By ROBERT GOLDRICH
ing to their census. At least, thats the view of agencies that specialize in ethnic markets, including African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American.
With the U.S. Census Bu-reaus preliminary results for Census 2000 showing that the nations combined minority population could eventually become the majority, marketers are looking more seriously than ever at ways to best tap the ethnic consumer base.
Significant growth, for example, is projected for Asian-Americans. Early this decade, Asians accounted for some 4% of the total population. However, the Census Bureau estimates that the Asian share of the population pie will grow to 10% by 2050, much of it spurred by immigration. But these are not stereotypical immigrants who are lacking in resources. Census findings report that Asians have a high annual household income (an average of nearly $47,000), a high level of education and a high growth rate in small businesses.
Advertisers have taken notice. For instance, Ford Motor Company recently billed itself as the first major automobile manufacturer to launch an ethnic branding campaign aimed at Asian-Americans.
Indeed Census 2000 is important-some claim pivotal-as marketers plan for the new millennium; the information needs to be accurate and representative of the ethnic melting pot. To-wards that end, advertising has adopted a key role in helping to make Census 2000 a viable measurement; this involvement goes beyond the traditional public service message means employed to promote past U.S. censuses.
Federal officials have proposed a $100 million advertising campaign to sell racial and ethnic minorities on the benefits of being counted. Young & Rubicam, New York, is reportedly developing an overall media campaign-This is your future. Dont leave it blank!-to encourage Americans to fill out and return the mail-in census forms. Individual agencies-employed as subcontractors to Y&R-are creating targeted cultural messages aimed at such groups as African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-American and Native American populations.
But Congressional approval of the Census Bureaus $100 million budget request is required for the campaign to become reality. The Census Bureau contends such a campaign is sorely needed. For one, the trend of diminishing response has to be reversed. The 1970 census generated a response rate of 78%. That declined to 75% in 1980 and 65% in 1990. If nothing is done to stem the tide, projections are that Census 2000 could dwindle down to a 55% response rate.
Another factor is that racial minorities and recent immigrants are often reluctant to assist federal officials. These potential respondents fear that information they provide could end up being used against them. The Census Bureau reasons that a paid media push telling ethnic respondents that their information can only help them is long overdue. And Congressionally approved funding will enable that message to hit primetime TV and cable slots as well as other targeted, desirable dayparts; a far cry from the wee morning hours to which PSAs are often relegated, if they get any exposure at all.
Census information affects the adjustment in numbers of congressional seats for different regions, and it could likely impact the distribution of billions of dollars in federal aid to individual states. Still, the prospect of minorities being undercounted remains a concern that is exacerbated, according to census officials, by the recent Supreme Court decision prohibiting the use of statistical sampling to complement traditional methods of mail responses and door-to-door tallying.
If the Census 2000 budget measure gains a Congressional green light, the agency lineup will include Chisholm-Mingo, New York, which will target the African-American sector, and Gray & Gray, Albuquerque, for the Native American market. Y&R subsidiaries Mosaica and the Bravo Group will handle, respectively, the Asian-American and Hispanic portions of the campaign.
Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. Explore Generations, Old School vs. New School, In “Poppa’s House”
Boundaries between work and family don't just blur in the new CBS sitcom "Poppa's House" starring father-and-son comedy duo Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. They shatter.
"It's wonderful to come to work every day and see him and some of his kids and my sister and my brother and nieces and nephews. They all work on this show. They all contribute," says the senior Wayans. "I don't think there are words to express how joyful I am."
Wayans plays the titular Poppa, a curmudgeonly radio DJ who's more than comfortable doing it his way, while Wayans Jr. plays his son, Damon, a budding filmmaker who's stuck in a job he hates.
"My character, Pop, is just an old school guy who's kind of stuck in his ways," says Wayans, who starred in "In Living Color" and "My Wife and Kids."
Pop yearns for the days when a handshake was a binding contract and Michael Jordan didn't complain if he got fouled on the court. Pop laughs at the younger generation's participation trophies.
"It's old school versus new school and them teaching each other lessons from both sides," says Wayans Jr., who played Coach in the Fox sitcom "New Girl."
"They (the characters) bring the best out in each other and they're resistant initially. But then throughout the episode they have revelations and these revelations help them become better people," he adds.
The two have worked together before — dad made an appearance on son's "Happy Endings" and "Happy Together," while son was a writer and guest star on dad's "My Wife and Kids." But this is the first time they have headlined a series together.
The half-hour comedy — premiering Monday and co-starring Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson — smartly leaves places in the script where father and son can let... Read More