What Neiman Marcus’ latest ad can teach you about diverse marketing

Taraji P. Henson’s trapped-in-a-store commercial was both fun and smart

Photo credit: Create Her Stock

Advertisers are in for a rude awakening with online ads. According to CNBC, 65 percent of video viewers habitually skip past online ads before they can end. As soon as the countdown from five to one completes, users are dismissing advertisements in a way that is impossible to do in regular television viewing.

I fall into that category of uninterested online users. But a recent online ad from Neiman Marcus — a store I have only been in once in my entire life — caught my attention recently and made me watch the entire 3:05 ad and then rewatch it a second time.

In the ad, actress Taraji P. Henson (Empire, Think Like a Man, Baby Boy) got trapped in Neiman Marcus and had way too much fun in this department store. Her bubbly personality made the advertisement fun to watch. And it also brought up a bigger issue: diversity in marketing.

SurveyMonkey results confirmed that 74 percent of social media users are tired of ads. However, 56 percent of surveyors responded that ads with people of color and varying sexual orientations were important to them. These viewers can either see more reflections of themselves or that of their social circle. Mainstream ads don’t always do a good job with such diversity.

And for a brown-skinned black women like myself, seeing a black woman as the star in a mainstream ad makes me pay far more attention to the department store. It would definitely make me consider going inside more often than I previously have. And this inviting attitude speaks volumes considering I only fall into one of six consumer audience stats for Neiman Marcus.