What's in those Numbers?

You've seen them. They are cited by journalists on a deadline and get quoted by pundits who memorize them or jot them on Post-it Notes. Yes, we even use them in marketing material for the MultiCultural Media Expo. They are the minority group buying power numbers.

Perhaps out of lazyness, perhaps due to an inability to get more granular data, we have succumbed to utilizing a set of numbers that really doesn't tell us much, but looks meaningful on the surface.

What exactly is an advertiser supposed to do with the knowledge that African-Americans will command $1.1 trillion in buying power (Selig Center for Economic Growth, Third Quarter 2006) by 2011? The Selig Center suggests that the estimates may "... help to judge business opportunities for start-ups or expansions; gauge a business's annual sales growth against potential market increases; indicate the market potential of new and existing products; and help to guide targeted advertising campaigns."

Fine. Try this. Do a Google search on "Hispanic Buying Power" and see how many different ways people use the Selig Center's results. One pundit noted that the reason Target and Wal-Mart are conducting more multicultural advertising is because they've awaken to the buying power survey results. Sorry, but I'd hazard a guess that Wal-Mart has been the nation's largest retailer to the multicultural client for a long time. When good data is misused it becomes bad information.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Selig Center's stuff. Use it wisely. Use it as the Selig Center suggests. I simply say we ought to strive to use tools that will fit our specific needs rather than fitting one set of data to all circumstances. There are some outstanding firms and trade groups producing multicultural economic research these days. I'll use this space to discuss some of that research in the future, and encourage you to share your thoughts and experiences, too.