TV To Forefront.

As television upfront conversations focus on multicultural programming, a first-ever resource is making the rounds fast among agencies and advertisers. Called Upfront ’04/05: A Multicultural Marketing Guide, and published by the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau (CAB), the book is the only definitive single source on the various segments, issues, media, program options and ideas that comprise the current multicultural marketplace. Offered on a request-only basis to qualified advertising professionals, the guide has generated considerable word-of-mouth support; more than 1,200 copies are in circulation.

“Multicultural is no longer minority marketing, it is a mainstream imperative,” said James D. Speros, chief marketing officer, U.S., for Ernst & Young LLP and Chairman of the Association of National Advertisers. “Marketers need to better understand how to communicate with the various segments of this growing population. Upfront ’04/05 establishes excellent guideposts and practical, tangible information that marketers can put to use immediately.”

Upfront ’04/05 lists programming options in African-American and Hispanic media, and analyzes viewing trends and market segmentation from the advertiser’s point of view. The book also profiles leading cable networks serving the African-American market (BET, MBC and Tv One) and Hispanic market (Galavision, Fox Sports, Mun2, MTV Espanol, Casa Club, SiTV, VHUno, La Familia, ESPN Deportes, Voy and CNN en Espanol).

What’s more, such accomplished multicultural specialists as Pepper Miller, president of The Hunter-Miller Group, William Ortiz, President of HispanicWorks, and Rochelle Newman-Carrasco, CEO of Enlace Communications, proffer marketing insights. Segmentation insights are excerpted from the Yankelovich Partners Multicultural Study. Noted media directors Deborah Gray-Young, vice president, director of media and strategic services at E. Morris Communications and Elena Marroquin, Strategy Director at Tapestry Partners, assess the cable programming options on a network-by-network basis.

Many of the demographic and viewing facts will come as useful surprises to general-market media planners and buyers. For example:

” African-American cable viewers are 35% more likely to be professional/managerial and 29% more likely to earn over $75,000 on a household basis than non-cable counterparts.

” BET viewers are 21% more likely than ABC, 22% more likely than NBC, and 14% more likely than CBS primetime audiences to spend more than $30,000 on a car.

” Hispanic cable viewers are 65% more likely than non-cable viewers to be business professionals.

” Women 18-49 are watching 186% more primetime programming on Hispanic cable networks than in 2002, while men 18-49 are viewing 73% more.

“Knowing Census numbers cannot be a substitute for knowing consumers,” said Cynthia Perkins-Roberts, director of marketing development at CAB. “It’s essential to follow the viewers, and they are moving to cable even faster than the general market. Advertisers need actionable insights and strategies that are timely yet timeless. Every step you take toward greater understanding of multicultural media makes an impact on the bottom line.”

To obtain a copy of this guide CLICK below (Adobe Acrobat Reader required):

http://www.onetvworld.org/?module=multirsvp&format=html