Liz Borod

Byline: Liz Borod

Many magazines tout the romance of the Caribbean as a tourist paradise, but few have targeted the 1.5 million Caribbean people who have recently immigrated to the U.S. Addressing that demographic has been a long-held dream of P. Nigel Killikelly, a Guyanese native who has launched his own quarterly general-interest magazine for Caribbean Americans called S.O.C.A.: Souls of Caribbean Americans. S.O.C.A. is definitely a labor of love for Killikelly who withdrew $50,000 from his 401(k) to start the publication, which he runs in his spare time. His day job is vice president and editorial director of Upscale, an Atlanta magazine about the affluent black lifestyle.

"I started to notice the growth of Caribbean people moving into top positions," says Killikelly, citing Colin Powell, Cecily Tyson, Lenny Kravitz, and Essence's Susan Taylor. "I felt there was a void in this market. The Caribbean is just portrayed as a travel destination, and nothing reflects its true roots and culture or the contributions of its people." He says there are large populations of Caribbean people in London, Toronto, New York, Miami, Atlanta and Maryland. It's a group with higher household incomes than other African Americans. And, he says, they travel more and spend money in the U.S. and in the islands.

Like the Caribbean itself, S.O.C.A. is sumptuous and enticing, filled with lush, artistic photography on heavy (80-lb.) stock. The premier May issue, featured a mix of inspirational articles, fashion spreads for men and women, music reviews and a story about an Indo-Guyanese neighborhood in Queens, N. Y. Articles also covered the tranquil island of Bequia, Trinidad's Carnival, the beaches of Barbados and the Santeria religion.

So far, Killikelly's main marketing efforts involve distributing S.O.C.A.'s 50,000 issues at events such as Atlanta's Peach Tree Festival, Toronto's Caribana, Brooklyn's West Indian Carnival and at carnivals in the Caribbean. "I know where my audience is, and they're at all these events," he says. "The whole marketing concept is to get people familiar with the magazine. The word spreads easily because Caribbean people stay in a concentrated area."

Although the second issue, due in mid-August, has a cover price of $4.95, Killikelly won't charge for S.O.C.A. until he has registered 5,000 subscribers on socamagazine.com, where 1,000 people have signed up so far. By August 2005, Killikelly hopes for a 100,000 circ and to see S.O.C.A. on newsstands in West Indian neighborhoods. Meanwhile, he's trying to raise money from ads. In the first issue, 50 percent were paid, including a full-page ad for Grenada's tourism board and for Grace Kennedy, a major food distribution company in Jamaica. Others were bartered, such as those for the Accra Hotel and Remy Martin, both of which contributed to the mag's launch party in Barbados. Some giveaway ads are paying off. Debra Anderson, S.O.C.A.'s sales and marketing consultant, gave a back cover to Brinley & Co. for Brinley Gold, a new vanilla rum from St. Kitts, and it agreed to buy ads in the next two issues. "Caribbean Americans are rum drinkers, so this is Brinley's market," she says.

S.O.C.A.'s focus on a clearly defined audience could give it a leg up with advertisers. "I think this magazine will do well because it's very well targeted," says Lisa Contreras, vice president and multicultural director at Carat USA, an independent media network. "If you're putting an ad in a mass title such as Ebony when you want to reach Caribbean Americans, there's a certain amount of waste." She says Caribbean Americans are lumped together with African Americans who don't share their culture or heritage: "All African American publications address the market as one homogenous group, and it's not." Anderson, former marketing director for Jet magazine, and territory manager at Caribbean Travel & Life, agrees. "Companies like Grace Kennedy need a way to reach West Indians," she says. Killikelly's main interest is more personal: "I also did it for my sons, Nkosi and Kadeem, so they could recognize the beauty, pride and diversity of Caribbean people."

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