(Clutch Magazine) — Although Black buying power could rival the GDP of most countries on earth, the African American consumer remains in a undervalued or more blatantly, an unappreciated position. When it comes to marketing to the Black consumer, companies still don’t get it. African Americans are forced to endure demeaning ads latent with stereotypical characters or the complete absence of Black people at all–there is often no middle ground. What is even more odd, is African American businesses from the downtown art gallery to major fashion brands who seemingly aren’t interested in consumers from their own communities. You’ve seen them, that hot new brand that’s marketing the latest “it” product. Typically many us don’t think twice about it because there is no Black presence on websites, print ads and television commercials. Suddenly you hear from the infamous “fwd” email that these businesses are owned by people that look like you and I. Somehow the lack of Black actors or at least a Latina here or there in commercials sends the signal that the company is trying to project something larger the ‘urban’ community. Or could it be that these businesses are looking to yield mainstream revenue, so they look beyond their own communities, often times the consumers that made them, and market directly to non-Blacks? Is this a smart businesses strategy or a slap in the face?
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