Asian Media Group started out in 1987, originally in publishing. We were the first major publication group to detail the lifestyles of Asian Americans, beyond stereotypes, at a time when the audience was about 2 percent of the population, and "Asian American" was an unused term. Back then, as is the case today, advertisers funded our existence. And even back then, while it was a harder sell, advertisers recognized the financial opportunity in connecting with a relatively higher-earning, higher-spending group of consumers and business owners. The battle was uphill, and praise came interspersed with racism and prejudice.
At around the turn of the century, 2003, our founders saw that instead of "letters to the editor," they were receiving "emails to the editor." This sparked our move to digital. The rest of the industry was on the same path. And as our industry evolved, and us alongside it, our focus had to be on proving out value for the very advertisers we had been working alongside all along. Measurement of results and sales impact became the key focus, as it is today.
Today, the glossy magazines we began with only exist in Asian American history textbooks, taught at the likes of Stanford and Berkeley lecture halls. But the mission continues. Our values are in transparency, fairness, and performance, and we aim to continue the vision into a digital future.