British advertisements do not reach Asians

Wednesday, 22 December 2004, 20:30 IST
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British advertisers are failing to reach black and Asian viewers through television commercials, a new report released here said. According to research by the media agency Starcom, television viewing habits among black and Asian Britons varied significantly from the general population, causing advertising campaigns to lose most of the 32 billion pound 'brown pound' market. The research also contradicts the traditional idea that viewing habits of minority groups did not vary enough from the general population to justify a separate analysis or targeted campaigns. According to the survey, black Britons aged 16-34 watched seven and a half hours more TV a week than the average. Asians the same age watched three and a half hours more. But advertising campaigns failed to hit these groups because they did not watch the same mix of channels as the general population aged 16-34. Ethnic minority groups watched channels such as the BBC and Asia-specific channels whose audiences are not fully measured. The black 16-34s were seen to watch more than twice as much music as most 16-34 adults. And both black and Asian Britons watched far more films and dramas. Only one programme featured in the top 10 of both the ethnic groups, and also the general population aged 16-34 - Coronation Street. Starcom believed that ad campaigns were not reaching ethnic minority audiences because of "a lack of sensitivity" towards the programmes viewed by young black viewers and Asians.
Source: IANS