TIME AIMS TO BOOST MINORITY READERSHIP
By Wil Cruz

For the first time in its 79-year history, Time magazine is launching a multifaceted marketing campaign to reach African-Amer-cans, Hispanics and Asians. The company announced a partnership last week with BlackPlanet.com, a community Web site geared primarily toward blacks, calling it the first phase of a 12-month plan.

Over the next three months, Time, through several partner-ships, will target the African-American market as well as the gay and lesbian population through direct mail, print advertising and online marketing, among other tactics. "Our overall vision ts to increase the presence of the Time brand in these underdeveloped markets through a variety of relevant advertising and marketing campaigns," said Melvin Young, marketing director of mul-ticultural markets at Time, New York. The African-American market, for one, is prob-ably the fastest-growing middle-class seg-ment in the country. Time plans to test different messages for the African-American and gay and lesbian markets, Young said. However, he would not reveal how the content would differ for each market.

Young said that the content would have a general Time message but would "speak to the relevancy of each market." For example, when reaching out to Ñblack baby boomers, Time might include a civil rights theme in the market-ing creative. "We have to understand that there are different cultural nuances and different atti-tudes and behaviors that really play into how people respond and react to any kind of mes-sage, whether it's direct mail, TV, radio or print," Young said.

Regarding multicultural marketing online, the Black Planet deal calls for Time to feature pop-up sub-scription boxes on BlackPlanets main page. Time, which is negotiat-ing similar deals with BlackPlanet's sister com-panies, MiGente.com and AsianAvenue.com, is offering 18 to 24-year-olds eight free trial issues and 25-and-older mem-bers four free trial issues.

Young said the free trial offers could save BlackPlanet members 73 percent on subscriptions. And throughout Black History Month in February, Time will offer BlackPlanet members archived content on his-toric African-American achievements.

BlackPlanet will place a Time link on its home page, leading members to its news and politics section, where Time will be featured. BlackPlanet also will proactively market Time to its members via notification e-mails. BlackPlanet will offer its members points for subscribing to Time, said Arul Sun-daram, head of business development strate-gies at CommunityConnect, New York, BlackPlanet's parent company. Meanwhile, Young said that though he hopes the mar-keting strategies generate subscriptions in the African-American market, Time's main goal is to promote the magazine on Black-Planet before launching several mini-Web sites, hosted by BlackPlanet, in June. As part of Times offline marketing efforts, Young said, the company plans to advertise in print publications and to launch a direct mail campaign in May targeting African-Americans as well as gays and lesbians. Time plans to market to the company database and to rent lists from brokers.