#BlackOwnedFriday: A Look at 2020’s Most Purposeful Campaign

In this session, Wyclef Jean, Global award-wining artist; Amani Duncan, President of BBH USA; and Madeline Nelson, Co-Founder & CEO of Heads Music will speak about their campaign with Google which reimagined Black Friday as #BlackOwnedFriday to support shopping at Black-owned small businesses. Black-owned businesses closed at double the rate of white-owned businesses due to the pandemic. As part of the campaign, Google launched an animated anthem jingle written and performed by Wyclef. Wyclef also wrote and produced a second animated jingle that supported his favorite local Black-owned business. Launched in partnership with the United States Black Chambers, Google added a “Black-owned” attribute on Google Business listings with a link to resources for these businesses to take better advantage of the platform. Overall, the campaign drove a 300% spike in online conversation about Black-owned businesses and received widespread media coverage, and was named Most Purposeful Campaign of the Year by Campaign US. The three will discuss supporting Black-owned businesses on Black Fridays and year-round.