Friday, September 30, 2011

Advantage Communications, Inc. Selected as Agency of Record for Arkansas Department of Health HIV/STD/Hepatitis C Section

LITTLE ROCK, AR – September 29, 2011 – Advantage Communications, Inc. has been selected as “Agency of Record” for the Arkansas Department of Health HIV/STD Hepatitis C Section. As agency of record, Advantage Communications, Inc. will work with the Section to develop and execute a statewide public education campaign encouraging Arkansans to understand the risks of HIV/AIDS, prevent the spread of the disease and seek regular testing. 

According to the Arkansas Department of Health as of December 2009, 5,793 people were living with HIV/AIDS in Arkansas. The number of new diagnoses of HIV infection reported to the Arkansas Department of Health in 2009 was 338. Of these new cases, 79% were male and 57% were between the ages of 30 and 49 years. HIV/AIDS has also disproportionately affected minorities – specifically African Americans and Hispanic Americans – on both a national and state level. As of 2009, 49% of new HIV infections were among African Americans (42%) and Hispanic Americans (7%). 

“We have come to a cross-road in our HIV/AIDS communications efforts in the State of Arkansas,” explained Tina Long, Section Chief of the Arkansas Department of Health HIV/STD Hepatitis C Section. “There is no better time than the present to be more aggressive with Arkansans about understanding EVERYTHING there is to know about HIV/AIDS and how it may be prevented. We must work together as one unit to combat this disease to substantially improve the health of Arkansans within and outside of our communities. It is an uphill battle but with our new partner, Advantage Communications, we expect to move forward.” 

“We are simply humbled to be a partner to the Arkansas Department of Health HIV/STD Hepatitis C Section,” said Michael Steele, President and CEO of Advantage Communications, Inc. “This is no new territory for our agency as we have been engaged in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS for several years now, including our work with Sheryl Lee Ralph, national AIDS activist and others. We look forward to decreasing the spread of HIV/AIDS and increasing the number of supporters across our State.” 

For more information about this statewide HIV/AIDS campaign, contact Advantage Communications at 501.374.2220.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Former Razorback and Current Chicago Bulls Player Ronnie Brewer to Star in Local Anti-Tobacco Advertising

UAPB/Stamp Out Smoking Utilizes NBA Star to Maximize Tobacco Cessation Messaging



The Minority Initiative of Stamp Out Smoking will launch this year’s public education efforts with new television and radio advertising featuring former Arkansas Razorback and current Chicago Bulls player, Ronnie Brewer. The new ads will air in early October and run throughout 2011, ending in June 2012.

The Minority Initiative of Stamp Out Smoking is managed via a strategic partnership between the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office, the Master of Science Degree in Addiction Studies and agency of record, Advantage Communications, Inc.

“Ronnie is the epitome of living a healthy, smoke-free lifestyle,” stated Dr. Calvin Johnson, Program Director of the Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office. “Each year, more than 47,000 African Americans die from a tobacco-related illness. Understanding the importance of remaining aggressive and relevant to this target audience, we are confident that Ronnie’s delivery of our anti-tobacco messaging will resonate throughout this year and for those to come. We appreciate Advantage Communications’ recommendation to partner with Ronnie for this campaign. ” 

Entitled I Can’t Imagine, the TV/radio advertisements highlight Ronnie in the element that has deemed him a star - basketball. Leveraging this star power and appeal to the Minority Initiative of Stamp Out Smoking’s target audience (African American males, ages 18+), the TV/radio advertisements feature Ronnie reminiscing on the path he has taken to pave his career while underscoring how life may be totally different had he chosen to smoke.

“It was indeed a pleasure to work with Ronnie for this creative initiative,” stated Toni McCastle, Media Liaison for MISRGO and the Addiction Studies Program. “With our charge to create healthier lives in our state by sharing the life-saving benefits of tobacco cessation and encouraging minority populations to quit tobacco use, we could not have chosen a better advocate to carry this message.”

For more information about the new advertising or about the Minority Initiative of Stamp Out Smoking, contact Toni McCastle at 870.575.8923.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

UnPlug Me!

It's No Longer the Media Community You Know

By: Michael Steele, President and CEO 
Advantage Communications, Inc.
Is America "unplugging?"

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard chatter about the "Death of Cable."* Much of this has been fueled by the proliferation of new media tools. According to a recent interactive poll conducted by Adweek/Harris, approximately 51% of Americans would stop paying for cable TV and watch all their programming on the Internet if they could get all the shows they wanted free. In direct contrast were the 34% of Americans that had no interest in giving up their cable TV – interesting, but not surprising that those who preferred to stay plugged-in skewed older. (source: Adweek/Harris Interactive, May 2011).

According to a 2011 analysis from the Associated Press, eight of the nine largest subscription-TV providers in the U.S. lost 195,700 subscribers in the April-to-June quarter. The analysis, featured in an article entitled Pay TV Industry Loses Record Number of Subscribers, noted, "…But it is also possible that people are cancelling cable, or never signing up in the first place, because they’re watching cheap internet video."

With this said, we must dissect the implications of such a transition on the overall broadcast media community and also on that of the ethnic media and consumer market. As multicultural experts at Advantage Communications, Inc., we have been tracking along with this phenomenon and our findings are consistent with projections of many consumer analysts.

As recently as 30 years ago, network TV included three (3) major networks that could reach almost 90% of the U.S. population. Now, however, consumers have hundreds of cable channel choices, making it more challenging for marketers to reach them. On top of this, additional forms of interactive media and entertainment have captured the attention of the once loyal broadcast customer, some of which include:
  • Netflix
  • HuLu
  • Google or Apple TV
  • HBO GO
  • YouTube (with the aid of social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

This overwhelming interest in new media has been attributed to many factors. However, the reigning factor seems to tie back to our weakening economy and proliferation of new media. In many households, cable TV is considered a "luxury" item. When budget-cutting consumers consider alternative options to cable, those available via the Internet are quite attractive for reasons ranging from cost efficiency to ease of accessibility.
*For the purpose of this article, satellite providers such as DirecTV and Dish Network are considered as cable.

Cable customers appear to be "unplugging" at unprecedented rates, challenging forward-thinking marketers to redefine our media community as we know it. Cable customers appear to be "unplugging" at unprecedented rates, challenging forward-thinking marketers to redefine our media community as we know it.

So what does this mean for the multicultural segments? The minority consumer market disproportionately consumes broadcast media – we know this as a fact. For those of you who may not know, according to Nielsen Media Research in the 2005 report, "TV Audience Special Study: African American Audience", television use in African-American households far out-paced viewing in all other homes. It noted that African American homes tuned into 40% more television than other households and our Hispanic counterparts are not far behind.

With this understanding, further elaboration on the impact of the minority population disengaging from cable television paints the picture of the ensuing paradigm shift.

According to Ebony writer Adrienne P. Samuels in an October 2008 article entitled TV With Out TV: As Black Shows Shift Online, Viewers Can Tune Into the Web To Find Color, she says:
"You can still find the occasional Black character on cable channels such as TV One or BET, or run across an African-American on a reality series, or on the Food Network or HGTV. And the CW network offers two Black shows this fall. But a growing number of Blacks are headed to the online frontier, where Web-based episodic programming (aka Internet TV) is fast becoming popular--and even faster becoming a moneymaker… In June, YouTube (the largest video site online) had 8.3-million African-American viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research."

This new media consumption behavior is not only visible within the African American community but the Hispanic as well.

A study was recently conducted by the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication, with the support of DMS Research, from a national online sample of nearly 2,500 Hispanics who prefer English; Hispanics who prefer Spanish; non-Hispanic whites; African-Americans and Asians in the United States.
Key findings from this study uncovered broad diversity in social media behaviors among different ethnic/cultural groups and that minorities visit social networking sites more frequently than non-Hispanic whites. In general, the study concluded that ethnic minorities visit social networking sites more frequently than non-Hispanic whites.

While these are only two examples of minority segment preference of new media tools, growing consumer trends continue to demonstrate the prevalence of these tools against this population.
At Advantage Communications, Inc. we’ve taken this information and our learnings about the new media tools and translated them into action for our clients. We’ve embraced the fact that cable TV will more than likely be around for years to come but it is no longer what it used to be for reaching our multicultural segments. We’ve immersed ourselves in the social media arena leveraging tools such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Blogs, LinkedIn and more to speak to targeted consumers. We are approaching the digital divide with our guns loaded – or better stated - our smart phones hot!

So what do you think will happen when the heaviest users of broadcast media unplug? Or better yet, are YOU ready?This new media consumption behavior is not only visible within the African American community but the Hispanic as well.

A study was recently conducted by the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication, with the support of DMS Research, from a national online sample of nearly 2,500 Hispanics who prefer English; Hispanics who prefer Spanish; non-Hispanic whites; African-Americans and Asians in the United States.
Key findings from this study uncovered broad diversity in social media behaviors among different ethnic/cultural groups and that minorities visit social networking sites more frequently than non-Hispanic whites. In general, the study concluded that ethnic minorities visit social networking sites more frequently than non-Hispanic whites.

While these are only two examples of minority segment preference of new media tools, growing consumer trends continue to demonstrate the prevalence of these tools against this population.
At Advantage Communications, Inc. we’ve taken this information and our learnings about the new media tools and translated them into action for our clients. We’ve embraced the fact that cable TV will more than likely be around for years to come but it is no longer what it used to be for reaching our multicultural segments. We’ve immersed ourselves in the social media arena leveraging tools such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Blogs, LinkedIn and more to speak to targeted consumers. We are approaching the digital divide with our guns loaded – or better stated - our smart phones hot!

So what do you think will happen when the heaviest users of broadcast media unplug? Or better yet, are YOU ready?