The document summarizes key information about marketing to Black women in healthcare. It notes that Black Americans represent 13.5% of the US population, with over half living in the south and 54% being women. While the digital divide is shrinking for Black Americans, they still face greater health challenges like higher rates of obesity and hypertension. Effective healthcare marketing to Black women recognizes their cultural uniqueness and segmentation, addresses barriers like food deserts, and engages them as leaders to improve community health.

1. Marketing 2 Women Healthcare Conference | November 5, 2009

2. Black Population Overview
• Black Americans total 41 million and
represent 13.5% of the US population
• The majority reside in the south (56%)
• 54% of Black Americans are women
Additionally:
•
49% (vs. 66% of Whites) are less likely to
have employer sponsored health
insurance
• Black Americans are more likely than
White Americans to be uninsured
(19.5% vs. 10.4%)
Office of Minority Health, 2009 2

3. Black Americans and Technology
The Digital Divide is diminishing
• Black Americans:
– Are online (68% vs. 71% of all
Americans)
– Internet access via mobile
devices is 141% higher since
2007
– Are more likely to use Twitter
(26% vs. 19 % Whites and
18% for Latinos)
• Additionally, college
educated Black women are
“Serial Twitterians”
Blackamericastudy.com. 2008;
Pew Internet and American Life Survey 2009
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4. Why Marketers Say No to
Black Consumer Healthcare Marketing
• Perpetuation of reported healthcare disparities and Black
consumer health challenges
• Language becoming cultural identifier
“They speak English don’t they?”
• Increased efforts toward Multiracial Healthcare Marketing
• Divided perceptions about Black patients among
healthcare providers
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5. Culture Debated
Many Black Doctors Believe… Many Non-Black Doctors Believe…
“Bad health is more about poverty
“Many of my patients think that if they pray
than African-American culture”.
on their condition it will improve”.
“Poor Whites eat just as much salt as
“Home herbal remedies are replacing poor Blacks”.
medication for some of my patients”.
5 Hunter-Miller Group, 2007 5

6. Healthcare Marketers who connect with and reap
benefits from Black Women understand…
1 Black women are a culturally distinctive market segment
Black women are different from and similar to each other in
2 meaningful ways
Black women are the means for reaching and connecting good health
3 care practices with the Black community
6 6

7. Who is the Black female healthcare
customer?
7

8. She is culturally distinctive
Culture plays an important role in
how Black women perceive
themselves, approach treatment
for and live with particular
diseases
8

9. She is more likely than mainstream
women to:
• Be a single mom, and a
young grandmother
• Embrace her curves – often
to a fault
• Search the internet for
information about health
and medicine
• Believe that, as a Black
woman, she has more stress
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10. She is also more likely than mainstream
women to:
• Believe that doctors, herbs
and Jesus can cure her ills
• Not exercise as much as
she would like because
she does not want to ruin
her hairstyle
• Feel that advertisers need
to do a better job
understanding her (86%)* ?
* Lattimer Communications, 2009 10

11. She has health
challenges
• Heart disease remains the
greatest killer
• 80% are overweight or obese
• 1.5 x rate of hypertension,
1.7 x stroke rate with higher
rates of disability
• Twice as likely to be diagnosed with stomach cancer
• One out of every four Black women over 55 suffers from diabetes
• 10% less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, but 34% more likely to die
from breast cancer
BlackWomen’s HealthImperative.com
Office of Minority Health, 2009
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12. Some barriers to her good health:
Food Deserts and the Proliferation
of Fast Food Establishments
8 Blocks in Chicago
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13. Despite challenges, her health is
improving
• Black women's’ health has improved
over the last thirty years
• Life expectancy has increased from
68 to 74 years
• Regular medical care, exercise, a
healthy diet, timely screeners,
increased access to resources,
contribute to improved health
BlackWomen’s HealthImperative.com
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14. Black women have never been as different and
segmented as they are today
• After seeing DTC advertising:
Faith Fulfills Black is Better Stretched Black Straddlers New Middle Class
Mean Age: 48 Mean Age: 42 Mean Age: 27 Mean Age: 36
Less likely to respond More likely to respond More likely to respond and More likely to visit a website
take action
blackamericastudy.com 2008 14

15. Women who are engaged healthcare
consumers…
Health
Involved
80%
Health
Informed
33%
Health Info-ential
22%
Health
Engaged
39%
Office of Minority Healthy
Edelman, Health Barometer, 2009 15

16. …. lead the Black Community to better health
care practices
Case Study
Lluminari’s Each One, Teach One
Methodology:
Purpose:
• Distributed Each One, Teach One
• Educate Black community about
health conditions that “tool kits”
disproportionately afflict Black Outcome:
Americans
• Reached 2,000 Black women
• Empower community and nationally
workplace health leaders to
• Increased learning from 20% to 40%
become Health Champions
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17. Leading the Black Community to better
health
• Tom Joyner Morning Show:
“Take a Loved one to the
Doctor”
• Black Women’s Health
Imperative
• Denise Roberts Breast Cancer
Foundation
• State Farm’s 50 Million Pound
Challenge
• Center for Black Women’s
Wellness
• BlackDoctor.org (Information
Resource)
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18. Connect with her
• Do your research
– Who you are really talking to?
• Be sensitive to how she is portrayed
– Be personal, share stories
– Realize the power of girlfriends and family over
celebrity culture
• Inform in real time
• Join conversation both online and
offline
• Engage in prevention, chronic health
problems and access to care
• Remember, cultural tokenism is not
cultural relevance
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19. Thank You!
Pepper Miller Dr. Janet E. Taylor
President Expert
The Hunter-Miller Group, Inc. Be Well.com
6745 S. Wabash Avenue, Suite 2 drjetaylor@aol.com
Chicago, IL 60637-3922 BLOG: http://www.bewell.com/Experts/Janet-E-Taylor
P: (773)602-1620 Twitter: drjanet@@twitter.com
F: (773)483-9101 WATCH DR. JANET ON:
pepper@huntermillergroup.com
www.huntermillergroup.com
BLOG: www.adage.com/bigtent
Twitter: nsightguru@twitter.com
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