There are more than seven million people in the UK ’s ethnic minority communities. They are growing 15 times faster than the white population and, by 2010, will represent over 35 per cent of the population in urban areas.
A whole raft of brands have been built on the ‘brown pound’ including mobile phones, hi-tech consumer products and clothes labels. Ethnic minorities are three times more likely to own a BMW than the population at large (and twice as likely to own a Mercedes Benz). Furthermore 60 per cent of these were bought as new cars (66 per cent for Mercedes).
Ethnic audiences are transforming the media landscape too. They are distinct, diverse, young and trend-setting - and these very characteristics make them hard to reach with a ‘big media’ approach. But the brands they favour can transfer quickly to the mainstream.
The rise of new, ethnically-driven channels presents a challenging - but incredibly exciting - business and communications opportunity.
On November 29, a ground-breaking ethnic media conference takes place at the London Stock Exchange. The conference, organised by Ethnic Communications, explores the potential for marketers, advertisers and corporate communicators.
MediaGuardian is a key partner in the Ethnic Media Conference 2006 and is producing a 12 page supplement of The Guardian newspaper on November 27, dedicated to the ethnic media arena .
Now check the Ethnic Media Conference 2006 website for more details on the conference and for registration.