Afro Punk - The Newest Emerging African American Identity

As American marketers, we love to segment populations, and assign definitions and labels to reflect those segments.  Segmentation enables us to drill down identities to a minute and finite level in order to tailor marketing initiatives to micro levels in the hope of increasing response, enabling conversions and motivating people to take a particular action.

 

 

As American marketers, we love to segment populations, and assign definitions and labels to reflect those segments.  Segmentation enables us to drill down identities to a minute and finite level in order to tailor marketing initiatives to micro levels in the hope of increasing response, enabling conversions and motivating people to take a particular action.  

 

Defining these segments is an ongoing process.  As the population ages, attitudes change, trends develop and habits emerge.  Early adopters, Action takers, baby boomers, generation X, generation Y and the list of labels goes on and on.

 

However, there is a segment that has been around for a long time and has crossed several cultures and demographic divides and has consistently been under the radar.  We are now experiencing the reemergence of the Afro Punk generation.  Reemergence?  Yes.  As with a lot of other segments based on music and/or rebellion or the opposite of the norm, Afro Punk has been around for a long time at many levels of strength and visigility.

 

But, what is Afro Punk and why is it important to marketers?  First, let’s realize that music can be the main motivator of various segments and the influence of attitudes across many segments of race, age and income.  Take a minute to think back to the origins of the punk generation.  First realized in the early 70’s, the punk generation was spurred on by music from Isaac Hayes to the Sex Pistols.  Populated mostly by white people who were the sons and daughters of the hippie generation, the punk generation took hippie attitudes to another level.  As with most generational changes, the punk generation was the mutation of the hippie movement and the growth of an underground segment that went largely ignored and unnoticed except for those public instances of dramatic events fueled by drug abuse and overdoses, rebellion, suicide and other extremes.  However, as the Afro Punk movement was taking root, these drama scenes so common to white suburban kids seeking escape started to decrease and wane.  The white punk movement seemed to morph into other genres Heavy metal, acid rock etc.).  With the help of artists like Madonna, convention was continually challenged by rebellion.  

 

As a matter of fact, most movements like the punk movement, the hippie movement and even the big hairstyles of the 80’s are based in challenging the conventional and forming an identity by rebelling against the norm. 

 

So goes the Afro Punk movement.  Not just a challenge of convention, but a culmination for African Americans to continue to challenge the conventional in a non violent but rebellious way which is the basis of formulating an identity.

 

Identification based on non violent rebellion has been a phenomenon throughout the latter part of the twentieth century.  Afro Punk is the latest expression of that identity but has chosen to stay unique to African Americans who are famous for making themselves heard and noticed through music, dress, dance and the arts.

 

Based on those same identifiers, the Afro Punk segment is deeply rooted in music, dress and attitude.  We are currently witnessing the birth and rebirth of Afro Punk in its latest permutation.  

 

In the past, we saw the punk movement as a rebellious segment that did not make marketers stand up and take notice due to the assumption that the people that ascribed to it were not on the radar screen.  They were not seen as people who had money, nor did they care about money.  It was assumed that these people would not have any kind of impact on society.  However, this was a mistake.  Yesterday’s punks are today’s business owners and generational leaders.  They are having families and careers and are the fuel for much of the way people embrace social media and have made the Internet the important tool that it is today.  

 

The Afro Punk is no different.  However, it seems that the digital age has made them more influential than ever before and made them invisibly influence our society in ways never before seen.  The birth of this movement is spurring unconventional innovation across digital media, technology and the arts.  This is the first time that digital is influenced by a groundswell of an underground movement.  The proliferation of smart phones, apps and social media is partly fueled by this need for like minded people to communicate.  Their influence can be felt from music and media to technology.  Again, we can see that today’s punks (from African Americans to Hispanics to Asians) are tomorrow’s digital leaders.

 

This begs the question, why is this segment important to marketers?  Basically, the formulations of attitudes that begin in this age demographic become deep rooted and the catalyst for opinions that come later in life.  We must not underestimate the power of digital influence.  We must grasp it, understand it and embrace it and present it to corporations as something to take note of.  

 

These young people that are Afro Punk are usually second generation of low to middle class families and we will see them be the fuel for the fire of social and digital change in the coming years.  Even though distilled by rebellious dress, demeanor and attitude, Afro Punks are intelligent, money spending early adopters that cannot be ignored.

 

As a marketer, it makes me think of a story of when my kids were little.  We were in the park and there was a group of 5 or 6 kids that had Mohawks, piercings etc sitting on the grass.  My daughter who was about 8 years old said to me “Daddy, those people scare me”.  I told her not to worry; they were just like anybody else.  To emphasize the point, I went up to them and I asked them if they would like to teach my kids not to be scared and not to judge a book by its cover.  They wholeheartedly agreed.  It ended up that they played and ran with my kids and all had a great time.  Meanwhile, we were the talk of the park – of that I am sure.  But the old adage – don’t judge a book by its cover certainly held true.  If we could only play and enjoy each other like we did when we were kids, what a different world this would be.

 

The bottom line is, look around, and look at how people are presenting themselves but don’t be fooled by their presentation – be intrigued!  And, the next time you see someone on the street or in the subway with one side of their head shaved, you will know they are Afro Punk and they are not so different than you or me.

 

About Ebony Marketing Systems – EMS is a marketing research company, in business for over 30 years that focuses on the ethnic and multicultural markets.  Having worked for some of the world’s largest companies; Coca-Cola, Met Life, Verizon and more, EMS is considered the leading multicultural marketing and market research firm in the United States.

 

 

This content is provided by Ebony Systems. Visit their website at www.ebonysystems.com.