Why do we always advise our clients to incorporate faith into nearly all of their pr/marketing plans? We advise them to do so because according to our focus groups, marketing studies, and Pew Research, 73% of African-American moms list living a religious life as one of their top priorities. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority African-American moms consider themselves to be politically liberal yet socially conservative. Whether that translates to how each of these moms lives her life is irrelevant, it is about how she views herself and how she aspires to live her life.
What does that mean for marketers? It means if these marketers are truly making an effort to reach African-American mom consumers, then there better be some consideration of the African-American mom’s relationship with her faith included in their marketing/pr plans.
So how do pr/marketing pros go about tapping into this market? Well to start there are three elements that must be included in any campaign targeting the religious African-American mom; media relations, sponsorship, and grassroots marketing. Though each of these elements are standard in most outreach campaign, when dealing with religion and faith they must be utilized in an especially careful and respectful manner.
Marketers must familiarize themselves with the right media, the right brands, and the right religious events to associate themselves with when targeting Christian Black moms. Why would a Christian media outlet be interested in Kmart expanding its Black doll line? Because Black moms in all phases of their walk in faith are reading these publications are not just looking for religious specific merchandise.
Brands targeting Black moms must keep in mind that Christian moms buy Barbies and bubblegum just like any other mother. They shop at Target and Toys R Us, and they vacation and vote. If these brands want to reach Black moms they should be sure to ask their pr/marketing teams/firms how they plan to incorporate the Christian media into the communication plans.
-Playground Public Relations
