From Adage.com…
Najoh Tita-Reid Leaves Procter & Gamble
As Multicultural-Marketing Exec, Headed ‘My Black Is Beautiful’ Campaign
By Ken Wheaton and Jack Neff
NEW YORK -- Najoh Tita-Reid, the associate director of multicultural marketing who captained the “My Black is Beautiful” initiative at Procter & Gamble, is leaving the company, she revealed on an industry panel today.
The push overseen by Ms. Reid began in 2007. Backed by several of the company’s beauty and personal-care brands, it was aimed at addressing negative media stereotypes regarding African-American women. The effort has mainly focused on educational and public-relations events, but also most recently included a contest for a model to appear in Pantene advertising. Additionally, the initiative helped underwrite the MSNBC documentary “Meeting David Wilson” last April, which was followed by a 90-minute live discussion on race at Howard University anchored by Brian Williams.
Ms. Reid’s future is yet undetermined. She said she initially planned to join another consumer-products marketer, but recent events led her to reconsider. She said her parting with P&G was on good terms.
‘A great legacy’
“I feel like I was able to make a great impact,” said Ms. Reid on a panel at the One Club today moderated by Ad Age Big Tent blogger Pepper Miller. “I feel like I’m leaving a great legacy and a great team behind.”
Speaking about the need for African-American voices in corporate boardrooms, Ms. Reid said: “I was that voice at P&G, and that role was vast.”
The campaign run by Ms. Reid at P&G was supported by such billion-dollar behemoths as Pantene, Olay, Crest and Always. It took the unusual tack in multicultural marketing of recognizing that many Hispanic women are also black, looking to traverse a difficult boundary and create an effort that could work across both communities.
