10395: Blacks Heart Media Brands.

From Adweek…

Study: Blacks More Attached to Media Brands Than Whites

Report bodes well for Google and Apple

By Christopher Heine

African-American consumers are more emotionally attached to brands than whites, especially when it comes to media companies, according to a study from NewMediaMetrics (NMM). On average, according to the New York-based marketing firm’s report, blacks are 7 percentage points more attached to broadcast and cable channels while showing 5 percentage points more affinity toward digital properties.

NMM conducted an online survey of more than 2,500 black and white adults in April and May, asking them questions designed to demonstrate emotional attachment to brands. The research involved 368 brands, 66 television properties, 150 websites, 94 magazines and about 40 events ranging from March Madness to The Grammys to The NAACP Image Awards.

Twenty-four percent of blacks surveyed said they were highly attached to TV channels, while the same was true for 17 percent of whites surveyed. For digital properties, 18 percent of blacks stated they were likely to be extremely brand loyal versus 13 percent for whites.

NMM’s findings also involve data on individual brands, showing that Google and Apple products are popular across both segments.

Its study revealed the top five brands among blacks in this order: Lexus (64 percent); Google Search (62 percent); Mercedes-Benz (61 percent); Google (60 percent); iPod (59 percent); and iPhone (59 percent). Other brands that are more popular with African Americans than whites include General Motors, Slim Fast, Tide, Fidelity, Ragu, Walmart, Levi’s, Campbell's and Lowe’s.

The report’s top five for white consumers were iPhone (59 percent); Disney Parks (58 percent); Google Search (55 percent); iPod (54 percent); and iPad (54 percent).

Gary Reisman, a former exec at media companies like Turner Broadcasting and CNN.com as well as ad agencies Y&R, Draftfcb and Wunderman, is one of NewMediaMetrics founders. Reisman suggested that breaking down consumer segments by ethnicity helps advertisers get better campaign results.

“Ethnic groups are critical market segments to understand and leverage,” he said. “Finding these individuals is critical to extracting revenue from money invested in marketing/media.”