GM To Increase Spending With Black Owned Media

General Motors has announced it will increase its advertising budget with black owned media organizations to 2% this year, 4% next year, and a goal of hitting 8% by 2025. The announcement followed a meeting between the leadership of GM and NABOB members earlier this month.

In that meeting representing GM were: Mary Barra, CEO of GM, Deborah Wahl, Global Chief Marketing Officer of GM, Heather Stewart, Global Director of Media and Marketing of GM, Telva McGruder, Chief Diversity Officer of GM, and several other senior GM executives. Representing NABOB were: DuJuan McCoy, CEO, Circle City Broadcasting; Cathy Hughes, Founder and Chairman of the Board, Urban One; Alfred Liggins, CEO, Urban One; Howard Robertson, CEO, Spotset; Chesley Maddox-Dorsey, CEO, AURN/A Wonder Media; Sherman Kizart, Managing Director, Kizart Media Partners, and Jim Winston, President of NABOB.

Mary Barra advised NABOB that GM would be making the increased marketing expenditures with Black owned media. She stated that the GM team represented at the meeting would continue the dialogue and engagement with NABOB that began last year with the creation of the Gia Peppers radio program, and she requested assistance from the group in reaching the marking expenditure goals that GM has established.

In subsequent conversations, Deborah Wahl advised Sherman Kizart and Jim Winston, that the commitments to be discussed at the May 14th upfront are already in motion.

Winston said, “The meeting with Mary Barra and the senior leadership of GM was very positive. By laying out a commitment to substantially increase their spending with Black owned media, GM recognized that the long-term solutions for reaching true diversity, equity and inclusion in all aspects of our society must include a commitment from corporate America to do much more business with Black owned businesses. Black communities can never break the cycle of poverty unless Black owned businesses move into the mainstream of American business. GM’s commitment to substantially increase its marketing expenditures with Black owned media is a very important step.”

Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins applauded GM for making the move. “Urban One is the leading platform to reach African American and Urban consumers, and we have been delighted with our long and successful partnership with GM. Today’s announcement will allow our platforms and other diverse media groups to create unique and customized ways for GM to reach their customer base.”

GM has adopted an action plan with five components:
1. Strengthened Commitment
• Increased Diverse Media Spend – GM has increased its overall diverse media spend, including doubling its commitment for spending with Black-owned media to 2 percent in 2021 and 4 percent in 2022, with a goal of reaching 8 percent by 2025.

2. Deeper Engagements
• Diverse-Owned Media Summit – On May 14, GM will hold a dedicated upfront with diverse media owners ahead of the traditional media marketplace. The summit will encourage existing and potential partners to submit an overview of their business for consideration by GM for deeper engagements beyond the summit, including a request for proposal. The process that will be used for the selection of media will be accredited by a third party to ensure fairness and transparency.

3. Sustainable Growth
• Diverse Marketing Incubator Fund – GM is allocating $50 million over 10 years to support and scale diverse marketing companies. This investment will support sustainable growth and is incremental to GM’s media spend.

4. Increased Flexibility
• Inclusive Measurement Rubric – With the benefit of input from diverse media, GM established measurement criteria that will allow for more flexibility based on the size and scale of the media organization. GM’s priority, in collaboration with diverse media, is to create a win-win for the diverse media companies and GM.

5. Expanded Opportunities
• Prospective Partnering Analysis – GM and its media buying agencies will use a multi-factor analysis for selection of diverse media. The analysis utilizes new criteria for assessing capabilities, reach and analytics to drive more opportunity for diverse media.

“This action plan will transform our engagement model with diverse media in a sustainable way,” said Deborah Wahl, GM global chief marketing officer. “Over the course of several weeks, we met with many diverse-owned media organizations. We are grateful for the transparency and spirit of collaboration, which helped us frame this inclusive approach.”