Magic Johnson to Launch New Media Company

Earvin "Magic" Johnson will launch a new media company in early 2007 he told attendees at the Association of National Advertisers' Multicultural Marketing Conference this week.

Johnson, who is chairman-CEO of both Johnson Development Corp. and Magic Johnson Enterprises, said his new venture Magic New Media, will include wireless and the web, Advertising Age Magazine reported.

"Every company's looking for these eyeballs," Mr. Johnson said later in a brief interview with Advertising Age. "There's no urban play."

The new company's CEO is John Huffman, who was CEO of Real Hip-Hop, a mobile hip-hop community.

Mr. Johnson spoke about his 103 Starbucks outlets, 32 Burger King restaurants, AMC movie theaters, 12 gyms and other holdings in what he describes as "Urban America."

He stressed the importance of investing in urban media.

"It can't be from 20,000 feet; your marketing now has to be on the ground," he said. "Whether it's black radio, magazines, newspapers or street teams. And the budget can't be $100 million and here's $2 million for you. By 2014, half of Americans are going to be minorities. That's the way budgets are going to have to go. And you've got to get started now, not later. Somebody beat you in, we're going to stick with them."

Asked whether he might enter politics and run for public office. Johnson said he has a strategy planned for his business that will take the next 10 years.

"It took me a long time to convince financial institutions, as well as corporate America, to invest in our communities," he said.

"We'll pay $4 for a cup of coffee," he said. "We just won't pay for the scones. We're still trying to figure out what that is."

Johnson said he tweaks the brands he invests in to resonate with Urban America's consumers. At Starbucks, for instance, he nixed the scones and added pound cake and peach cobbler instead. Replaced the elevator music, with R&B and Motown. And he added evening entertainment, such as jazz nights and comedy nights.

"Urban America is like a foreign country in a sense," he said.