African American Newspaper Report.

Newspaper representation firm Ethnic Print Media Group and market research firm International Demographics, Inc., publishers of The Media Audit released results of the first annual African American Newspaper Report, in time for 2005 national advertising budget season.

This first annual report is a twelve month study of African American consumer trends and the readership of black newspapers. Through phone surveys with 8,993 African American newspaper readers in 55 U.S. markets, researchers evaluated demographics and spending patterns on more than 500 consumer buying points.

“Everyone in the ad industry knows that November is the critical month for agencies, advertisers and national media buyers to plan budgets for the new year,” said Ethnic Print Media Group Vice President Trevor Hansen. “There’s no doubt about it, ad spending in African American markets has never kept pace with the size and strength of the audience. We hope to counteract this by generating annual reports and certified data for the very first time that agencies and advertisers just can’t ignore. It’s time to break through the ethnic advertising divide,” Hansen said.

“This in-depth market readership study provides a detailed view of the African American lifestyle, demographics and spending patterns, and shows how vital this market is. The African American Newspaper Report, along with the first nationwide audit and readership study of our top 90 top African American newspapers, offers proof positive of the power of newspapers and the spending clout of our readership,” Hansen said.

38 million African Americans, 12.3 percent of the U.S. population, earn an annual income of more than $656 billion. There are more African American households in the U.S. — 12.1 million — than any other ethnic group. Between 1990 and 2000, this population grew almost 16 percent, nearly triple the growth rate of the Caucasian population; yet ad spending in this market has never kept pace.

Many African American community newspapers have been publishing since the early 1900’s and originally played key roles in the civil rights movement.

“As the leading ethnic media representation firm, our responsibility both personally and professionally, is to support the publishers of these locally owned newspapers and to deliver the tools advertisers need to substantiate their investments in the African American market,” Hansen said. “The numbers speak for themselves.”

Hugh Brown, International Demographics Director of Urban Marketing said, “We’ve been in the market research business for over 33 years and this is our first full nationwide study of the African American newspaper readership. What we noticed is that black newspaper readers are more educated, have more assets and greater income to purchase goods and services than the general black population. They are invaluable influencers within the African American community and are significant for marketers who are trying to leverage advertising dollars, roll out new product launches, and build awareness campaigns to this burgeoning audience. The African American market is truly an under-utilized marketing opportunity,” Brown said.

Sample study highlights

Although data from the African American Newspaper Report is invaluable to advertisers, the results are proprietary, due to the tremendous investment involved, according to Ethnic Print Media Group’s Hansen. “Advertisers, agencies and demographers can call me for detailed results or a targeted presentation,” Hansen said. Sample highlights:

· “More than 60 percent of African American newspaper readers are female, over 61 percent are in the valuable 25-54 demographic and one-half are 25-49,” said Hansen. “Nearly 60 percent of our readers are homeowners. Another one-fourth plan to buy homes in the next two years.”

· “In the food and drink categories, we know how many times our readers dined out and where,” said Hansen. “Just last week, nearly 70 percent bought fast food once and 30 percent dined out three or more times. In the same week, three-quarters of African Americans surveyed drank at least one soft drink and almost 40 percent drank five or more. Pepsi leads, with Coke and Sprite close behind. 69 percent of our readers are ‘frequent consumers’ of bottled water.”

· “African American families are big automotive consumers; most own two to four cars or more. We know how many vehicles they plan to buy; types and brands they favor,” reported Hansen.

· “The travel numbers are significant,” said Hansen. “More than half of our African American audience plans an ocean cruise. Over one-third stayed in hotels or motels ten or more nights and 40 percent flew domestically last year. Our average reader takes 3.39 U.S. flights per year and 2.23 international flights every two years. The top three airlines, Delta, American and Southwest, are tied for first,“ Hansen said.

· “The average weekly supermarket expenditures are astounding,” said Hansen. “The ‘plan to buy’ data is also very valuable. For example, we know how many African American newspaper readers plan to purchase consumer electronics, furniture and contact lenses. We know which stores they favor, how often they shop for jewelry, sporting goods and hardware. And we now have proof that our audience frequents clothing and drug stores,” Hansen said.

Source: The Media Audit 2004 African American Newspaper Report, 55 Market Aggregate, 2003 Database.

“Just what do all of these numbers mean?” asked Hansen. “For advertisers and agencies interested in growing their market share, our national network of African American newspapers delivers a sophisticated and active buying audience. This study shows how and why the African American audience is so powerful and why it can no longer be overlooked. Ethnic Print Media Group is the only media representation firm delivering new tools and certified data to help advertisers make informed decisions. We offer agencies one contact, one call and one order access to hundreds of African American markets and publications,” Hansen said.