Black America Buying Power

impactful market segment on market and consumer purchasing trends in the history of the world. Looking at this fact from a global perspective, lets take a look at one of the fastest growing global consumer markets, Africa, which knowledgeable people know has over 900 million consumers that are experiencing a high level of consumerism for the first time. Communications is leading way with mobile communications doing what African governments could not do..connect the African continent. African Americans are at the lead in education and understanding consumerism and is well positioned to support and join with their emerging African brothers and sisters in help them navigate the world of capitalism and consumerism in a manner that benefits the entrepreneur and more importantly black people. The African Union recognizes this fact through their recognition of the African Diaspora as part of the African Union,
Today we spot light a leader in understanding the African American market, Mr, Ken Smikle, President and Founder of Target Market News. We salute him and recommend him as a reliable, trusting source for trends and news regarding the African American market. Please review the information below for more information about Target Market News.

KEN SMIKLE
President, Target Market News

Ken Smikle, president and founder of Target Market News, and editor and publisher of its publications, is considered one of the leading authorities on marketing, advertising and media directed to the African-American market.

The company’s trade publication, Target Market News, covers business activities in advertising, marketing and media targeted to black consumers. Its annual report, The Buying Power of Black America, analyzes how African-American consumers spend billions of dollars in hundreds of categories of products and services.

The company also distributes news and information on the latest developments in marketing and media through its website, www.targetmarketnews.com. Target Market News also hosts the annual Black Consumer Research and Advertising Summit, a two-day conference for senior executives engaged in African-American marketing, media and research.

Smikle has appeared on CNN, CNBC, CBS News, NBC’s “Today” show, ABC’s “World News Tonight,” “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and “Marketplace,” and numerous other television and radio programs. He is frequently quoted in Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Advertising Age, Publishers Weekly and other leading periodicals.

As a speaker, Smikle has addressed diverse audiences such as the Democratic Caucus Conference of the U.S. House of Representatives; employees of Nike, Pepsi Cola, Quaker Oats and organizations like the Association of National Advertisers, the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the Advertising Federation, the Food Marketing Institute, the National Association of Broadcasters, the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, the National Alliance of Market Developers, the United Way and the American Booksellers Association.

Prior to starting Target Market News in 1988, Smikle worked as an editor and publisher for a number of periodicals. He was senior editor for Black Enterprise, the leading magazine chronicling African-Americans in business.

Smikle presently resides in Chicago with his wife, Renee Ferguson, an investigative reporter at WMAQ-TV, and son, Jason.

Company History and Background

Target Market News, Inc. was founded in 1988 with a mission to provide news, information and research on the nation?s largest ethnic group, African-American consumers. Based in Chicago, it is the only company of its kind in the industry.

The company publishes Target Market News, a monthly trade magazine. The publication features reports on advertising, marketing, research, public relations, media and the latest business developments and statistics related to the black consumer market. The Target Market News Bulletin is an electronic newsletter that delivers up-to-the-minute developments in African-American marketing and media.

Target Market News, Inc. also publishes The Buying Power of Black America, an annual report which details and analyzes the purchases made by African-American households in 500 categories of products and services. In addition to the national edition, individual reports are available for each of 30 largest black consumer markets. The report is the nation’s most widely quoted information source on the spending habits of African-Americans.

Target Market News hosts conferences and trade shows that present the most up-to-date research and trend data available on African-American marketing, media and consumer behavior. These events bring together corporate executives and companies with expertise in advertising, marketing, and media that target black consumers. These exchanges of information take place through panel presentations, workshops and informal networking sessions.

Since For the past nine years, the The Marketing to African Americans with Excellence (MAAX) Summit (formerly the Black Consumer Research and Advertising Summit) has offered a two-day conference examining the latest research and trends in African-American marketing, advertising and research. The event, which takes places in Chicago, has attracted hundreds of key executives from major corporations.

The African-American Magazine Summit was founded in 2003. It is the only forum to bring together black magazine publishers and executives and the marketers that do business with them. Through this unique Summit, new insights and opportunities are being forged for black-oriented magazines and advertisers that target the African-American market.

For the latest information, data and trends on African-American consumers, visit Target Market News online. By logging on at www.targetmarketnews.com, you can read news, excerpts from our reports, review black consumer statistics, as well as order publications and register for company events.

Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde will star in the live-action adaptation of the Platinum Studios graphic novel with Jon Favreau directing.
Favreau, who is represented by CAA, will direct the long-gestating DreamWorks/Universal project, which previously had Downey attached last summer. Daniel Craig has since replaced Downey. Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer and Ron Howard is producing with Steven Spielberg, Platinum Studios CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
Story is set in the Old West, where cowboys and Native Americans battle in Arizona (should be Texas) — until a spaceship crashes and a new enemy equipped with superior technology emerges. “Cowboys and Aliens” is based on the Platinum Studios Comics graphic novel written by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley.
The popularity of 3D is evident to everyone in Hollywood. It’s pretty apparent that a comic adaptation like Cowboys and Aliens is a of film that would benefit from the 3-D treatment; but we should hope studios won’t make it 3D just because its popular instead of focusing on the story, diversity and symbolism possible from a film that has at its core the history of America’s wild wild west. I also hope they do not overlook the diversity of the cowboys. This could be result in some very interesting characters.
That graphic novel was published in 2006, but Hollywood has been hot for the high-concept project since “Cowboys and Aliens” was first acquired by Universal and DreamWorks in 1997. The script has been through at least seven rewrites.
Favreau and Downey will work together on “Iron Man 3,” which will likely be distributed by Paramount Pictures in its multipicture deal with Marvel Entertainment despite Marvel’s $4 billion acquisition by Disney.

Psychologist Craig Anderson of Iowa State University and his team analyzed existing studies of 130,000 people from the U.S., Europe and Japan. His findings held for players in Western and Eastern cultures, for male and female players and for players of various ages. They also contradict some earlier studies, whose findings the current authors say are tainted by “selection bias” — the method by which they selected studies to analyze.

The new study notes that while violence in movies and TV shows has long been examined for its potential impact on viewers’ proclivity for violence, video gaming, a much newer phenomenon, has not yet been so fully explored.

In its review of data, the new research found that exposure to violent video games was associated with aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition and aggressive “affect.” It desensitizes users and is associated with lack of empathy and a lack of “prosocial” behavior.

In an accompanying commentary, Christopher Ferguson and John Kilburn of the department of behavioral applied science and criminal justice at Texas A&M International University note flaws in Anderson’s analysis, including what they say is his own selection bias. Ferguson — whose earlier research is the main object of Anderson’s criticism — points out that, even with what he views as a bias in Anderson’s selection of studies, Anderson found only a weak connection between violent video gaming and violent thoughts and deeds. Finally, Ferguson notes that violent crime in the U.S. and other developed nations where video games are played has decreased over the decades during which video gaming has grown in popularity. The commentary concludes:

Although it is certainly true that few researchers suggest that VVGs [violent video games] are the sole cause of violence, this does not mean they cannot be wrong about VVGs having any meaningful effect at all. Psychology, too often, has lost its ability to put the weak (if any) effects found for VVGs on aggression into a proper perspective. In doing so, it does more to misinform than inform public debates on this issue.
Michael D. Gallagher, president of the Entertainment Software Association, responded in a prepared statement:

Numerous authorities, including the U.S. Surgeon General, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and numerous courts have thoroughly and critically examined the social science research and found that it does not establish any causal link between violent content and violent behavior.
Most recently in 2008, Drs. Cheryl K. Olson and Lawrence Kutner, co-founders and directors of the Harvard Medical School Center for Mental Health and Media, conducted a study funded by the U.S. Department of Justice on the effects of video games on young teenagers. In contrast to previous research, they studied real children and families in real situations. In their authoritative analysis, Grand Theft Childhood, they found that ‘the strong link between video game violence and real world violence, and the conclusion that video games lead to social isolation and poor interpersonal skills, are drawn from bad or irrelevant research, muddleheaded thinking and unfounded, simplistic news reports.’
But the new study’s authors, confident in their findings, say it’s time to move toward a fix:

Concerning public policy, we believe that debates can and should finally move beyond the simple question of whether violent video game play is a causal risk factor for aggressive behavior. Instead, we believe the public policy debate should move to questions concerning how best to deal with this risk factor. Public education about this risk factor — and about how parents, schools, and society at large can deal with it — could be very useful.
“Video games are neither inherently good nor inherently bad,” the study says. “But people learn. And content matters.”

Do your kids play violent video games? Do you think those games affect the way they think or act?

With the rise of the iPhone and other smart phones, more people are using their mobile phones to search the Web, watch video and get news. According to a recently released survey from the Pew Research Center, one-fourth of Americans say they get some form of news on their cell phones.

And where there are consumers of media, ads typically aren’t too far behind. The advertising industry has talked for years about the moneymaking possibilities in mobile advertising – from text-message campaigns to tagging popular applications with marketing messages – and now analysts see it beginning to fulfill expectations.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau has projected that the mobile ad industry will grow from $416 million in 2009 to $1.6 billion within three years.

“In the past, you had people talking about it in a hypothetical way, but now you have real adoption; the campaigns are out there,” said Greg Sterling, mobile analyst with Sterling Market Intelligence in San Francisco. “You’ve got real consumer behavior out there now, creating opportunities for advertisers. The challenge for advertisers is to match that and take advantage of that.”

One of the biggest players in mobile advertising, Millennial Media, is based in Baltimore. The company – founded by Paul Palmieri and Chris Brandenburg in 2006 – got in on the ground floor of the emerging industry.

Within the past six months, heavyweights Google and Apple have acquired two of Millennial’s top competitors for hundreds of millions of dollars each, leading many analysts to believe that the mobile ad industry is on the verge of a breakout year in 2010.

For Palmieri, a veteran wireless executive, launching Millennial was the culmination of a long fixation with how to leverage on-the-go technology for marketing.

“I had thought this would be a huge opportunity for many years,” said Palmieri, 39, Millennial’s chief executive and president.

The growth of the mobile Web and availability of fancier phones mean that consumers can expect an intensifying stream of advertising targeted straight at their portable devices. Advertisers are starting to appreciate that consumers interact with their phones differently than they do with their laptop and desktop computers.

But overall spending on mobile advertising last year was just a fraction of total online ad spending, which totaled $24 billion. Believers in the mobile ad industry still have to convince companies and marketers that seeking to reach consumers through portable devices is at least as worthwhile as reaching them through television, print, radio and traditional online means.

“It’s still a very fragmented marketplace,” Sterling noted. “Advertisers aren’t going to pay attention until there’s enough value being delivered.”

Generally, advertisers who want to market to mobile phone users can choose among three formats: display, search and text message.

Display ads are shown as part of mobile Web sites and within applications, similar to the kind of advertising shown on regular Web sites but adapted for smaller screens. A consumer clicks on the ad and usually is directed to a mobile Web page with more details about an offer. Search-based marketing involves ads shown alongside Web searches for specific terms – an arena where Google already has a strong presence.

In the future, consumers can expect to see display and search ad campaigns dominate on their mobile phones, while a smaller percentage of marketers continue to embark on text message campaigns, according to industry statistics.

Mobile ad networks, such as the one run by Millennial, strike deals with Web site publishers to build an audience of mobile phone users. Using its own computer technology that can disseminate ads to mobile phones, Millennial can target different demographics within a broad audience of the Web sites in its network. The company has thousands of sites, services and mobile applications in its network that it can make available to advertisers.

“We can target moms in the Northeast on a rainy weekend,” Palmieri said.

Mobile advertisers also can embark on interactive campaigns that would be harder to pull off on the desktop Web, mainly because the advertising is tied so closely to the phone and text-messaging experience.

For instance, Millennial teamed up with Paramount Pictures to promote the movie “Eagle Eye” a month before its release in 2008 with a “mobile challenge” sweepstakes. Participants viewed mobile pages and received text messages plus two interactive phone calls from a woman who sounded like a main character in the film, the mystery caller. The campaign generated millions of ad views, and got half of the viewers to opt into taking the sweepstakes challenges – a high rate, according to Millennial.

Another trend that cell phone users will likely experience in the near future is location-based advertising.

The Media & Entertainment Professionals Group on LinkedIn has now reached 25,000+ members. Join us on LinkedIn today at: http://tinyurl.com/owt8ob

This group is for next generation media and entertainment entrepreneurs and professionals interested in or working on the evolution of Publishing, TV, Film/Video, Internet and mobile content. This group is run by Grapevine Star Entertainment Inc., Join us at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=100208 and http://www.GStarSite.com.

Owner: Jacob Miles : @JacobMiles
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobrmiles

Manager: Scott Monaco : @ScottMonaco
http://www.linkedin.com/in/quietyell

Become part of discussions like:

• Is it Time to Re-examine Trends in Consumer Behavior & Marketing?
• Keyword Density & Its Importance In SEO
• U.S. Immigration Options for Media and Entertainment Professionals
• Are you using Twitter to maximize your search visibility?Twitter and Real Time Search
• Are you watching movies on your mobile phone?
• What is the ballpark price figure for a TV series treatment in one of the big studios?
• And Hundreds More!

Join us at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=100208 and http://www.GStarSite.com.

Time Warner’s Warner Bros. announced a new team of executives to make broader use of its portfolio. Housed at DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson presents her new team: Geoff Johns, a seasoned comic book and television writer, a great combination of skills, he was announced as Chief Creative Officer. The entrepreneurial Jim Lee, comic book creator and producer, Dan DiDio and maestro of the DC Universe Brands were appointed as publishers of DC Comics. It’s clear that Diane is focused on putting together a creativity focused team. There is no question that the focus of the team must be to leverage DC’s extensive library of characters, creating stories that are relevant to all forms of media, publishing, gaming, mobile, new digital and film. We have to take into account that DC currently releases over 85 comics per month through various imprint brands, while participating in the hot area of 3D graphic novels. Jeff Robinov, President of Warner Bros Pictures Group understands more than anyone the impact of comics and anime of feature films, having recently made several announcements about films based upon comics including Green Lantern, Jay Chou has been cast as the legendary Kato, originally played by the legendary Bruce Lee.  Jay Chou said, “It’s an overwhelming experience to take on a role made famous by Bruce Lee. I won’t try to be Bruce Lee’s Kato – I will try to bring my own interpretation to the part. Of course, it’s a dream role, and I’m looking forward to the challenge.” We will close with Jay’s comments, it is clear that Comics and Anime is a major player and influencer in the media and entertainment industry. CHOW!!!!!!

What do you think about the Comic and Anime industry or Trend Segment….is it an influential market Niche?

It’s funny how quickly things can change. Now it’s rare that a week goes by when I don’t read a press release about a new newspaper-run social network. And I’m increasingly hearing about separately-branded niche sites, which is something we tried early on with sites like The Northwest Voice, Bakotopia and others. Some of these, like Pioneer Newspaper’s The JHub, use our technology, while others like Dan Wheeler’s BigLickU (don’t worry, it’s safe to click that link!) or Morris Communications’ Savannahnow use other technology and, increasingly, open source solutions such as Drupal.

A few months ago, it really struck me how far this industry has come. I was speaking at an event along with Jennifer Carrol, vice president for new media content at Gannett. She talked about some of Gannett’s efforts to reach out to underserved audiences, including pet owners and moms. Their Indymoms.com site was particularly interesting to me because I’ve been telling people for years about how my wife (a mom of two) has little time to read the newspaper, but rushes to the Boulder RocknMoms Yahoo Group whenever we need a recommendation for a plumber, information on food allergies and a variety of other subjects.

Now, Editorsweblog cites a report that Gannett’s niche Web sites, of which Indymoms is only one, are set to bring in $3 million per year. And this is is happening during a year when mainstream newspapers are seeing massive declines in circulation and revenues.

There are many ways to interpret this data, but my personal view is that less time and more choices push people toward niche products. And they stay with them because they solve problems in ways that are more in tune with the changing rythms of their daily lives. This is the gist of a presentation I just gave to members of the Georgia Associated Press News Council.

There’s no way to buck the niche trend because it’s being driven by forces that are outside of the control of media companies and the advertisers they depend on. For this reason, I believe the future of the newspaper industry lies in giving every niche audience possible a little place of their own, while still maintaining the ability to aggregate and segment audiences for advertising, and to deliver vital news and information that’s relevant to everyone.

The implications of this are staggering if you take it to its logical conclusion: we must operate more like Yahoo Groups or Ning than a traditional newspaper. Instead of relying on one portal for everyone, we must have literally thousands of local hubs that focus on niche interests and micro communities. We’re just now starting to get our minds around this and how to really make it work. Check in with me in another 6 months and maybe I’ll have a solution.

I realize this may sound a little nutty, so let’s take this out of theory and back down to earth. In my wife’s case, it’s clearly much more efficient to post a note on the moms’ Yahoo group in the morning asking for plumber recommendations, knowing that her mailbox will contain 3-5 trusted choices that night, than it is to spend a little more time fishing various Web sites, newspapers and directories for leads. We’ve had so much success with this “Mom Knowledge Network” that I now ask her to post questions on my behalf — for example, when I was looking for someone to build a deck, and again for someone to finish our basement. In both cases, we found very good, dependable contractors who were vetted from other moms. And those scrutinizing moms don’t lie!

Gannett didn’t stop with Indianapolis and Cincinnati. It’s now rolling out 39 moms sites across the country, potentially turning a few local niches into a national vertical with local hubs.

Just so nobody mistakes this post as a big ad for Gannett, there is a tangential tie-in to another company — The Sacramento Bee, owned by McClatchy — and The Bakersfield Californian. Not long ago the Bee came to us asking if they could use our Bakomatic software (the technology behind Bakotopia and our 9 social hubs in Bakersfield), and they secured the rights via our licensing arm, Participata LLC.

And what’s the first site they launched with it? You guessed it: a moms site! SacMomsClub.com launched late last week and is already experiencing good early growth. According to the Bee’s Rick Rodriguez, SacMomsClub is …

… a place where mothers can connect with one another online, share experiences and communicate on issues important to them and their families. The site includes calendars, forums, blogs, photo galleries, contests, links to helpful information and news stories.

And from development manager Blaine Wasylkiw:

Visitors to the site will play a pivotal role in creating, guiding and shaping the content and direction of the site, and it will continue to evolve to meet the needs and wants of our audience.

But that’s not where the niche story ends. Gannett’s own Arizona Republic earlier this year launched Amp.az, a youth-oriented social networking hub in Phoenix modeled after our Bakotopia.com. Also powered by the Bakomatic software, it’s evolving into Phoenix’s underground entertainment hub.

AZCentral.com also gives every user the right to a profile and blog using Bakomatic. And on top of that, they’ve created an Arizona Moms hub inside AZCentral that reskins profiles and blogs on AZCentral so that moms can connect with each other.

With all the focus lately on dismal financial numbers and print circulation trends, I think it’s important to keep the big picture in mind. While some see a world where newspapers cease to exist and sites like Slashdot serve as primary news sources, I’m seeing a very different trend.

Yes, many (but not all) people are ditching print and turning to all-digital news, sometimes from traditional news companies and sometimes not. At the same time, more and more niche web sites and print publications are
appearing and thriving. More time is being spent on one-to-one and many-to-many communication, versus the one-to-many model of traditional media.

But simultaneously, more and more traditional media companies — like Gannett, McClatchy, Morris Communications, Pioneer Newspapers and The Bakersfield Californian — are getting into the many-to-many game. And they’re doing this while still finding ways to make their flagship Web sites more dynamic and participatory in nature for the people who identify most with those brands. In a way, they’re “superserving” the people who love their newspaper brands and increasingly treating them like just another niche segment. While this may mean removing certain types of general-interest content and focusing more on content that their communities find most valuable, that’s OK. Niche products have taught us that it’s good to give each audience more of what they want most, because if don’t do that they just find it elsewhere.

So to the Prophets of Doom out there, I offer this. For those traditional companies that are open to changing with the rest of the world, it’s a new day that’s full of exciting possibilities, and we should feel fortunate that we’re part of a rising tide that will take journalism into its next incarnation. Whatever happens to the traditional model should have no bearing on that, as long as the companies that operate them see where things are going and continue to invest in community and participation.
Thanks to Dan’s Diner for this tasty morsel of thought

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

African Union endorses the domain name “.Africa” to DotConnectAfrica org
Feb 17, 2010

DotConnectAfrica (DCA) whose mandate is organized specifically to initiate and launch the .Africa domain, has been given the full endorsement to be the Sponsoring Organization and Registry Operator for the “.Africa” Sponsored Generic Top Level Domain name from the only Continental organization of Africa, the African Union (AU) Commission, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Sending a message to the African leadership “at this historic summit on ICT, the first for the AU” said Ms. Sophia Bekele who is leading the initiative; ”African leaders came together again for a common cause; to include Africa in the digital map, and we as African diaspora and our urgent call to our ideas were heard, our efforts were recognized and our proposals accepted. This is what public service is about, simply and absolutely advancing the interest of the African public. We are very proud and also honored”.

http://www.prlog.org/10497979.html

click here for PDF version
___________________________________________
Press Contact: Thomas Kamanzi, Email: press.africa [AT] dotconnectafrica.org
DotConnectAfrica org Press Room
Key Word: “.africa domain name” www.dotconnectafrica.org
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Comedy Central has greenlit a standup series that Russell Simmons and Stan Lathan (”Def Comedy Jam”) will exec produce.
JB Smoove (”Curb Your Enthusiasm”) will host the urban-accented showcase, which will be taped in Los Angeles on Wednesday and Thursday for airing in summertime. Cabler has ordered six episodes of the half-hour skein.

“We’ve been trying to get into business with Russell and Stan for a while now, and this new standup series is an exciting first venture for us to partner with them,” said Elizabeth Porter, Comedy Central’s senior veep of specials and talent. Show is currently untitled.

Each of the episodes will feature three comics on the rise. DJ Cassidy is providing music.

Simmons and Lathan’s “Def Comedy Jam” franchise for HBO helped spur the careers of comics including Chris Tucker, Dave Chappelle, Martin Lawrence, Bernie Mac, Steve Harvey and Mo’Nique.

GrapevineStar™ Books Publishes Western Legends: Yesterday and Today… African Americans 1798-2009

Grapevine, Texas – GrapevineStar Entertainment Books, the Grapevine, Texas based publisher of Western Legends and Wild West Diversity, a brand specializing in Diversity in American Western history and culture, announced the release of Western Legends: Yesterday and Today… African Americans 1798-2009, a collection of stories highlighting America’s famous cowboys and other western legends along with a unique insider’s perspective and a welcome from Tex Dunright™, The World’s Favorite Cowboy™.

Elizabeth Ann Lawless, the book’s author, is a Forney, Texas native with deep personal connections to FT. Worth, Texas, commonly known as cow town and the “city of cowboys and culture”. The stories, which draw heavily from her well-connected experiences, paint a rich and colorful account of the African American, cowboy and rodeo, movers and shakers in America during its wildest days, up to the present.

“This is the first book of Wild West Diversity written by someone who grew up in Texas and still is involved daily with African American western and cowboy living legends,” said Jacob R Miles III, CEO of GrapevineStar. For many years, Lawless has been a publicist for Cowboys of Color Rodeo and Buffalo Soldiers using her deep knowledge of African American’s western heritage as a foundation.

“With such a close personal connection to living legends like Cleo Hearn, Mr. Black Rodeo and Producer of Cowboys of Color Rodeo and Herb Jeffries, First Black Cowboy Movie Star and Hero, naturally this book has special meaning for me” said author, Liz Lawless. Western Legends is available online at TexDunright.com and at selected bookstores and specialty retailers in, Grapevine, Ft. Worth and direct from the publisher by emailing info to info [AT] grapevinestar.com. Special library and education pricing is available.

About the author: Elizabeth Ann Lawless was born in Forney, Texas and was also educated in state. She has operated a public relations business for over 10 years and been a researcher of western heritage as long as she can remember. She can be reached through GrapevineStar to make appointments for speaking, book signings, school programs and appearances by living western legends featured in the book.

About the publisher: Grapevine Star Entertainment Inc is a next generation media and entertainment company that integrates social media with books, TV, Film and other products. GrapevineStar Entertainment Books is the publishing arm of GrapevineStar Entertainment Inc. For more information contact us at: Info [AT] GrapevineStar.com, visit us online at www.GrapevineStar.com, www.TexDunright.com, or www.GSEConnect.com

Contact Information:
Jacob R. Miles III of Grapevine Star Entertainment Inc. 
Info [AT] GrapevineStar.com
T: 214.763.1134
Join Our Network At: www.GStarSite.com

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Western Legends: Yesterday and Today… African Americans 1798-2009
ISBN 978-0-9823177-4-7

To address the problems and opportunities more directly and effectively, the Association for Consumer Research has launched an initiative called “transformative consumer research,” defined as “rigorous and applied consumer research.

When we look at consumer trends and related marketing opportunities we must explore poverty, materialism, consumption and its variables, food and health, social justice, access to communications technology, economically challenged groups, immigration, culture, and ethnicity.

It is our opinion that there are not enough ad agencies, research firms or university marketing departments considering all of the above elements when researching or teaching consumer trends and marketing.

Being observant and knowledgeable of consumer behavior is critical to spotting trends before they develop. It helps to break the world down into lifestyle or niche interests. This makes your observations more meaningful and eliminates a lot of throwaway information.

Being observant includes talking with people in person, on line, reading and watching the news and then un-spinning the news, most of which is found information that others regurgitate as new, and become the World’s Greatest Trend Spotter.

How? Stop being a passive consumer of media. You have to actively deconstruct it and constantly be in “analysis mode” of what you look for and all that you read or, dare I say, skim!

For that to happen, you need an arsenal of knowledge. You have to be the one person who knows more than the next guy. Meaning: start learning from your/your clients’ customers. You’ve heard it so many times that it may seem trite, but listening is essential to forecasting trends and it’s something folks don’t think about.

What do you think?

The world is changing; opportunities to influence and improve our understanding of human behavior and marketing on a global level are available to us like never before. This raises the question… Is it time to re-examine trends consumer behavior and marketing?

We believe that next generation companies like GrapevineStar with its GSEConnect.com and many others have the right structure, resources and niche strategy for better understanding consumer behavior and trends.

The Media & Entertainment Professionals Group would like to hear your professional opinions…. Is it time to re-examine trends in human behavior and marketing?

Discuss Here or on:

LinkedIn: Media & Entertainment Professionals Group
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=100208

Facebook: Media & Entertainment Professionals Group
http://Facebook.com/MEPros

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RECOMMENDED READING

The New Rules of Marketing and Pr: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly By David Meerman Scott

2011 Trendspotting for the Next Decade By Richard Laermer
Make trend spotting a part-time job. So that when a trend actually goes big time you will have known about it, having been one who “got” it before everyone is aware of it. BUY THE BOOK HERE –>

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Communications For Marketers 2010: Find Trends or Go Home
By: Richard Laermer

2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade By Richard Laermer

Today, if you sell anything for a living, you need to look through the news in all its myriad forms to understand how an idea becomes newsy—or water cooler talk—in first place. It’s all about finding the right trend—being on top of everything.

In the near future, it’s going to be much harder to figure out what the trends are—but that’s ok. As media becomes not a print vehicle or a TV station or even a product held in our hands, the people we depend upon for knowledge, data and worthy opinion are going to be the ones on top of the details.

To thrive as a communicator in this nascent era, the goal is to become a student of the unvarnished “influencer”—the one who brings trends to others before they have them memorized.

Dig past the superficiality of nonstop babbling columnists who have nothing helpful to say—and ignore them. Understand the new “news” will be whatever drives clicks—and those (sometimes sensational) elements often don’t match with the defining traits of previously investigative media—truth, service, objectivity, and so on.

This means you will need to un-spin the news, most of which is found information that others regurgitate as new, and become the World’s Greatest Trend Spotter.
How? Stop being a passive consumer of media. You have to actively deconstruct it and constantly be in “analysis mode” of what you look for and all that you read or, dare I say, skim!
For that to happen, you need an arsenal of knowledge. You have to be the one person who knows more than the next guy. Meaning: start learning from your/your clients’ customers. You’ve heard it so many times that it may seem trite, but listening is essential to forecasting trends and it’s something folks don’t think is in their purview.

Not quite.

• Ask customers questions about your products and services—get the difficult answers.
• Ask what they’re looking for next.
• Ask your customers what they think—just few questions, don’t abuse folks’ time—by organizing online or in-person focus groups and hear (then use) what people are thinking.
• Find out what media they’re using and what they think of current events.

Then use all that to filter the information you place for like minded folks to find.

Get filled with a new sense of cultural awareness as you read and ask and take in what people say—not half-assed thinking but actual considering what people are saying. Spend a few minutes away from your Black-i-Pre and meditate on the information someone just told you.

You will be the savvier when something suddenly hits big because you saw it coming. In this new society where everyone is hit by hype every second or two, you will be the person in your circle that collects trends…instead of bobble-heads!

That said, to know who the so-called are newsmakers in the future—you’ll need to be, well, a reporter… That means a person who breathes current events of every stripe.

And most especially, learn to be the person who reads a story and sees why a certain company was featured (or not, for that matter). Yes, I get that is a tall order requiring you to become more informed across the board. It calls for you to stop consuming only the media that interests you.

Stop reading the same old things. S-t—r—e—tch. Absorbing, studying and imprinting on lots of different subjects enable you to see the big picture. That’s when REAL and truly newsworthy starts to seep into your over-moisturized pores.

This makes you so much more aware of what people are trying to cram down your throat as faux newsworthy. For example, I read ”Pizza Today,” and it gets me a lot of useful information, as does my poring over “Call Center” magazine (uncannily still churning as “Gourmet” hits the skids).

With media growing from a handful of places to everywhere you turn and with everyone a published reporter thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Web, you must careful about what’s pretense and what’s not—and digging into EVERYTHING is your cure to getting conned.

It’s refreshing when people talk to each other with more than just a semblance of knowledge-or what we used to call “faking it.” If you market for a living, you need to be informed in a way that appears to be getting harder and harder.

Everything we turn to has become overly personalized and overtly customized. Marketers flood our mailboxes with offers that have been customized for us alone. Hundreds, okay thousands, of sites offer services to help us get info “quicker” like My Yahoo! or MyLaermer.com or MyAlreadyKnownNewsInfoWebSite.

On a more profound level, the ease with which we can arrange to be spoon-fed only what we deem worthy is dangerous. With this you become less informed than you ought to be, or would if you had to seek out all this information yourself. Just because you can find it easily doesn’t mean it’s worth finding. Customization has led us down a wily path of surreal, distorted knowledge.

My elders tell me the folks who didn’t burn up in the 1929 Great Crash days were well‐informed because they read everything available to them (which wasn’t much)! They saw cultural indicators that told them to react—fast! In pre-breadline 2010, we’d do well to follow our forefathers’ advice and cull knowledge from the broadest possible sources.

There’s no better time to learn how to become the educated news sniffer-outer. Become the one who knows the difference between a fad and a trend. To be that one you have to search for indicators of what direction a targeted country/ industry/ group is headed; to do that appropriately you have to have the know-it-all recognize something no one else has noticed is bubbling up as a ridiculously cool, and 100% brand new, trend.

Go make trend spotting a part-time job. So that when you a trend actually goes big time you will have know about it, having been one who “got” it before it took everyone over.

Richard Laermer, CEO RLM PR and Trend Spotter Emeritus

BUY THE BOOK HERE –>

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Richard Laermer is an oft-quoted source to media and other influential types on topics regarding the future of this crazed world and the author of the brand new book 2011: Trendspotting. Some background: the CEO of RLM PR, one of the only independent PR firms that

http://laermer.com/
http://twitter.com/laermer

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GrapevineStar™ Entertainment Inc. Partners with Out of the Box Publishing® Inc. to offer 10 Days in Beautiful Africa™

Grapevine, Texas | Dodgeville, Wisconsin – Historic Grapevine Texas based Grapevine Star Entertainment Inc. signed a strategic partnership with Out of the Box Publishing to release 10 Days in Beautiful Africa. Featuring all new artwork by internationally acclaimed artist Lap Ngo, integration with social media and as one part of a host of products and media initiatives to portray a positive more informative understanding of the African continent, its people, resources and contributions to the world. This new, family fun and educationally focused version of the Box’s award winning game 10 Days in Africa® is immediately available to ship.

10 Days in Beautiful Africa™

The fifth in the award winning 10 Days series of games, 10 Days in Beautiful Africa offers identical game play to 10 Days in Africa, but features enhanced educational content and entirely new graphics, fine art & illustrations. Out of the Box Publishing also offers 10 Days in the USA, 10 Days in Europe and 10 Days in Asia. All four games are widely used in classrooms, homeschool curriculum and afterschool programs, and have won a lengthy list of awards.

10 Days in Beautiful Africa is for 2 to 4 players, ages 10 to adult. 10 Days in Beautiful Africa will be available at specialty toy stores at a suggested retail of $29.99 or can be ordered for retail by contacting Grapevine Star Entertainment. Wholesale and Distributor relationships are available.

GrapevineStar has also developed corporate sponsorship programs for companies doing business on the Africa continent, Non-Profits and Educators that include special branding, message integration opportunities and special pricing. For more information contact GrapevineStar.

About Out of the Box Publishing
Since 1999, Out of the Box Publishing has been a leader in the Business of Fun! Headquartered in Dodgeville, WI, Out of the Box produces a gamut of games. From single-player to party games, from quick and light games to engaging strategy games, Out of the Box games are designed to please the entire family. Fun has always been our mission, and happiness can be found….right Out of the Box!
Visit www.otb-games.com to learn more.

About Beautiful Africa™ – A New Way to Look at Africa™
Beautiful Africa is a cause based intellectual property that features multimedia events, products and social networks, with its partners it creates, produces, licenses, and distributes educational, entertainment, and toy & gift content and products worldwide and is dedicated to positively changing the way the world looks at Africa. Beautiful Africa is represented exclusively by GrapevineStar™. Join & follow Beautiful Africa on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, BeautifulAfrica.ning.com.

About Grapevine Star Entertainment Inc.
Grapevine Star Entertainment Inc. (GSE) is a next generation media & entertainment company, an intellectual property owner and manager. GSE develops, sells, and licenses entertainment brands, products, & content integrated with social media. GrapevineStar™ also operates GSEConnect.com, a niche trends news and information site as well as SocialMediaAnalysts.com, a provider of social media solutions. Visit GSE at www.GrapevineStar.com, www.GSEConnect.com, www.GStarSite.com, www.BeautifulAfrica.net to learn more.

Jacob R. Miles III
GrapevineStar Entertainment Inc.
JMiles [at] GrapevineStar.com
214.763.1134

Leah Osterhaus
Out of the Box Publishing Inc.
Leah [at] OTB-Games.com
800.540.2304

In recognition of African American History Month, consider these census-related facts:

•As of July 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the nation’s Black population (including those of one or more races) was 41.1 million.
•Data from the American Community Survey shows that 38 percent of Mississippi’s population identified itself as Black – higher than any other state. Blacks also made up more than a quarter of the population in Louisiana (32 percent), Georgia (31 percent), Maryland (30 percent), South Carolina (29 percent), and Alabama (27 percent). They comprise 56 percent of the population in the District of Columbia.
•The number of Black voters increased from the 2004 to 2008 presidential elections by approximately 2.1 million. Overall, 65 percent of registered Black voters participated in the 2008 elections, an increase of approximately 5 percent over 2004.
•According to the 2002 Economic Census, New York led all states with 129,329 Black-owned firms [PDF 2.67MB]. New York City alone accounted for 98,080 of this total!

In 2008, there were 73.9 million children in the United States, 1.6 million more than in 2000. This number is projected to increase to 82 million in 2021. In 2008, there were approximately equal numbers of children in three age groups: 0–5 (25 million), 6–11 (24 million), and 12–17 (25 million) years of age.

Since the mid-1960s, children have been decreasing as a proportion of the total U.S. population. In 2008, children made up 24 percent of the population, down from a peak of 36 percent at the end of the “baby boom” (1964). Children are projected to remain a fairly stable percentage of the total population through 2021, when they are projected to compose 24 percent of the population.

Racial and ethnic diversity has grown dramatically in the United States in the last three decades. This increased diversity appeared first among children and later in the older population. The population is projected to become even more diverse in the decades to come. In 2008, 56 percent of U.S. children were White, non-Hispanic; 22 percent were Hispanic; 15 percent were Black; 4 percent were Asian; and 5 percent were “All other races.” The percentage of children who are Hispanic has increased faster than that of any other racial or ethnic group, growing from 9 percent of the child population in 1980 to 22 percent in 2008. By 2021, it is projected that 1 in 4 children in the United States will be of Hispanic origin.

Source U.S. Census

iPad by Apple

Mind the Gap When Talking About Teens …….By Morgan Stewart
Looking in the mirror this morning, I was forced to face reality: I’m getting old. Thus, when it comes to teen culture, I am an outsider looking in. And knowing that my personal experiences are different from theirs, I can’t afford to fall into the trap of applying anything from my experience to that of teens. Not only are their habits different from my own today, but they are different than what I did when I was a teen. The tools available to them and the social mores around those tools are simply different.
Our ongoing research, in collaboration with the Center for Media Design, compares how consumers communicate interpersonally versus how they want marketers to communicate with them. When it comes to teens, there is a marked difference in how they communicate on a personal level when compared to other demographic segments. For example:

Teens are much less likely to pick up the phone and call friends. When I was a teen, the stereotypical teenage girl was constantly talking on the phone with friends. Not so today. Only 16% of females 15-17 say they are most likely to call when they want to communicate with friends. 49% are most likely to write messages. The remaining 35% call and write messages equally. Compare that to 35-44 year old females (approximate age range of moms of teens) and we see 34% are most likely to call and only 19% are most likely to write messages.
Teens rely heavily on text messaging. When asked what type of written communication teens are most likely to use for communicating with friends, 57% said they use text. Another 10% use social networks most often. Surprisingly, for teens, 18% still say they use email and 12% use IM. This lies in stark contrast with their parents (again 35-44 year olds), where 64% are most likely to send email while only 16% are most likely to send text messages.
As marketers, we know this stuff. But this is also where we often make a typically “old” mistake by misattributing the significance of these trends as they apply to marketing.

As we look at the communication habits of “old” people (i.e., anyone over 35), it makes sense that since they (um, we) use email for interpersonal communication that we also tend to prefer email when receiving permission-based marketing communications.

However, despite the fact the majority of teens communicate with each other via text, only a small minority (10%) want to receive text messages from companies. They are much more likely to prefer companies use email (64%) or direct mail (19%) to communicate with them.

“But teens don’t use email and they don’t read direct mail,” right? Not true. They simply don’t interact with these channels as often as us “old” folks, but they do transact as a result of these channels. When asked, “Have you ever made a purchase as a result of a marketing message you received through each of the following channels?” they answered:

62% as result of a TV Commercial
55% as a result of Direct Mail
36% as a result of Email
24% as a result of an Infomercial on TV
16% as a result of text messaging
15% as a result of something they saw on a social media site
13% as a result of a Telemarketing call
10% as a result of an Instant Message
As we look at the teen market, it’s important to keep in mind the difference between “relative” and “absolute” preferences. Across the board, teens have much more favorable impressions of marketing through emerging channels such as SMS and social networks than non-teens — but these are relative views.

When targeting this market, it is crucial to have a strong presence in emerging channels, but don’t get caught in the relativity trap. In terms of absolute preferences, they are similar to other consumers in that they still prefer traditional channels for marketing communications and they are still converting through them. Note: if you are interested in reading more of these research findings, they can be found in our 2009 Channel Preference Study.

This commentary is insightful. I recommend it to others.

Post your response here and to the public Engage:Teens blog.

See what others are saying on the Engage:Teens blog.
Morgan Stewart is Director, Research & Strategy, at ExactTarget, a provider of on-demand email and one-to-one marketing solutions. Follow him at twitter.com/mostew or visit his blog: http://blog.exacttarget.com/blog/morgan-stewart.

Media Post Communications

Posted by Jacob R. Miles III, Media and Entertainment executive and Media Post Communications member.

For 2009’s fourth quarter, the toymaker reported net revenues of $1.38 billion, an increase of $144.1 million or 12 percent, compared to the $1.23 billion it tallied a year ago. 2009 fourth quarter revenues grew 7 percent excluding a $55.4 million positive impact of foreign exchange. Net earnings for the quarter were worth $165.6 million or $1.09 per diluted share, an increase of $72.0 million or 77 percent, compared to $93.6 million or $0.62 per diluted share in 2008.

For the full year 2009, Hasbro reported revenues of $4.07 billion, an increase of $46.4 million or 1 percent, compared to $4.02 billion a year ago. 2009 revenues grew 3 percent excluding a $65.2 million negative impact of foreign exchange. Net earnings for the 12 month period were $374.9 million, or $2.48 per diluted share, an increase of $68.1 million or 22 percent from $306.8 million or $2.00 per diluted share in 2008.

“We are extremely pleased with our fourth quarter and full-year results that demonstrate Hasbro’s strategy is working,” said Brian Goldner, Hasbro’s president and CEO. “The Hasbro teams around the globe performed at a high level in 2009, delivering innovation and strong marketing programs to our consumers and retailers. The result is our fifth consecutive year of revenue growth and ninth consecutive year of E.P.S. growth, achieved in a challenging global economy. Continued investments in our business, including the joint venture with Discovery Communications to form The Hub television network, the creation of Hasbro Studios, establishing a local presence in emerging geographies and securing long-term key licenses, position us not only for the success we had in 2009 but over the long term as we execute our branded play strategy globally.”

For the full year 2009, the company’s Boys product category grew 9 percent to $1.47 billion; the Games and Puzzles category increased incrementally to $1.34 billion; the Girls category declined 5 percent to $790.8 million; and the Preschool category was down 1 percent to $451.4 million.

U.S. and Canada segment net revenues were $2.45 billion, an increase of $41.2 million or 2 percent, compared to $2.41 billion in 2008. The results reflect “strong” performances in the Boys and Preschool categories, partially offset by declines in Girls and the Games and Puzzles categories. The U.S. and Canada segment reported an operating profit of $380.6 million compared to $283.2 million in 2008.

International segment net revenues were $1.46 billion, a decrease of $39.9 million or 3 percent, compared to $1.50 billion in 2008. Absent the negative $64.5 million impact of foreign exchange, International segment net revenues increased 2 percent from 2008. Revenue in the International segment reflects growth in the Boys category offset by declines in Preschool, Girls, as well as the Games and Puzzles categories. The International segment reported an operating profit of $162.2 million compared to $165.2 million in 2008.

Entertainment and Licensing segment net revenues were $155.0 million, an increase of $47.1 million or 44 percent, compared to $107.9 million in 2008. Revenue in the Entertainment and Licensing segment reflects growth in lifestyle licensing and digital gaming. The Entertainment and Licensing segment reported an operating profit of $65.6 million compared to $51.0 million in 2008.

“As we continue to execute our strategy to re-imagine, re-invent and re-ignite our global core brands, we believe we should be able to grow revenues and earnings per share for the full year 2010, including the dilution from our television investments and absent a deterioration in consumer spending, global economic conditions or the value of foreign currencies,” said Goldner.

Hyperlocal sites also are particular draws for advertisers that would not normally buy pricey media spots, as well as those more interested in building relationships with customers than getting them in the door, he said. They key, he said, is that creating advertising revenue is no longer about making simple sales, but creating opportunities for consumers and local businesses to engage on a more meaningful level.
“It’s not about selling inventory anymore,” Jarvis said. “It’s about building a relationship with the community.” Journalists also would have a role in adding value to their content, he said.
Jarvis’s comments — made at the “Turning Hyperlocal into Hyperprofit” panel at Borrell Associates’ Local Online Advertising Conference in New York — reflect his ongoing research into hyperlocal sites business models, which he says shows the concept’s profitability.
Under Jarvis’ models — which tout creating networks of hyperlocal sites as well as a new incarnation of news organization that encourages cross-promotion and content sharing — the payoff could be relatively big.
A hyperlocal site serving a community of 60,000, for example, could bring in about $200,000 a year, he said.
The real future of the business, though, he added, is in creating networks of hyperlocal sites, which give sites the ability to share content, ads and distribution. A network of 94, for instance, could become a $20 million business in just three years, he said.
While Jarvis was the panel’s keynote speaker, he was not alone in his role as a proponent of going hyperlocal.
A panel of four interactive media executives, all involved in the creation and promotion of hyperlocal sites, also said they are firm believers in the ultimate profitability of going local based on the concept that such sites are not as much properties but platforms for content and opportunity.
The McClatchy Co., for example, already is bringing in about $200 million a year in interactive revenue, about 16% of the company’s overall ad dollars, said Chris Hendricks, McClatchy’s VP of interactive media.
The growing success of McClatchy’s 12 hyperlocal sites, which are in places like Miami and Charlotte, is based on a model that uses both professional and amateur content providers, meaning professional news coverage could appear on-line alongside bloggers’ and vice versa.
Raleigh, N.C.’s share.triangle.com shows how successful such a concept can be in creating a lively on-line community of content and exchange. About 12,000 photos alone have been posted on the site, Hendricks said.
Fisher, the Seattle-based broadcasting company, also is having success with its 109 hyperlocal sites, claiming more than 1,000 advertisers that were not previously buying TV spots, said Troy McGuire, VP of news and GM of Fisher Interactive. “This is a totally new revenue stream for our company,” he said.
The appeal of Fisher’s site, he said, stems from them providing important national and regional news down to the tidbits of neighborhood news of interest only to those affected by it.
“The whole goal is to be more relevant in the markets we serve,” McGuire said. Whereas 80% of daily news items rarely made TV broadcasts, they often now find homes on sites serving communities that care about them.
“It’s changed the way we do news,” he said.

HBCUToday Resource Book

HBCU Today is an awesome publication, it delivers critical educational information to children and youth below the poverty line and above that shows them the way upward. I applaud Mr. John Flemming for his efforts and am proud to call him friend…

The opinion that follows is exclusively and solely the opinion of Jacob R Miles III, A New Media and Entertainent executive and CEO of GrapevineStar(TM) and consultant at Social Media Analysts™

Africa-America-Africa™ — Education is Power™
I honestly believe that the future and opportunities for economic benefit, social involvement and global business growth lies in African Americans opportunity to leverage their understanding of the western world into strategic and economically rewarding business relationships withthe continent of Africa and yes I know it’s BIG! (smile) beginning with the most important component to income growth, education be it traditional or otherwise.

Everywhere you read, you read about the global economy and how big it’s growth is relative to the American economy. We are reminded of the BRIC countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China, all tremendous opportunities for the African Diaspora. Ahhhhh….but Mother Africa, over 900 million cinsumers getting cell phones and the connectivity and information that it brings.

Learn more about this HBCU resource book at http://www.HBCUToday.net