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THE NEED
"AMS can put our clients in all of Canada's Aboriginal Media with one single buy."
AMS firmly believes that marketing campaigns targeting Aboriginal people, if they are to be effective, must utilize Aboriginal media. For many Aboriginal people, Aboriginal news media, consisting of local community newspapers, regional or national newspapers, magazines and newsletters, and radio and television broadcast services remains their principal sources of news and information.
In recent years there has been a tremendous recognition of the issues and concerns of Aboriginal people and their communities. The need for governments and businesses to communicate with Aboriginal people has never been greater.
At the same time, Canada has been witness to an increase of publications with a "Native" theme - only a few of which are actually published by Aboriginal people for Aboriginal people. Many of these "Native" publications fail to adequately serve the Aboriginal community: they do not employ Aboriginal people, they offer little or no training opportunities, the information they provide is lacks relevance, and they often misrepresent themselves to advertisers. It is these "Native" publications, most of them based in Alberta, that do a disservice to the Aboriginal community.
The result has been a great deal of confusion and frustration regarding the use of Aboriginal media, costs to advertisers have been high and in some instances have resulted in the cancellation of campaigns. The growing reluctance by governments and businesses to deal with ANY Aboriginal media due to this confusion has hurt the legitimate Aboriginal media.
AMS will sort everything out. AMS will help our clients focus their campaigns on the legitimate and most effective Aboriginal media - the media that provides news and information services to the Aboriginal communities they serve, who are established, who provide a high level of service, and who are well respected. AMS is currently conducting the research necessary to steer our clients away from trouble spots, keep their campaigns focused, and promote legitimate Aboriginal media.
Aboriginal
media IS NOT ethnic advertising!
Aboriginal people ARE a distinct community!
Aboriginal people ARE a distinct community!
The Aboriginal community is the only cultural group in Canada's multi-cultural mix that is segregated.
In including Aboriginal with "ethnic" campaigns, many promotional campaigns thereby exclude Aboriginal communities and a significant Aboriginal population.
To ensure that Aboriginal people are exposed to your campaigns, you must be sure that Aboriginal media is included in your "community" placement strategies.
This is a fact that few agencies are aware of. The dynamics of Aboriginal media or how to choose them are complex and require thorough research and understanding of Aboriginal society.
Many people fail to realize that the First Nation located beside their own town most likely does not have access to home delivery of their local newspaper. Few Aboriginal people in rural communities have regular access to non-Native publications or periodicals. Further, those that do have access view the coverage of Aboriginal news and events with a great deal of skepticism.
Urban Aboriginal people do have ready access to mainstream publications and other media, however the penetration of mainstream publications in rural Aboriginal communities drops substantially. It is not that rural Aboriginal people have a choice in how they receive their information the choice has been made long ago and for the vast majority that choice is the Aboriginal press.
Grouping Aboriginal media with the "ethnic" media reduces promotional budgets and has little impact on the penetration in large urban centers, but outside these areas this grouping prevents the message from reaching Canada's Aboriginal community.
Making this decision prior to knowing the facts regarding Aboriginal media, while regrettable is understandable due to the complex nature of the issue. Making this decision once being aware of the facts, becomes a deliberate choice to exclude Aboriginal people from the campaign.
It is not too late to recognize Canada's fastest developing market place and the community with the highest birth (and economic) growth rate.
AMS will advise you on the most effective and efficient means to communicate with Canada's Aboriginal community. There are many options in choosing Aboriginal media and AMS will discuss them with you and recommend a plan based on your objectives.
AMS has established a track record of developing successful campaigns and can assist you maximize the impact of your campaign by making Aboriginal media recommendations and ensuring you avoid the pitfalls.
If you choose to ignore Aboriginal marketing, are you deliberately excluding Aboriginal communities from your campaigns?