Finding The Courage To Make A Stand

Doing the right thing isn’t always the easy thing to do. In fact, it rarely is.

The majority of American businesses today only show a passing interest in understanding and pursuing ethnic marketing opportunities. In a recent survey conducted by Brand Central Station, 59% of the business executives we interviewed said they would rate their own company’s efforts in this area between “Poor” and “Okay.” Hardly a ringing endorsement.

“We simply do not target ethnic/minority clients,” explained one account manager for an advertising agency in the Midwest. “That is not typically a factor in seeking new business. However, if we would, we would be at a perceived disadvantage since we are a white, male-owned business, with no ethnic/minority employees …”

We doubt this point-of-view is unique. In fact, many white-owned business owners and managers are either confused or intimidated by the array of social, financial and business issues that arise when considering taking on a minority-owned business as a client or vendor, or advising clients on marketing issues related to ethnic markets.

So the answer, too often, is to ignore the issue and concentrate on white-owned businesses and the mass market, where the majority of spending and media is. As we’ve already pointed out elsewhere, though, this “head in the sand” strategy is doomed to failure given the changing demographics of the marketplace.

If part of your charge as a corporate leader is to position your company for growth and prosperity in the long term, you need to take the time and initiative to learn about the opportunities facing your business when it comes to opening your markets to non-white cultures domestically. Here are a few quick business facts that should get your attention:

Black households spend more than three times as much on small appliances and twice as much on perishables as do non-black households.

Almost 60% of black consumers feel that most ads “are designed only for white people.”

Black families with incomes of $30,000 or more spend about as much as white families who earn $50,000.

Hispanics spend an average of $91 per week per household on groceries (compared to $62/week/household for Anglos).

Hispanic consumers view and/or listen to more television and radio than any other segment of the US population.

An overwhelming majority of all ethnic groups in the US consider their local, native language (or bi-lingual) media to be their “primary” source of information that is of interest to them.

So, what do these statistics mean to the savvy corporate leader?

1) High precision message delivery is possible. – With a built-in pre-disposition to native-language media, the list of highly relevant media options in a given market is often cut down to just a handful.

2) Relevant content messages make a significant impact. – Ads designed for the market that speaks directly to them (not through a mass market filter) are seen as genuine and respectful. As a result, they get noticed and, most importantly, understood. Relevance is a major factor in the success or failure of any ethnic market campaign.

3) Lower threshold to dominant “share of mind”. – Simply put, there is less competition in ethnically-targeted media than there is in mass media. As a result, ads not only cost less, they tend to score with the market faster.

4) Higher ROI on media purchases. – Less competing clutter, more relevant messages and lower cost per ad means one thing: higher return on marketing investment. For no other reason than this, corporate owners and managers need to consider the possibilities of targeting select minority communities with relevant sales messages.

5) Brand loyalty opportunities easier to realize. – With less competition and, in theory, lower barriers to trial, brand loyalty should be easier to establish and maintain. Of course, it may require additional accommodation inside your organization to do that – but, again, we point to the ROI point made above (#4).

To take advantage of these opportunities, a corporate leader needs to be willing to take the time to learn, understand and explore the cultures of the people he/she intends to engage. Bringing people on staff with intimate knowledge of these markets is one way to do it, partnering with other firms (usually minority owned and operated) is another way.

This is not a short-term solution to fix lagging sales or to generate new income. It takes time and patience. Not only do marketing messages and products have to change to become more “culturally appropriate” – traditional mass market thinking has to change to allow the incremental benefits of investing in these markets to take hold and grow.

It’s not easy or fast. But then again, forming new relationships so they last a long time usually do.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Advertising, B2B Marketing, Ethnic Advertising, Minority Marketing, Client Management, Leadership, Creative Thinking, Culture, Cultural Diversity

(c) 2006, Brand Central Station - all rights reserved. To learn more about Brand Central Station and the opportunities to increase your company's potential, please check out our website.