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POINT OF VIEW BRIEF

MARKET FACTS

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT: AFRICANAMERICAN SOCIAL LOCATIONS AS WHERE THE ACTION IS

by Donna Daniels, PhD

June 2006 Its a place, an event, an institution, a group, a network. Its where the Macrotrends Cultural IDSM and Beehiving SM meet. Its where AfricanAmericans come together experience a sense of belonging, sharing, community and pride. Its where an African-American can just show up "as is" and be accepted. Its where they experience sense of recognition, inclusion and intimacy. Its where they spend time, shoot breeze and relax with others with whom they share experiences and perspectives. Knowing how to effectively leverage and represent these locales in your marketing efforts can mean the difference between missing your core target and establishing powerful rapport with consumers. Lets take a closer look at social locations and campaigns that have effectively tapped into the African-American market.

Driven by advances in education and employment, the AfricanAmerican market now commands a buying power of $762 billion. That number is expected to reach $981 billion by 2010.
The U.S. African-American Market, Packaged Facts | 2006

The show is part McLaughlin Group, part BETs video show 106 and Park.
The banter on MTVs "The Shop," featuring Corey Rooneys barbershop, New York Times | 2006-01-25

WHATS A SOCIAL LOCATION?

Its a place, an event, an institution, a group, a network. Its where the Macrotrends Cultural ID SM and Beehiving SM meet. Its where African-Americans come together to experience a sense of belonging, sharing, community and pride. Its where an African-American can just show up "as is" and be accepted. Its where they experience a sense of recognition, inclusion and intimacy. Its where they spend time, shoot the breeze and relax with others with whom they share experiences and perspectives. Knowing how to effectively leverage and represent these locales in your marketing efforts can mean the difference between missing your core target and establishing a powerful rapport with consumers. Lets take a closer look at social locations and the campaigns that have effectively tapped into the African-American market.

VALUES relationship, community, identity, heritage, pride, sharing, love, family, comfort, happiness, empowerment, belonging, understanding, tradition

PLACES: BARBERSHOPS AND BEAUTY PARLORS

From the outside, these may look like places where you get your hair cut and styled, but inside theyre much more. African-Americans know that barbershops and beauty parlors are the places where advice is given, opinions are expressed and hot-button issues are passionately debated. Note the recent arrival of the MTV reality series The Shop, set in Mr. Rooneys barbershop an actual shop in Jamaica, Queens, New York, thats owned by hip-hop producer Corey Rooney and visited by rap and hip-hop royalty including Sean "Diddy" Combs, Busta Rhymes and Bobby Brown as well as neighborhood regulars. What this show reveals is how African-Americans use these locations as a way of coming together with others in meaningful ways. Best Practice "Going to the Barbershop to Fight Cancer" was a campaign launched by Prostate Net in conjunction with the release of the film Barbershop 2 that enlisted doctors to train 800 barbers nationwide to talk to their customers about the importance of early screening for prostate cancer. Best Practice Seattles "Down Low Barbershop Project" used barbershops to share important HIV prevention information, and the national "Cut It Out" campaign used beauty parlors to spread the word on ending domestic abuse.

INSTITUTIONS: THE BLACK CHURCH, FRATERNITIES, SORORITIES, HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES, AND BLACK CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS

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The black church, black fraternities and sororities, historically black colleges and universities, and black civic groups (like the Elks, the Masons, and the Eastern Stars) are institutions with long histories of community involvement and community support. With their enduring presence in the African-American community, they have long functioned as beacons of hope, representing opportunity and possibility in difficult times. Thus, over the years it has made good business sense to tap into these respected and trusted organizations with their vast social networks when marketing and advertising to the savvy African-American consumer. Word of caution: Corporate sponsorships and partnerships must communicate the best interests of these institutions and their programs, and rigorously avoid being viewed as opportunistic. Best Practice New York Life, Citigroup, Freddie Mac, Merrill Lynch and other financial service institutions are the proud sponsors of One Thousand Churches Connected, founded by Jesse Jacksons Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. This network of black churches offers African-American congregants a program for getting smart on financial planning, money management, wealth creation and debt reduction. Tapping into the institution of the black church and the vast network of congregants that comes with it, this program supports African-Americans desire to learn effective money-management skills with an eye toward reaching key financial goals, including homeownership, saving for college tuition and planning for retirement. Best Practice Microsoft joined with the National Urban League to close the digital divide by working with technology partners and business professionals to target African-American Millennials and introduce teens to tech from an entrepreneurial perspective, giving them a wired leg up.

EVENTS: FAMILY REUNIONS, COOKOUTS AND HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS

While family reunions, cookouts and holiday celebrations arent unique to this consumer group, African-Americans do enjoy opportunities to celebrate and socialize with family and friends. Times to reminisce, share information and tap into the wisdom of elders is cherished by this consumer. These family events are also times for African-Americans to tap into the values of community, belonging, sharing, responsibility, heritage and pride. Knowing who you are and where you came from is important, especially as planning for and having an impact on future generations is a key concern for many African-Americans. Best Practice The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau offers special help to families planning reunions and is part of a growing number of U.S. cities (including Chicago, Detroit, Oakland, California, Philadelphia and Washington) that promote themselves as African-American reunion destinations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Donna Daniels, PhD

VP, Consumer Strategist

ddaniels@iconoculture.com

DonnaThe shopper whisperer. Our own Margaret Mead (sans cape). Daniels, PhD Donna Daniels is Iconoculture's consumer trend

expert on next-gen shopper experience, eretail, fast fashion and sustainable style. A bona fide cultural anthropologist with an uncanny understanding of innovative retail models and evolutionary shopper expectations, Donna translates shifting consumer values and behaviors into meaningful business strategies and coaches brands on how to build a better retail experience. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from Stanford University and an MA in African American Studies from Yale. Donna says Watch these trends: Social shopping; green retail, the new value shopper Know these buzzwords: Shopper experience, next-gen experiential retail, eco-chic

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TREND

THE AGE OF DENIAL

Will their golden years be tarnished by failing to take charge of retirement finances? by Tim Henderson | 13 November 2006

MACROTREND Dollars and Sense VALUES change control empowerment reality security THOUGHT STARTERS Positioning Position your brand as one that understands the aging-consumer lifestyle by teeing off their actual leisure pursuits to build trust. Follow the lead of health plan providers by renting cinemas and sponsoring movies from Hollywoods golden age that appeal to aging consumers. Before the reel rolls, take the time to provide a little financial education. Promotion/Event Collaborate with third parties like local clubs and civic groups to reach consumers through workshops. Workplace educational programs are also good for targeting Boomers and their Mature parents. Take a page from the Turkey Sandwich Club playbook and offer a free hour of financial advice to employees who offer reps a sandwich.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

If misery loves company, this will be a whale of a retirement party. Given current retirement savings, aging consumers will have plenty of miserable company resulting from lack of financial planning. While younger consumers have more time (but a smidgen less pressure) to get their retirement funds in order, those on the far end of the spectrum are facing near-term peril. For Boomers and Matures, the hands on the gold watch are fast approaching midnight, and their financial future looks bleak. Financing the golden years was once fairly straightforward: employmentbased plans, government programs and personal savings. Those three remain retirement pillars today. Except other factors now make for a more complicated equation. Consumers live longer, potentially outliving savings. Healthcare, and most everything else, costs more. Company benefits dwindle and come with more cumbersome requirements if they still exist. Government safety nets are threadbare. Dreams of big inheritances are just dreams. Financial illiteracy is widespread, and its a worst-case scenario for females, who may outlive partners but allow them to handle the finances. And growing personal and housing debt is a portent that aging consumers havent the savings to maintain a comfortable retirement. The stark fact is that retirement planning, much like healthcare, now rests in consumers hands. But consumer habits havent caught up to reality. Contrary to data indicating the opposite, many consumers believe their retirement lifestyles will be comfortable, a situation the Employee Benefit Research Institute likens to Swiss cheese full of holes. Some call it the Age of Denial. The Zero Alpha Group christens it Retirement Postponement Syndrome, a financial malady wherein consumers fail to adequately prepare for potential retirement shortfalls. Prudential warns of a Retirement Red Zone, the last five years of work plus the first five retirement years, a period when negative investment performance can dramatically change finances, leaving little recovery time. The retirement savings picture takes on ironic undertones when compared with the plethora of easily accessible planning info, matched by equally numerous and dire warnings. The breadth of financial options, however, may contribute to confusion and delay. Already financially uninformed consumers must make sense of multiple types of insurance, investment options, mortgages and a variety of government and company benefit plans (often from several employers). With scam radars set to high, who should a consumer trust? Their banker, the help provided by employers, or is DIY best? And does it matter whether the planner is a Registered Financial Gerontologist, Certified Financial Retirement Advisor, Certified Senior Advisor or Chartered Advisor for Senior Living? Plenty of retirement calculators also exist online. Nationwides free RetirAbility Check engages users with wit while evaluating retirement readiness and offering tips to improve funds. New York Life educates retirees at GuaranteesMatter.com. Allstate takes a nuts-and-bolts approach, offering site visitors basic financial info, like explaining what mutual funds are. And A.G. Edwards uses a Nest Egg Score, 12 factors that influence the ability of consumers to build wealth.

MARKET FACTS Nearly 6 in 10 current workers (59%) said they hope to have a retirement standard of living equal to or better than they did in their working years, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institutes Retirement Confidence Survey. But when asked if they or their spouse have calculated how much money...
EBRI.org | 4 April 2006

62% of 55- to 59-year-olds, 49% of 60- to 65-year-olds and 47% of 66- to 70-year-olds wish they had done better financial planning to prepare for retirement, according to a MetLife Mature Market Institute report. Respondents age 66-70 were almost twice as likely (34%) as 55- to 59-year-olds to say they...
Living Longer, Working Longer:

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WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

q

The Changing Landscape of the Aging Workforce A MetLife Study, MetLife.com | 1 April 2006

Knock, knock. Whos there? Opportunity. Consumers may live in denial, adopt apathetic demeanors or pray for a Powerball windfall, but they still must take control of retirement finances. And its never too late to start. Now is when education and information are needed most to wake consumers from their slumber. Boo! Dont be afraid to judiciously use harsh reality to grab consumer attention. Tough love conveys that you care and understand the customers lifestyle. Balance it with compassion, because some aging consumers are embarrassed over not having taken the financial reins earlier. Pride wont let them admit financial illiteracy. Consumers overwhelmed by choices shut down. Take baby steps and look to the long term by first building a foundation of trust and understanding of the clients lifestyle, patiently explaining available options and building on each success. Paycheck size doesnt matter. Low-, middle- and high-income consumers all need financial tutoring. Fashion solutions that resonate with each cohorts current and future needs. Females, especially older women who may have left planning to their mates, also represent opportunity. Empowering them with knowledge brings confident control over uncertain financial futures.

Contrary to projections that trillions of dollars will pass to Boomers via inheritances, an AARP study found that as of 2004, 80.8% of consumers born 1946 to 1964 had yet to receive an inheritance. Just 14.9% of Boomers expect to receive an inheritance. And of Boomers who did receive inheritances by...
In Their Dreams: What Will Boomers Inherit, AARP.org | 13 June 2006

SEEN AND HEARD We recently chatted with a 64-year-old female neighbor whose husband died in early 2006 after a months-long cancer battle. To our surprise, she admitted the couple had neither health nor life insurance. Had it not been for the help of a caregiver organization, she would have been left nursing her husband unaided, leaving an even bigger financial hole. An aging couple says theyre leery of financial reps after getting scammed during 2006. The quick intervention of their offspring saved the couple the $2,000+ paid to a livingtrust con. Luckily, they lost only the cancel-check fee. RESOURCES Employee Benefit Research Institute: 202-659-0670 Nationwide: 888-867-5175. Try out the RetirAbility Check tool. New York Life: 800-586-1413. Check out GuaranteesMatter. Prudential Financial: 800-778-4357 Zero Alpha Group

45% of females born 1946 to 1978 with household incomes of $35,000+ said their husband or partner takes the lead in retirement planning, according to an Allstate survey. Worse, couples seemingly believe a simple conversation keeps their plan on track; 48% of women and 58% of men said thats all that...
Retirement Reality Check survey, Allstate Insurance | 16 October 2006

SEE ALSO Observation Dream Book puts users ideal retirement lifestyle in words to help make it a reality MassMutual e-seminar targets the financial planning needs of senior women Survivorship planning puts important papers in order before clients check out Chartered Advisor for Senior Living credential set to serve aging America Aging Boomers create need for financial planning credential addressing entire lifestyle AARPs invest-it-and-forget-it funds offer aging consumers easy path to retirement savings Lifecycle fund investment allocations keep pace with lifestage changes Do-it-for-me employees access retirement savings plans easier with GoSmart Boomers eager to increase retirement holdings are investing IRAs in real estate Emeriti Program lets college employees sock away retirement healthcare money Pension Protection Act strengthens retirement programs for young and old Boomer offspring use an inheritors trust to keep creditors and taxes at bay

The percentage of U.S. families with heads of household age 55+ that had debt increased from 1992 to 2004, reaching 61% (5 points higher than in 2001), according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Average total debt also rose, from 1992s $29,309 to $51,791 in 2004. Families led by consumers...
EBRI.org | 14 September 2006

ETHNICITIES U.S. General Market U.S. GENERATIONS Gen Xers (30 - 42) Boomers (43 - 61) Younger Boomers (43 - 52) Older Boomers (53 - 61) Matures (62 - 99) Active Matures (62 - 75) Older Matures (76 - 99) LIFESTAGES Midlifers (35 - 59) Seniors (60 - 99) CATEGORIES Personal Finance GEOGRAPHY United States

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Matures still giving Boomer offspring a variety of helping hands Fannie Mae creatively finances bigger digs for multigenerational families Consumers seeking financial advice get advisers time for the price of lunch Main Line Financial Advisors hooks clients by appealing to fishing passion Financial services firms use creative touch to court wealthy women Trend DECISIONS, DECISIONS Consumer Outlook Financial Services 2006 Webcast Consumer Financial Life in 2006: Innovation, Insecurity, Income and Opportunity

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Shopping swami. Celebrations sage. Underserved market advocate. Tim Henderson is Iconoculture's lead expert on shoppers of all stripes and outspoken advocate for the silver-haired and blue-collared. A former Editor-inchief of STORES magazine and a one-time communications manager for the National Association of Convenience Stores, Tim helps clients identify untapped opportunities in critically underserved and overlooked markets while driving home the unprecedented impact aging consumers are having and will have on culture at large. His retail specialties include holidays and gifting, loyalty/reward programs, experiential retail, green retail, e-retail, consumerfacing retail tech. Tim says Watch these trends: Trading down, cause shopping, experiential retail Know these buzzwords: The gratitude effect, cause shopping, silver industry

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OBSERVATION

More companies offer 401(k) account manager services to help employees invest wisely 8 March 2005

MACROTREND Ready, Set, Go! VALUES convenience choice control simplicity MARKET FACTS

WHAT'S HAPPENING q 401(k) plans are the ultimate DIY project. Unfortunately, many of the workers who sign up for the financial plans dont do a good job of managing them. Enter 401(k) account managers, firms like Financial Engines and NYLIM Retirement Plan Services, that do all a k-plan participants heavy thinking. Working one-onone with investors, they develop long-term strategies that factor in things like risks, goals, and nonplan investments. Or, if the employee wants, theyll take over all investment decisions. Such personal portfolio management is usually reserved for the very rich, but more companies are offering the service to get more employees into k-plans. While their services arent free, workers whose eyes glaze over on page 1 of the prospectus will probably find fees a small price to pay for personal advice from a wiser source. Like lifecycle funds, account managers make the necessity of investing a lot easier, especially for those who have other DIY projects to finish.

Participation rates in 401(k) plans have dropped from 80% in 1999 to 70% in 2003, according to the Profit Sharing / 401(k) Council of America.
401KHELPCENTER.COM | 23 February 2005

ETHNICITIES U.S. General Market U.S. GENERATIONS Millennials (13 - 29) Young Adults (21 - 29) Gen Xers (30 - 42) Boomers (43 - 61) Younger Boomers (43 - 52) Older Boomers (53 - 61) LIFESTAGES Young Adults (21 - 34) Midlifers (35 - 59) CATEGORIES Personal Finance GEOGRAPHY United States

RESOURCES Financial Engines: 650-565-4900 New York Life Investment Management: 973-394-3000. NYLIM Retirement Plan Services is a division of NYLIM.

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OBSERVATION

Latino tradition of taking care of aged parents can cause financial difficulties 29 March 2005

MACROTREND Friends and Family VALUES responsibility family loyalty duty control MARKET FACTS Thirty- to 50-year-olds are the sandwich generation. Many have to take care of their children and their parents and manage their careers. Nursing home care is generally not an option in the Latino community, and long-term care insurance can be very helpful to Latino families.
BELLARIA JARAMILLO, METLIFE FINANCIAL ADVISOR, LATINA STYLE | 1 February 2005

WHAT'S HAPPENING q Latinos view their aged parents and grandparents as sacred. Taking care of them is a cultural and family tradition. 34% of Latinos age 45 to 55 care for their elders, compared to 22% of the general population, according to a 2001 AARP survey. This burden often causes financial and emotional difficulties. Latinas in particular frequently head households that contain their own kids and at least one elderly parent. Latinas are wearing a lot of hats. We are wearing the hat of the professional, wife, mother and caregiver, says New York Life insurance rep Lillian J. Corsio (Latina Style 2.05). One solution: long-term care insurance, which covers a range of elderly medical and social services. But many Latinas know little about LTC insurance. To remedy the problem, community organizations like the Family Caregiver Alliance in San Francisco educate them on the subject. Such coverage can help Latinas build a safety net for their families while loving hands hold familias together.

RESOURCES Family Caregiver Alliance: 415-434-3388

ETHNICITIES U.S. Latino LIFESTAGES Young Adults (21 - 34) Midlifers (35 - 59) Seniors (60 - 99) CATEGORIES Money/Spending Health Family Relationships GEOGRAPHY United States

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MEDIA

FILE DETAIL Headline: new york life Caption: Source: www.newyorklife.com Source Date: 18 May 2011 Tags: Money/Spending

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MARKET FACT

STATISTIC New York Life Insurance Co. says that it made 64% of its $1.9 billion in fixed immediate annuity sales in 2009 to women. Financial Planning | 22 April 2010

2011 Iconoculture is a registered trademark of Iconoculture. All rights reserved.

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