Bidiversity

Multi-Cultural Marketing?

Multicultural marketing isn’t an exact science or process, but it is becoming increasingly more critical as the U.S. consumer markets continue to evolve and grow. Most than 20 years ago, smart corporate marketers had recognized that mass-market consumers (also referred to as “The General Market” or white consumers) were growing at a significantly slower rate than ethnic and other multicultural consumers. And even the most conservative estimates indicate that U.S. non-Hispanic whites will be in the minority in just over 40 years.

But why are only a fraction of the Fortune 1000 engaged in any form of multicultural marketing? The reasons are varied and often fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Marketers often fear what they don’t know. Ethnic and multicultural marketing isn’t rocket science. In most instances the same mass-market advertising and marketing principles apply to ethnic and multicultural consumer markets. The primary differences are often found in the strategic and tactical elements that are deployed to reach non-white consumers. When people fear what they don’t know or fully understand, the most common way to deal with this uncharted territory is to avoid it altogether.

• Corporate executives don’t hire talent or devote resources to multicultural marketing. The average lifespan of a chief marketing officer in today’s corporate arena is about two years. And even more marketing executives don’t stick around long enough to execute more than a few marketing campaigns. Part of the reason for this constant shift in executive management is the lack of alignment that exists between the executives who run the company and the executives who manage marketing.

• Most multicultural market research falls short. Although there are studies available that are devoted to multicultural consumers, most are conducted by corporate marketers and media companies that don’t always take into account the cultural insights of ethnic and other multicultural consumers. For instance, many corporate marketers accept market research for Latino and Asian immigrants conducted entirely in English. While some immigrants may be proficient in reading English, the large majority often lack spoken English skills. Furthermore, most existing studies don’t deliver the consumer insights that are so critical to reaching ethnic and multicultural audiences, including cultural and language disparities, linguistic isolation, generational distinctions and the impact of acculturation.

• Corporate marketers use the same measurement tools to evaluate the market. Some of the ethnic markets are unique and require a different set of measurements to evaluate a marketer’s success. But a number of corporate marketers are set in their ways and don’t recognize that some ethnic segments can’t be measured using conventional measurement matrices. Arbitron and Nielsen are still working on enhancing the diversity of their panels and households, and a large number of ethnic and lifestyle media organizations aren’t audited like their mass-market counterparts.

• Corporate marketers believe that the cost of market entry is cost-prohibitive.

But what should corporate marketers do to engage ethnic and multicultural consumers? The following suggestions could help them get started.

In order to better understand multicultural consumers, companies such as McDonald’s work to encourage all of its executives and associates to lead with ethnic insights. This commitment to lead with ethnic insights includes learning, understanding and fully appreciating diverse consumers from their point-of-view so the company can serve them in a culturally relevant and appropriate manner, while remaining true to its brand’s core values.

“When we talk about understanding our multicultural consumers and the changing landscape of the market, we often turn to our strategic partners such as our restaurant operators and ethnic agencies,” says Vivian Chen, manager of Asian Consumer Marketing at McDonald’s USA. “Our partners work closely with our marketing team to reveal the unique cultural consumer insights that we need to fully understand and address our business needs. They are our arms, eyes and legs in the communities where we operate our restaurants, allowing us to be responsive to our customers each and everyday.”

At Southern California Edison, a division of Edison International, in Rosemead, Calif., corporate support for ethnic and multicultural communications is supported by the highest level executives of this major electric utility company. Edison International SVP Barbara Parsky and her colleagues are internal champions at the company and ensure that ethnic and multicultural marketing are fully integrated in their communication plans.

“Barbara has an unwavering commitment to diversity in all aspects of our communication and outreach efforts,” says Donnie Broxson, advertising manager at Southern California Edison. “She not only ensures that the company is effectively leveraging all channels to reach the ethnic markets, but also actively supports our community involvement efforts, leadership programs and employee affinity groups.” According to Mr. Broxson, Barbara’s commitment to ethnic and multicultural marketing and communications has been critical to the success of the company’s efforts in reaching diverse consumers.

As corporate marketers consider the options that exist in ethnic and multicultural marketing, they often discover that the most difficult step for them to take is the very first. According to Al Patel, director of Multicultural Marketing at MillerCoors, not making that initial first step is paramount to a missed market opportunity.

“Many [corporate] marketers may see it as more efficient and effective to go after the general market and assume marketing efforts will resonate equally with the various multicultural segments, says Mr. Patel. “They may be missing a key opportunity to leapfrog competition.”

Excerpt – Read the full article at : http://www.diversitybusiness.com/news/diversity.magazine/99200830.asp