Will brands make good on commitments to Black-owned media?

It's no secret that, historically, there has been a lack of accountability when it comes to advertisers’ allocating spending in alignment with their stated corporate values.  Specifically, spending with Black- and women-owned media companies have been hurt by the swift migration of ad dollars away from publisher content to social media and search advertising. Over the past two years, as corporations have begun to consider their accountability to racial justice, and following high-profile lawsuits from industry leaders like Byron Allen, founder and CEO of Allen Media Group, some big brands have committed to investing at least 2-5% of their ad budgets with Black-owned media.

But we have a long way to go in funding diversity of voices in publishing. Despite these small victories, the community has been showered with more virtue signaling and grand gestures than actual dollars: SHE Media’s recent survey of its community of more than 2,000 independent publishers and influencers indicates that under-represented media is still waiting to see impact. 

Less than 15% of respondents said they have received increased outreach directly from advertisers in recent months. However, many publishers are optimistic about the future.  74% of respondents either believe or somewhat believe that advertisers will follow through on their commitment to investing in historically under-served publishers and creators. The issue of timing and metrics remain up for debate. Of the respondents who do believe advertisers will follow through on their investment commitment, 52% believe they will see incremental investments in under-served publishers within 6 months or a year while 22% of respondents believe it will take more than a year.

If there is one thing the smartest business leaders in this community want to shout from the mountaintops, it’s that spending ad dollars with under-served publishers is not charity. It’s the right thing to do because, not only will brands exhibit consistency in claims to value representation of diverse voices, spending with diverse publishers delivers ROI to brand businesses. 

“There are business advantages for the brands, the clients [and] the groups that figure this out first,” Kirk McDonald, North America CEO of Group M, said during a SHE Media BlogHer panel on accountable advertising in June.

‘Everyone is in the room’

At the Ad Age Next: Multicultural Marketing virtual conference, Black Girls Eat Founder LA Dunn and SHE Media CEO Samantha Skey joined Ad Age Studio 30 contributing editor Natalie Zfat for a candid conversation dispelling misconceptions about diversity in media and to amplify McDonald’s point.

If I am in the room, everyone is in the room," said Dunn, who founded Black Girls Eat in 2018 to show Black and Brown people that they don’t have to be white or rich to live a healthy, plant-based lifestyle. Dunn’s statements reaffirm her own commitment to representing the needs of the community of under-served publishers.

As health has become a greater priority for so many during the pandemic, it completely changed the relationship Black Girls Eat’s audience has with food. “My clients went from very casual, kind of trendy, thinking ‘It might be nice to eat healthier’ to ‘I can fight this thing. I can be stronger. I can help my family be stronger,’” said Dunn. “I was thrilled for the opportunity to pivot in that way.”

And even though Black Girls Eat is targeting a specific audience, its mission has universal appeal. Or, as Dunn said, “My heart is local, but the love is global.”

Connecting brands with the right content, while serving both audiences and minority-owned businesses

When SHE Media was founded 15 years ago, it was fueled by a desire to create inclusive media and a more responsible content distribution landscape. Today, the company partners with independent publishers—including Dunn and Black Girls Eat—who often represent underserved communities and face significant underfunding from advertisers. To garner attention from brands looking to reach specific audiences, SHE focuses on partnering with outlets that produce high-quality, high-performing content with far-reaching influence over their digital communities.

“Our technology is deployed across over 2,000 websites,” Skey said. And SHE’s platform has benefited from over a decade of learning and refinement with those partners.

According to Skey, many brands are still reticent to dive into the world of independent media companies. The biggest barrier to entry, Skey said, is that advertisers are blindly investing around 75% of their ad dollars in social platforms that have no responsibility to produce quality content, represent the advertiser’s values or compensate creators. That’s where SHE Media comes in.

SHE Media's platform reaches an audience of 80 million people, according to ComScore. For the advertisers, their content can have a much more direct, meaningful impact on a segmented audience, including the Black Girls Eat community. 

“We are able to deliver greater economic value to independent publishers without compromising efficiency for the advertiser,” Skey said.

When advertisers invest in platforms like Black Girls Eat, Skey said, their money reaches a dedicated audience while funding the impactful work of these Creators, all while delivering ads within best-in-class editorial environments.  

Dunn acknowledged that, despite the recent gains and investments by major brands in Black-owned media, many challenges remain. "I am definitely representing the hundreds of influencers who I know and love and are looking for the same opportunities,” she said, adding one caveat regarding the perception of the community as niche: "There is nothing micro about me.”

Those opportunities go both ways for advertisers, agencies and publishers alike, SHE Media and partners like Black Girls Eat propose. Not only can such collaborations lead to greater equity in the media industry, but—if business history has taught us anything—those with the prescience and entrepreneurial spirit to recognize the moment have the most to gain.

As Tanisha Colon-Bibb, founder of Rebelle Agency, said during the BlogHer panel on accountable advertising, “Every time the industry changes and there is a chance for brands to innovate—and they are the winners.”

Learn more about SHE Media Meaningful Marketplaces, and reach out to SHE Media directly at [email protected]