AIMM’s Second Annual Upfront Event is Closing the Gap Between Intention and Action by Increasing Access to and Equity for Diverse Media

LESS THAN 2% OF AD BUYS GO TO DIVERSE-OWNED AND TARGETED MEDIA: THE GROWTHFRONTS SEEK TO CHANGE THAT

AIMM’s Second Annual Upfront Event is Closing the Gap Between Intention and Action by Increasing Access to and Equity for Diverse Media

While 2023 Ad Investments Grew By 9% In Diverse-Owned Media, Investments in the Media Companies in the First GrowthFronts Increased Almost 4X That

NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 28, 2024 – The ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) is hosting its second annual Diverse Media GrowthFronts, an upfront event for diverse-owned and targeted media taking place on Feb. 28-29 at CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.  

This year’s Diverse Media GrowthFronts are bringing together nearly 200 media buyers and brand-side marketers with 75 diverse media entities – up from 40 in 2023 – representing Asian, Black, Hispanic and LGBTQ+ segments. Participating media include diverse media entities who own video, audio, digital, print, out of home (OOH), and content integration.

The two-day event provides attendees a platform for networking sessions and one-on-one meetings as well as panel discussions, presentations on new research and industry progress updates. The GrowthFronts will kick off with panels featuring brand-side marketers and media buyers, and will also feature conversations with actress and activist Rosie Perez and MSNBC and NBC News anchor Richard Liu.  

“AIMM’s groundbreaking GrowthFronts enlighten the industry about diverse media in an effort to improve understanding of who the players are, the challenges and opportunities, and how to best engage in the space,” said Bob Liodice, CEO, ANA. “By positioning diverse-owned and targeted media front and center with media buyers and marketers, brands can maximize their affinity among diverse consumer audiences and ultimately drive business growth.”  

Research at the 2024 GrowthFronts

AIMM, in partnership with Media Framework and Guideline (previously known as Standard Media Index), conducted research to understand the investment level in diverse media. While the marketing industry has long talked about increasing their investments in diverse-owned and targeted media, progress has been slow and even stagnant for some segments.  

According to the research:  

• Only 2.2% of media dollars invested by the largest media holding companies went to diverse-owned companies in 2022. That share increased to 2.5% in 2023.

• Only 1.3% of media dollars invested by the largest media holding companies went to diverse-owned and targeted media in 2022, with a negligible increase to 1.4% in 2023.

Of note, those figures exclude programmatic buys, which cannot yet be broken down by segment. The ANA and AIMM are currently working with partners to find a solution to this challenge.

“Today, diversity in the U.S. stands at more than 40% – and more than 50% when adding LGBTQ+ and People with Disabilities – yet our industry’s investment in media platforms owned by these segments is dismally nominal,” said Carlos Santiago, Co-Founder, AIMM. “This is an alarming disconnect that we must work together to solve. Investment in media must become more reflective of the rich and growing diversity in this country.”  

AIMM is pushing for increased investment into diverse-owned and targeted media. It has set bold yet achievable goals for the industry to reach by the 2025 GrowthFronts:

• Diverse-owned media from 2.2% in 2022 to 6.5% of all ad spend
• Diverse-owned AND diverse-targeted media from 1.3% in 2022 to 4.6% of all ad spend

Learnings from the 2023 GrowthFronts

In March 2023, AIMM held its inaugural GrowthFronts, a one-day event that included more than 500 meetings fostering relationships and transactions between diverse media entities and media buyers and brand-side marketers. The event made a strong impact in the industry with investment in diverse-owned media increasing by 9%, which is equal to $156 million, in one year. Similarly, invested in diverse-owned and targeted media increased by 7% compared to 2022.  

Furthermore, the diverse media companies that participated in the 2023 GrowthFronts saw an increase of approximately four times as much – 34% in one year – a collective incremental $115 million for the 40 media entities alone. This indicates that 72% of the industry media spend realized from 2022 to 2023 was generated from diverse media that participated in the GrowthFronts.  

The 2023 GrowthFronts also resulted in:

• Asian-owned media showed the largest year-over-year ad spend growth with an $87 million increase (+25%).
• Black-owned media saw an increase of $56 million (+6%) incremental dollars allocated.  
• Even though the Hispanic segment continues to grow exponentially faster than other groups, Hispanic-owned media only saw an increase of $8 million (+4%).  

• LGBTQ-owned media saw a $3 million increase, reflecting a 12% increase for this segment as the base was so low in the first place.

“The success of our inaugural GrowthFronts in 2023 proves that we can come together to accelerate industry change by increasing access to diverse media while cultivating understanding, facilitating coaching and tackling challenges,” said Lisette Arsuaga, Co-Founder, AIMM. “With an exhaustive focus on intentionality, we have designed an even bigger event this year to encourage and enable rich conversation, education and, most importantly, media transactions.”

The 2024 GrowthFronts event is sponsored by several AIMM member companies including Verizon, Publicis Group, P&G, Target, General Motors, Kenvue, OMG, and AARP.  

Beyond the in-person event, AIMM has developed an online Diverse Media Marketplace that offers the industry’s most comprehensive and extensive database, which includes customized profiles and media kits for diverse-owned and targeted companies. This marketplace will be available to the industry on a consistent basis post GrowthFronts to encourage all marketers to learn more about the space and increase their investment in 2024 and beyond.

Press Contact: Naylet Aguayo
646.899.0739
naylet.aguayo@digernnaro-usa.com  

About the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM)

Founded in 2016, the ANA's Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) is the leading voice in multicultural and inclusive marketing and DEIB, powered by a collective of 200+ industry leaders from across the ecosystem, advancing actionable change to drive business growth and equity for all in today's diverse marketplace. For more information, visit anaaimm.net.

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