We thought we’d end the year with a brief round up of important events that took place that have potentially significant impact on the African American media and marketing ecosystem. Just as 2017 was beginning to wind down, at least three major events took place that potentially have enormous implications for the African American marketing ecosystem. The Future of Essence? On Monday, November 27 th,  Meredith, publishers of a host of general market heartland publications such as Better Homes & Gardens and Family Circle announced it was purchasing Time, Inc. for 1.8 billion in cash.  Ordinarily, this wouldn’t cause anyone to blink, except, one of the titles in the Time, Inc. portfolio is Essence Communications.  Essence Communications of course is the publisher of Essence magazine, the primary magazine for Black women and the trailblazing Essence Festival.  There has been a lot of discussion about which titles might be shuttered when Meredith takes over, b

Introducing  Media Tea Leaves , a blog offering commentary and analysis of the advertising and marketing ecosystem and the implications for African American media companies, agencies and the  brands that need to connect with this consumer segment.  Reading tea leaves, of course, is a mystical endeavor by which a highly intuitive individual can look at the tea leaves, or coffee grounds as it were, and divine the future.  It has a formal name: tasseography with the root etymology originating from French meaning cup.  In essence, it’s the study of cups – stretched. The frequency of posts is undetermined at this time.  We will let events and issues in the marketplace assist with defining the topics and cadence.   The first article was a 1 0 point summary of the ANA Multicultural Marketing Conference  held in Miami November 5-7 th , 2017.  It was published on LinkedIn and reposted by my good friends at Moguldom.com We will also, from time to time, invite guests to of