THE $30 BILLION NEGRO

Written by the nation's leading consultant on the Negro market, this is an adman's guide -- the first in book form -- to selling a community whose members spend 30 billion dollars a year on consumer products. The author gives basic information on the market's size, location, and spending patterns, and suggests approaches for firms anxious to increase their sales in this area: how to deal with Negro media; how to create new products for the market; phrases not to use (don't call a pink lotion ""flesh colored""). Case histories illustrate successful promotional techniques. There are interesting chapters on the organization of boycotts and on community service campaigns. Though Gibson advises business on how it could increase Negro buying power through jobs and inner-city involvement, this is not intended to be a tract for the times. Rather, it is a readable text offering a somewhat unusual perspective on the black community and should be helpful to the businessman who knows what side his cornbread is buttered on.