One thing we can learn from Beyonce

One thing we can learn from Beyonce, besides the lessons which I am sure the organisers and sponsors have learnt or will be learning is how to mix it up to meet the needs of your audience. Ms B rocked Trinidad when she chose to remix her popular hit, "Check up on It", using the popular "Palance"* rhythm. To say it went over well with the crowd would probably be an understatement.





But someone in her camp, knew that this would work, and endear her even more to her loyal Trini fan base. I am sure, being the professional that she is, that she had a samba remix in Brazil, which was where she performed before coming here, and so on and so forth.

What we can learn from Ms B is that audiences are not all the same, and though generic messages are great, when expertly crafted, there is a lot to be gained when messages are specific to the target audience. The question then is, who is my target audience? Who am I trying to reach, and what do I want them to do? Because in essence, we communicate to initiate action generally. So what do we want, and from whom? Without understanding exactly who you want to reach, then everything else is pointless.

And once you understand your general audience, then you can go about segmenting that hodge podge into smaller targets and then work on developing a media mix based on the needs, desires, understanding and relevance of your audience. I say relevance, since with all the buzz about social media, some people may get so excited that they dive right into it without thinking about what it means for the bottom line. If your granddad hypothetically represents that group who could not give a hoot about Facebook or YouTube, but instead loves relaxing in his hammock or recliner, with the Sunday paper, then maybe social media will not get your message to him and his friends.

And I mentioned how companies too must be culturally aware when doing their marketing or risk fire and brimstone from their audience. You would notice that most franchises for example, though they are famous for certain items, would try to include an audience specific option based on where they are. So for example, in China, in addition to the chicken that has made them a strong global brand, KFC also offers youtiao, or deep fried dough sticks, a popular breakfast item, as well as Chinese-style porridge as part of its breakfast options, and the chain also converted some of its outlets to halaal only to meet the needs of Muslim customers in the UK, for example. A great many blunders have been made by companies not taking the time, like Beyonce, to understand their audience, and adapt their marketing to be relevant and culturally appropriate.

So palance, Beyonce, girl. Palance.



*Palance - A popular soca song performed by JW and Blaze which copped the 2010 Soca Monarch and Road March titles for Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago.

Knowing your audience...seriously

I earlier introduced you guys to the "racist" KFC ad and the implications of culture on the perception of this commercial. I mentioned that you really have to know your audience and understand their views, their backgrounds, their opinions or else what you communicate can escalate into controversy. The KFC ad, while a non-issue in Australia, only became an issue when it landed on the doorstep of US executives and became viral on Youtube, ultimately reaching those who WOULD take issue with the fried chicken implications.

Well, here is another example of not taking the time to understand your audience or maybe not caring about the audience. I would hate to think that they did not care about the audience but even from where I sit in the Caribbean, the implications of this were clear and I knew it would be a sore point among the members of the target group.

Essence February 2010 cover

Now, I see a good looking black man with a bangin' body. Reggie Bush, NFL star. What another woman, and in this case, thousands of black, single American and perhaps non-American women saw, is another black celebrity who is not settling down with a "sista" but instead is publicly dating a non-black woman. What makes it worse is that the issue is themed "Black Love" and for a good segment of the target audience, black love does not include the likes of Reggie Bush and his girlfriend, Kim Kardashian.

There have been a lot of comments, some indifferent but a lot, angry, from women who just are not amused by Essence's apparent lack of judgement in putting Reggie Bush on the cover of a magazine, targeted to black women, who on some counts, are tired of what they describe as the cliche successful, eligible black bachelor who settle down with everything that they are not.

Is it hard to imagine why seeing her man on the cover of Essence was not a feel good moment for many of us?

While Reggie Bush would be no more available to us were he married to a Black neurosurgeon, there's just something that doesn't feel right about seeing him on the cover of a magazine for Black women. The fact that it is the February issue and the words "Black Love" appear on the cover make the whole thing even more messy. With all the information we are getting these days about The Single Black Woman Crisis, I don't really want to see a brother who has removed himself from the single Black woman dating pool with (of all people) Kim Kardashian....

...I look to Essence to feel affirmed and inspired. The world outside is doing a fine job at telling me that Black women are not always 'in vogue'. And while I expect Essence to print stories that do call my attention to the more painful aspects of Black female life, I'd rather the men we drool over in between the pages of Essence could at least be the men who are more likely to lust after us back. Even if it's just a fantasy.

(read full blog entry here)

Other comments include (the last one is particularly scathing):

• When she told me that Reggie was going to be on the cover, I incredulously asked why him? I thought then and still do; it was a bad idea to put Reggie on the cover because all it would do was create unnecessary drama since he has no relevance to black women.
  
• If it was just this cover with Reggie on it, I could let that go, but, what I can't let go of, is the continuing decline of Essence itself and the contempt it holds for me, it's reader.
  
• I am in a mixed marriage myself and my hubby concurs. I am not an angry black women. I am just one who is disappointed in what Essence chose to display as a Pillar for Black Love. If they were doing an issuse on interracial dating, I could surely understand but not for the subject of Black Love.
  
• Why is there a white supremacist on the cover of Essence magazine? Because any person who thinks white women are better is indeed a white supremacist. Having this man on the cover is beyond offensive to me as an African American woman. He is just another crude reminder of all the black men who perpetuate racism against black women, by rejecting them and showing the utmost disrespect by choosing to date non-black women.

(read more comments from Essence readers here.)

Essence's readership has been dwindling in recent times and I am sure this cover will not be boosting their popularity any time soon. It's a beautiful cover of a beautiful looking man, but behind the man there is a story, one which you may or may not agree with or support. Though his photo was used as part of a Top 10 hottest black celebs spread in the magazine, his association with a non-black woman was clearly the overriding factor. Whether or not you agree with his choice of girlfriend is not the question. The question is does his back story support the theme of the February issue and is he the ideal person to have gracing the cover when in the past, and therein lies the rub, your readership has not fully embraced what he represents? In fact, your readership has time and again not been appreciative of black men who date non-black women. So it is not about him and his right to date who he wants, or about how interracial dating is not a big deal. A publication, trying to make money off a segment this angry about it, should probably tread carefully. It is a tenuous issue and some readers have demanded Essence make an apology. I doubt they will.

The question was raised, what if it were Halle Berry on the cover. She's dating a white model and is raising a daughter with him. But is your mostly FEMALE readership angry at Halle Berry, a woman?

I, however, don't really care who the man is dating. I just happen to enjoy the eye candy early in the morning.