The Big Tent

Ebony Has Evolved, but Will It Be Enough?

Facing a Possible Sale, Mag Still Struggles to Shed Staid Image

Posted by Pepper Miller on 09.28.09 @ 05:29 PM

Pepper Miller

I wonder how many readers of this blog have recently read Ebony. Ebony is a good magazine and the Ebony/Jet website is great. After rumors and speculation about Ebony's financial challenges, Newsweek detailed the issues surrounding the potential sale of the oldest magazine targeting African Americans. According to Newsweek, Johnson Publishing, holding company for Ebony and Jet magazines and Fashion Fair Cosmetics, has approached buyers and investors that include Viacom (owners of BET), and Time Inc. (owners of Essence Magazine).

Teachable Moments From the Skip Gates Incident

Getting to Honest Conversations About Race

Posted by Pepper Miller on 07.29.09 @ 01:35 PM

Pepper Miller

See. I told you. It's not over. Barack Obama's election as the first Black president of the United States did not make it go away and nor did Obama's election push America into a post-racial environment.

But we owe Skip Gates and Sgt. Crowley a nod of thanks in a way. The arrest of a high-profile Black Harvard professor for trying to get into his own house made national headlines and trumped so many more critical stories that race couldn't be swept under the rug this time, because it speaks to where we are and aren't today.

Do African-Americans Need a Separate Search Engine?

What Went Wrong With Rushmore Drive

Posted by Pepper Miller and John Parikhal on 06.25.09 @ 04:26 PM

Pepper Miller

RushmoreDrive.com, the first black search engine, recently shut down only a year after its launch. This raised the question about whether there is a market for a black version of Google.

Rushmore Drive was the brainchild of Barry Diller's IAC, which just reported a "first-quarter net loss of $28.4 million compared to a profit of $52.8 million in the same quarter a year ago."

Even in Obama Era, Ethnic Identity Is a Big Deal for Some Youth

Don't Be Too Hasty in Assigning Ethnicity a Secondary Role

Posted by Pepper Miller on 06.11.09 @ 11:14 AM

Pepper Miller

I have the proverbial egg on my face. In a somewhat knee-jerk reaction, I applauded Culture Lab for a post called "Marketing to Youth in the Obama Age -- Is Urban or Multicultural Still Relevant?"

I was excited to see the youth perspective that I have been hearing in focus groups about race for some time. And among Black youth, many often say they want to be recognized for their accomplishments first and "blackness" second.

Reclaiming Black Identity: Mainstream and Black Media Still Have Work to Do

And How Marketers Can Gain by Filling This Need

Posted by Pepper Miller on 04.27.09 @ 12:02 PM

Pepper Miller

Kenneth and Mamie Clark, legendary African-American psychologists, conducted experiments in the 1940's using dolls -- one white, one black -- to gain insight on racial perspectives. They asked black children a variety of questions about the two dolls and learned a majority of the children -- 63% -- said they'd rather play with the white doll and, in fact, favored the white doll's beauty and indicated the white doll was the better doll overall (good vs. bad).

For Black Websites, Blackness Is Important ... but Not the Only Thing

Relevance Is About Content and Culture

Posted by Pepper Miller on 04.10.09 @ 01:15 PM

Pepper Miller

"Why do you people have to attach race to everything, including websites?"

That question, though rarely asked out loud by mainstream marketers, is often implied in other questions when they ask about Black media. And it was a specific challenge to Ken Smikle who, last month, held Target Market News' second-annual African-American Internet Summit in Chicago. It was attended by nearly 200 people and included some of the brightest minds in marketing, advertising, market research and the digital space.

Buying Black Isn't Racist; It's Necessary

Black America Is Still Playing Catch-Up

Posted by Pepper Miller on 02.03.09 @ 02:15 PM

Pepper Miller

John and Maggie Anderson of Oak Park, Ill., made headlines in December when they pledged to help jump-start the economy by exclusively supporting Black-owned businesses for an entire year beginning Jan. 1.

How Will White America Respond in the Obama Era?

Marketers Should Be Wary of Wishful Thinking About Assimilation, Racism

Posted by Pepper Miller on 01.13.09 @ 03:37 PM

Pepper Miller

There is much discussion about the impact of the Obama presidency on the Black community. In particular, Obama's presidential election has illuminated kitchen-table conversations and buzz in the Black community about accountability, responsibility and, of course, pride. Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about this mind-set and these conversations in "Obama and the Myth of the Black Messiah": "The truth is that the dominant conversation in the black community today is not about racism or victimization, but about self-improvement." This topic is not as new as the media tends to promote. Yet the Obama presidency will no doubt provide the African-American community a focal point to help keep it on track.

What the Hell Was CNN Thinking?

'D.L. Hughley Breaks the News' Sets Us Back 20 Years

Posted by Pepper Miller on 11.03.08 @ 12:45 PM

Pepper Miller

I love D.L. Hughley. The man is funny as hell and smart. I've seen his stand-up routine live and on HBO. I really got into him from his frequent guest appearances on "Politically Incorrect." Always insightful, quick-witted and with that no-nonsense street humor, I was hooked. In fact, I liked him on Bill Maher's show maybe even more than his stand-up. I was impressed with his knowledge and insights about the political landscape; albeit raw at times, his comments were spot-on. So when CNN announced that it was producing a show for him -- "D.L. Hughley Breaks the News" -- I was right there. "Good move," I thought as I envisioned a Larry King one-on-one or Bill Maher-type group discussion format.

The Truth About Black America

Radio One / Yankelovich Study Shatters Myths

Posted by Pepper Miller on 07.15.08 @ 02:22 PM

Pepper Miller

"Myth Buster." It rolled off my tongue unrehearsed and unplanned while presenting a sampling of findings and insights from the Black America Today study commissioned by Radio One (the largest U.S. radio broadcasting company targeting Black Americans) and conducted by Yankelovich.