Are you serving the minority-majority?
Why multicultural marketing matters more than ever.
By Marisa Rodriguez
Look around your workplace and
note the number of people who are from
a different ethnic or racial background.
Now think about this: every day,
American consumers are faced with
over 3,000 marketing messages. Of the
messages you saw today, how many were
tailored to the various diverse cultures
which surround us in this melting pot
we call home? With print and broadcast
ads, billboards, mailers, signage, even
ads on shopping carts—how can we as
marketers ever expect to break through
to ethnic consumers if we don’t appreciate
the diversity of the audience we’re
talking to?
What is the “minority-majority?”
In a recent speech, Ronald Langston,
National Director of the Minority Business
Development Agency, explained
that between 2005 and 2050, minorities
are projected to account for 90 percent
of the overall U.S. population growth.
In fact, because the U.S. minority population
is expanding more rapidly than
the majority population, the “minority”
definition has become an oxymoron in
many parts of the U.S.
According to the U.S. Census, five
states are now considered “minoritymajority”
states—states where minorities
are now the majority. Last year, Texas
joined Hawaii, New Mexico, California,
and the District of Columbia as states
where minorities now comprise the
majority of the population. Maryland,
Mississippi, Georgia, New York and
Arizona have minority populations of
around 40 percent and will soon follow
suit. And as of 2004, Washington state
ranks fourth nationwide in terms of total
minority population growth.
A large and growing economic force
When we talk about the buying
power of this minority-majority, purchases
are projected to rise from $1.9
trillion in 2005 to $2.66 trillion by
2010. While some large U.S. companies
are already banking on this growth and
are adjusting their marketing budgets to
capture market share, most U.S. companies
are not giving these important
consumers the attention they deserve.
The good news for mid-market
companies is that fashioning an effective
marketing strategy to connect with
diverse consumers doesn’t necessitate big
advertising budgets. By marketing to
your customers in a way that is culturally
relevant, competent and inclusive,
you can start to capture market share.
Research, research, research
Just as with any well thought-out
marketing campaign, marketing to
the ethnic consumer must start with
research. Unfortunately, many companies
fail to invest adequate time and
resources for research. When it comes
to marketing to people whose cultural
perspectives may be fundamentally
different from your own, nothing is
more important than understanding that
audiences’ buying habits.
A large and growing economic force
When we talk about the buying
power of this minority-majority, purchases
are projected to rise from $1.9
trillion in 2005 to $2.66 trillion by
2010. While some large U.S. companies
are already banking on this growth and
are adjusting their marketing budgets to
capture market share, most U.S. companies
are not giving these important
consumers the attention they deserve.
The good news for mid-market
companies is that fashioning an effective
marketing strategy to connect with
diverse consumers doesn’t necessitate big
advertising budgets. By marketing to
your customers in a way that is culturally
relevant, competent and inclusive,
you can start to capture market share.
Research, research, research
Just as with any well thought-out
marketing campaign, marketing to
the ethnic consumer must start with
research. Unfortunately, many companies
fail to invest adequate time and
resources for research. When it comes
to marketing to people whose cultural
perspectives may be fundamentally
different from your own, nothing is
more important than understanding that
audiences’ buying habits.
In Ethnic Diversity in the Marketplace,
Jonna Holland, Ph.D. of the
University of Nebraska states that since
1980, the only research conducted on
minority groups was focused almost
exclusively on African-Americans. And
that research neglected to focus on what
values may influence the ethnic consumers’
reactions to marketing.
When targeting the diverse consumer,
it’s more important than ever to discover
what each group’s needs are and what
influences the decision making process in
order to formulate powerful, persuasive
marketing that connects with prospects
and customers in a relevant way.
Relevance and perceived needs
Have you ever seen the Far Side
comic strip lampooning what we say
to dogs and what they hear? In it, you
see a man reprimanding his dog, “OK,
Ginger! I’ve had it! You stay out of the
garbage! Understand, Ginger?” and all
the dog hears is “blah blah, Ginger blah
blah blah blah blah Ginger.” On the
surface, this comic can be likened to
the way a non-English speaker hears or
interprets a marketing message.
Now, dig a little deeper. Does the
message address something important
to the consumer? After all, the job of
all good marketing is to address the
perceived needs of your customers and
clients through relevant messaging and
to move them to purchase your product
or service.
Understanding your customers’
perceived needs should start with
research, but it cannot end there. For
example, your research may show that
the target demographic for a product
such as smoked bacon is a 25 to 54-yearold
man. The picture changes dramatically
if that man is a practicing rabbi or
subscribes to Vegetarian Times.
Targeted marketing works only as
long as you understand your market.
A study conducted by public opinion
research firm Yankelovich of Hispanic
and African-American consumers found
that, “50 percent agree that very little,
if any, of the marketing and advertising
[they] see has any relevance to [them].”
Sonya Suarez-Hammond, director of
Yankelovich stated that “the truth is that
African-American and Hispanic consumers
do want to be noticed, but they
want it done in a culturally-appropriate
way, in a way that builds a deep, lasting
connection.”
Twist N’ Go (TN’G) Scooters, a
Preston, Washington motor scooter
manufacturer, recognized this, and in
2003 contracted with Ralph Ibarra of
Diversity America Network1 to help
them sell more products and expand
their market. Ibarra recommended
and implemented a two-pronged
approach: he expanded the company’s
reach to warm weather states with high
concentrations of Hispanic consumers
and spearheaded an initiative to recruit
Hispanic scooter dealers to carry and
market the scooters.
The results were astounding. “Within
three years, the company’s products were
so popular in the southern U.S. that
they opened a new distribution center
on the east coast to serve their growing
demand,” states Ibarra.
And the product knew literally
no borders. At U.S. to Mexico border
crossings, scooters are given right-of-way
to go to the head of the line. Suddenly,
droves of customers were buying
the scooters and driving them into
Mexico, where the brand became known
throughout the Mexican border states.
The benefits of owning a scooter to cross
the border fueled TN’G Scooters’ popularity
and according to Ibarra, “Mexican
dealers were clamoring for the product.
TN’G is now developing accessories for
their Hispanic customers.” Understanding
the needs of the Hispanic consumer
and then serving them in a culturally
competent way was truly the tipping
point for Twist N’ Go.
Cultural competency: more than
localization
So once you’ve done your research
and you know that there are ethnic
consumers who absolutely must have
your product or service, it should be easy
to develop a marketing campaign to
reach them, right?
Unfortunately, marketing to the
ethnic consumer isn’t so clear-cut. Too
many American companies try to take
the easy way out by merely translating
existing materials into another language
or “localizing.”
But localizing is really only the tip of
the iceberg when it comes to marketing
to diverse consumers. According to the
University of Nebraska’s Jonna Holland,
“Communication across ethnic [and cultural]
groups involves accommodation
to the targeted group’s culture.” Suarez-
Hammond of Yankelovich further
confirms that successfully “identifying
and recognizing important cultural
connectors for the multicultural market
will give marketers insight to help them
connect with the ethnic consumer.”
This means you should have a deeper
understanding of each group’s culture,
going beyond localizing your message
to your audience’s native language and
using familiar cultural symbols to gain
the approval of that audience.
These “cultural connectors” such
as values, community, lifestyle and
class can effectively deliver your message
through any variety of culturally
competent means including music,
artwork, traditional dress, holidays and
language differences. For the white
majority, most of these cultural connectors
are things that are taken for granted,
and many mistakenly assume that they
are the same across racial and cultural
lines. In fact, if cultural symbols are
used inappropriately or stereotypically
in marketing, minority consumers are
likely to interpret motives negatively. For
example, the Hispanic community is
comprised of people from many different
countries. A message targeted to a
person of Puerto Rican descent using
words or music from Mexico will likely
result in the message being completely
disregarded.
Multicultural marketing breaks
through the clutter
If your competitors haven’t yet
begun to communicate with the minority-
majority, you have a tremendous
window of opportunity. The companies
that embrace this growing group first
don’t just gain the sale. If they serve
their customer well, they can capture an
entire community when word of mouth
spreads. And if they continue to serve
them well, they have a customer for life.
But don’t delay. If you don’t move to
capture this burgeoning audience, your
competition will.
