To increase their profits, advertisers should start appealing to minority groups and a diverse audience, said George San José, president of The San José Group, during a speech Monday night.
“We cannot market the way that we did before,” San José told about 40 students in Norris University Center 1B/C.
He was joined in his speech by Robert Jackson, vice president and client services director for Burrell Communications. Jackson also spoke about the changing faces in advertising.
San José emigrated from Cuba in 1968 and founded his company in 1981. His company, which puts together advertising campaigns geared toward Hispanic consumers, has 27 affiliates in the United States and Latin America. San José said he recognizes the importance of diversity because of its potential profit margin.
“I discovered diversity when it wasn’t even a word, because it was profitable,” he said. “It costs one-tenth the cost to reach Hispanics as it does the general market, so it is the best market in the world.”
The United States is the fifth-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, but San José pointed out that it will be the second-largest by 2010.
“Ninety-five percent of the Hispanic population can be reached by television or radio,” he said.
Jackson’s company specializes in appealing to African Americans. At the beginning of his speech, he passed out a message on a piece of paper that read: “Black people are not dark-skinned white people.”
Jackson said he believes business people too often make assumptions about their target consumers.
“As a business person, you need to know the dynamics,” Jackson said. “Don’t make an assumption. Do your homework.”
He said the African-American population, which comprises 12 percent of the United States population, has been ignored and just recently is being noticed as an important constituency in advertising.
“The numbers are really dismal, but it is encouraging,” he said. “Clients recognize the need, but the struggle is getting them to fund the marketplace.”
He said the United States is changing and that it is important to adjust to these changes for economic growth to continue.
“This country used to be just sort of black and white, and now it represents the world,” Jackson said. “And in a global economy, that is critical. We are going to need the talent, intellect and insight of a broad range of people in order to continue the kind of economic growth that this country is used to experiencing.”
Jackson became interested in advertising during graduate school at Florida A&M University. Currently he is working on several large advertising accounts, including the TRUTH anti-tobacco campaign.
The event was sponsored by NUBrand, Ayers College of Commerce and Industry, Kemper Hall and the Multicultural Advocates in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Medill senior Ethelbert Williams, who organized the event, said it was an important topic for students to learn about because it put an emphasis on increasing diversity in the marketplace.
“It is important to learn about diversity,” said Williams, NUBrand president and a Multicultural Advocate. “When you put diversity into the terms of money, people listen.”
