Covergirl - Queen Collection - H. Naylor Fitzhugh - Minority New Media Marketing

Proctor & Gamble’s Covergirl brand successfully speaks to minorities and especially to African-Americans and Hispanics. The Covergirl brand even has a brand extension that is specifically designed for women of color entitled the Queen Collection. Their Queen Collection site is great. The collection was named after one of their endorsers Queen Latifah and definitely speaks to its target. The home page of the site features different ethnic women discussing why they are Queen and Queen Latifah’s over arching slogan of “every woman is queen”. This essentially is a breakthrough for women of color given the small availability of cosmetics designed for their demographic.

I totally think it’s ethical for a company to specifically market to minorities. Minorities spent years without being marketed to as if minorities did not exist. Now that it makes sense economically minorities are receiving much needed attention. That aspect may be an issue but it’s a good day when major companies are producing and marketing products with minorities in mind. Because we are on such a topic, I think it’s important that I highlight the most famous marketing Black pioneer, H. Naylor Fitzhugh.

Mr. Fitzhugh was a pioneer in the field of target marketing, the target in this case being the black consumer. His methods were adopted by large corporations who sought his advice. He was dubbed "the dean of black businessmen" by Black Enterprise magazine in 1974. Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller presented him with a special black enterprise achievement award the following year in a White House ceremony. Naylor was the first black student to graduate from Harvard School of Business. H. Naylor Fitzhugh, who became vice president for special markets at the Pepsi-Cola Company after a long career as a professor of business at Howard University. His legacy is the development of our discussion.

There are concerns that could arise as our society became more integrated and social norms become relevant in marketing. Marketers have to truly understand their target or segment rather than just throwing an minority person in their advertising. Companies need to do more when marketing using new media to reach minority markets.

Source:
http://www.everywomanisaqueen.com/home.do