This year’s 24th annual NAMIC conference, with the theme, “3D: Diversity, Digital, Demographics” has been really interesting so far. Learning how companies approach their marketing efforts in a niche market versus a mainstream and global market is something I didn’t really know about.
I attended the kick-off “General Session” featuring a panel discussion with leading industry players that was moderated by Juju Chang, ABC news anchor, who I’ve been watching every morning! (I love saying “Juju”.)
Scott Mills President and COO of BET Networks spoke about BET’s approach to reaching their core audience. “Focus on the idea that ethnicity is relevant along certain spectrums and not others. In terms of addressing the ethnicity of the viewers Mills said, “Understanding that dynamic as a way to respect, reflect , and elevate (viewers),” is critical. He says BET does that across all platforms. I found this interesting as BET has received so much criticism regarding its programming for not respecting, elevating or accurately reflecting its viewers. But then Mills added, “We’re (BET) engaged in a number of initiatives in conjunction with our parent company Viacom.”
It was good to hear that BET is taking steps to redefine and reposition the brand, which Mills stated was a process that included, “fundamentally understand(ing) what we want our brand to be, and allow that to dictate and assess every programming opportunity.” Great! It will be really interesting to see what BET comes up with and how it addresses its challenges with detractors.
I also love what Laureen Ong, President of Travel Channel had to say about pushing yourself past self imposed boundaries in terms of understanding diversity, and said, “If you want to understand cultural diversity put yourself in a situation outside your comfort zone.” (Ong, who’s Asian, took a trip to Hong Kong and found out that she was viewed as an American, which was a cultural awakening for her.) And regarding her organization’s (Scripps) approach to diversity, she explained, “We hold diversity as a core value.” And Ong suggests that as professional, “We should be more engaged with the diverse population that’s in our organizations. We have to challenge ourselves harder on the subject matter.” So be encouraged to break out of comfort zones!
Other panelists spoke about how they addressed a growing ethnic population. Cesar Conde, President of Univsion talked about the Latino/Hispanic market in terms of programming, and what that means when people of ethnic backgrounds have a foot hold in mainstream culture as well as their own. “We’ve seen a proliferation of the Hispanic market. There is such a connection back to their home country and home culture that it allows them to live in two worlds. Looking for the best high quality programming that is relevant to them (regardless of what language) connects to them from a cultural level (is our goal). He also informed us that “Mobile for the Hispanic market will be big business. We’re putting efforts behind those initiatives.”
Ong reiterated the power of a digital presence to promote diversity and said material that compliments the channel that’s even more relevant to segmented populations can be found online. “Digital opportunities are the perfect opportunity to enrich and compliment everything on a linear channel,” Ong explains.
In the closing remarks, Patrick Esser, President of Cox Communications said very frankly that, “We’ve made a huge investment (to address the changing demands of a diverse audience), and says, “Those who don’t, won’t be here in five years.”
Kyle McSlarrow, President and CEO of NCTA made a lot of sense with his wrap up statement, “The country’s already changed. The pace is changing and we (the media industry) better get on figuring out how to marry both diversity with opportunity.”
I am happy to know that industry leaders are in fact interested in addressing the needs and preferences of diverse media consumers. I look forward to experiencing the continued developments.
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