WorldMarketer

Multicultural marketing is no longer an afterthought or an addendum tacked on to a company’s “real” marketing program. As the country has changed, marketing has had to respond, and so it has in a big way.

A good barometer of current marketing trends is found in what the big boys are doing. Few are bigger or more influential than the marketing minds at the golden arches. So committed are they to multicultural marketing they’ve named their program “Leading with Ethnic Insights,” and they’ve turned the traditional approach on its head.

Implemented by Neil Golden, McDonald’s U.S. chief marketing officer, the strategy focuses on presenting more black, Asian, and Hispanic talent and subjects in campaigns. These ads are then rolled out to the broader market. Exhibit A is McDonald’s “Fiesta Menu,” which was conceived for Hispanics, but which proved a surprise hit with white consumers.

In practice, companies typically work in reverse, developing ads aimed at the general market, and then turning to multicultural agencies to create versions tailored to multicultural groups.

But according to Golden, “The ethnic consumer tends to set trends. So they help set the tone for how we enter the marketplace.” So, at McDonald’s, the preferences of these groups drive the marketing for everyone else.

By leading the way in rethinking how we market to multicultural groups, McDonald’s is shining a light on today’s marketplace. In the process, the burger maker is forcing us to reconsider what we mean when we used words like “minority” and “majority.”

Darren Megarry
viaLanguage

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Here’s another multicultural marketing idea to file under “Clever.” You’re Volvo. You want to attract attention from the British car-buying public. And you love the American drive-in culture and the whole 1950s aesthetic that goes with it. So what do you do?

Journalist Damian Barr knew, and he got Volvo to support the idea. It’s called the Starlite Urban Drive-In. Located in the decidedly un-drive-in-seeming environment of East London, the novel drive-in doesn’t even require you to drive in. For $40, you get a movie, a drink, some popcorn, and a seat in one of the 25 shiny new pre-parked Volvos.

Outside of the citified location, and the use of crisp new cars (versus, say, your parents’ pickup), the experience is quite like the quintessential American drive-in. A nearby restaurant offers a special Starlite menu, served, naturally, by waitresses on roller skates, while the sound for the movie is broadcast through the car’s radio.

Tickets for first two offerings (“Grease” and “Dirty Dancing,” of course) were offered online, selling out in all of 30 seconds. More dates are planned for the fall, and there is a talk of a tour next summer that would introduce the joys of the drive-in—and Volvo—to other European cities.

As one Volvo spokesman put it, “The ‘Volvo for life’ tagline is about enriching people’s lives and building cars for a better life, so the opportunity seemed to be one that fit well with our brand.” And there’s the lesson: Yes, you have to know your audience, but you have to keenly understand your brand as well.

Darren Megarry
viaLanguage

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I often wonder when the multicultural makeup of the U.S. will become so obvious and so well understood that multicultural marketing will become, simply, marketing. If the trends in advertising exhibited in the first half of 2010 are any indication, we may not have long to wait.

Marketers and advertising flacks are always among the first to identify and incorporate demographic trends: It’s our business to reach people, and you can’t really do that effectively until you know who they are. In his recent AdAge post, Doug Melville identifies a handful of top-notch general-market TV spots that caught his eye, all of which boast, you guessed it, multicultural talent.

You’ve probably seen them, too. But perhaps you didn’t notice who was starring in them. Three are Wieden & Kennedy Old Spice ads, one is a Lane Bryant spot from Zimmerman, a fifth is a BP-produced spot, and rounding out Melville’s list is a Walmart ad from the Martin Agency. (You can check out all the spots here.)

Our advertising says a great deal about who we are, a fact likely to be underscored when the final numbers are tabulated from this year’s census. As multicultural marketers, this is not news to us; we live it every day. And so far in 2010 it looks like brands are taking notice of this increasingly undeniable fact as well.

Darren Megarry
viaLanguage

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

You’ve probably heard the term “crowdsourcing.” Over the past couple of years it has been added to the growing lexicon of terms that has bubbled up out of the tireless innovation that marks today’s digital landscape.

So what is it? Wikipedia defines it thus: “Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call.”

If you haven’t already, it might be good to commit the term and definition to memory as the tactic is increasingly being embraced by creative companies as another option in their marketing toolkit. It has even recently found its way into banana marketing.

You know the familiar Chiquita banana sticker. (If not, here’s a reminder.) Well, after years and years the brand is looking for a sticker facelift, and they’re calling on you for help. Toward that end, they’ve launched a crowdsourced contest that will pick the 18 best designs and will use these to adorn Chiquita bananas across the U.S.

With a deadline of July 18, it’s too early to tell what sort of impact the contest may have. But it does meet one of the hallowed goals of today’s digital marketer: interactivity. It’s also good food for thought as far as how crowdsourcing might work for your product or service.

And by the way, if you want to check out the design contenders, you can go bananas here.

Darren Megarry
viaLanguage

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

So, which of your audiences is the trend setter? The Boomers? The Generation Xers? Well, IMAGES USA and The Futures Company, in their joint “The Millennial Phenomenon: A Multicultural Millennial Study,” report that African American and Hispanic millennials (i.e. born between 1979 and 1993) take the top spot.

Delivered at the 2010 Target Market News MAAX Summit in Chicago, the study concludes that African American (70%) and Hispanic (65%) millennials are significantly more likely than their white counterparts (53%) to search out the next big thing in technology, fashion, music, or art. As a result, African American (56%) and Hispanic (52%) millennials are much more likely than white millennials (40%) to be among the first to know about cultural events, happenings, and trends.

This group is more than 64 million strong, and comprises 50 percent of the 18 to 49 demographic, which should make them very interesting to marketers. Multicultural marketers should take special note as 45 percent of millennials refer to themselves as non-white, which is perhaps not very surprising as they are part of what is the most diverse generation in U.S. history.

The study, which also addresses the group’s thoughts on politics, health, the environment, sexuality, and finances, is full of details that can help inform your communications. For example, did you know millennials tend to make decision based on consensus? It’s one reason they have so avidly embraced technology and social networking tools. And the defining trait of Hispanic millennials? Preserving the ties to their cultural heritage.

If you don’t know your millennials, maybe now is a good time.

Darren Megarry
viaLanguage

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

You have to applaud a company when it manages to wed its brand goals with a truly creative idea and a compelling execution. We are advertised to every day, in myriad ways, perhaps even on the license plates of vehicles before long, and it’s a rare occurrence when a company hits that sweet spot.

Unilever gets my congratulations on a program rolled out by SapientNitro to support the brand’s ice cream products. And here’s what’s so memorable about the effort: Introduced at this year’s Cannes Film Fest, it uses a machine that dispenses the delicious dessert—get this—when you smile at it.

Called the “Share Happy” machine, it uses artificial reality (AR) and facial recognition technology to discern your smile. It then actually rates your grin on the “smile-o-meter.” And because we’re just not satisfied these days if we can’t control the experience, you can also mess with the image and even post it online.

The program is part of Unilever’s plan, as it says, to “engineer” happiness. And it’s a global ambition as the machine will be touring the globe for the next year and half, spreading smiles one ice cream at a time.

At a time when the economy remains soft serve, and people are doing their level best to keep it together, it’s the welcome marketing effort that seeks to inspire delight in its audience. Who couldn’t use more of that? And a la mode at that.

Darren Megarry
viaLanguage

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I suppose it was just a matter of time. Actually, it’s sort of a wonder it hasn’t happened yet, especially given the intersection of a financial crisis and a public unwilling to give up its cars. And if the State of California makes good on a recent flirtation, it could one day become a reality.

I’m referring, of course, to the Golden State’s consideration of electronic vehicle license plates—that display digital ads. According to reports, the ads would run any time the vehicle is stopped for more than four seconds. So you can say goodbye to boring intersection waits and frustrating highway gridlock. The license plate number would remain visible at all times in some section of the screen.

At least one company, San Francisco’s Smart Plate, is working on a prototype. And if license plates that show ads aren’t enough, Smart Plate CEO M. Conrad Jordan assures us that they will also be able to display your support of your alma mater or a favorite sports team. They could also be used to broadcast Amber Alerts or traffic information.

What is not clear, but is surely on the mind of California’s sizable Hispanic community, and multicultural marketers, is will those license plates be multilingual?

Darren Megarry
viaLanguage

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Men are fond of joking that women occupy a different planet. Well, at the very least, we know that they occupy a different demographic. They behave differently as consumers than do men, and if you’re hoping to reach them, you need to respect their “culture” just as much as you would that of a Hispanic or Japanese person.

A recent study conducted by Unicast is intended to help marketers better understand how this unique culture uses the Internet. Entitled “What Women Want from the Web,” it polled more than 1,000 Americans age 18+ and then analyzed the responses of the group’s more than 500 women participants.

The results were instructive. For example, more than 60 percent claim to notice and/or interact with online advertising. Also, and perhaps not that surprising, women aged 18-24 use the web more than other age groups, except when it comes to consuming the news.

When it comes to ads that resonate with women, they broke down this way:
• 46 percent look for ads that include sales or discount codes.
• 31 percent prefer those that feature creating/submitting an entry to win a prize.
• 24 percent want ads that provide customized local information.
• 22 percent search out those that offer interactive surveys/quizzes.

The report also addressed what kinds of products tend to attract women’s interest, as well as other valuable information. In the end, women web users do share one thing in common with everyone online: They are most responsive to ads from relevant sources that they trust.

Darren Megarry
viaLanguage

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The big sports story at the moment has got to be the World Cup. (Sorry, Wimbledon.) As has been said many times, it is really without equal as worldwide sporting events go, with some 500 million people are expected to tune in to watch.

And when there is a captive audience of that size, creative marketers are not likely to be far behind. Perhaps you stumbled upon the unusual news story that came out of last week’s game between the Netherlands and Denmark.

In what is believed to be a guerilla marketing stunt sponsored by Bavaria Beer, two women allegedly paid a score of fellow women to don orange outfits called “Dutchy dress.” But the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) didn’t take kindly to the move and two supposed ringleaders were subsequently arrested.

Arrested, for wearing orange mini-skirts? It’s true. The move was deemed by FIFA to be “ambush” marketing, a no-no according to South African law. The real problem, according to some, is that Budweiser is the only official beer sponsor allowed to advertise within FIFA venues and the organization takes its marketing agreements very seriously.

Whatever the reason, the two women are considering taking legal action against FIFA and the South African Police, who they claim interrogated them for four hours in the cold. Lend your support by signing the petition on Support Our Beer Babes.

Darren Megarry
viaLanguage

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The recent census finds that the Latino population now tops some 50 million people. More striking still is that as a market it is estimated to be worth $1 trillion. That’s not a word we get to use very often.

What’s becoming increasingly clear is that just translating your ads from English to Spanish is no longer sufficient, if it ever was, to reach this audience. Understanding this reality, a handful of America’s top brands are looking to work together to find a better way.

Calling themselves the Latinum Network, the group is made up of about 30 companies, including biggies like Clorox, Subway, and McDonald’s. Together, they comb through Hispanic demographic data, sharing with members the lessons that are unearthed. One example, cited by Latinum founder Mike Klein, explained on how that effort paid off for one familiar member, the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The research had shown that Hispanics like to be acknowledged, but don’t necessarily like to be identified solely by language. So, when the NBA sought to rebrand the league to attract more Hispanics they considered but passed on “NBA en espanol” and “NBA Latino.” Instead, they opted for the subtler change to “ene-be-a,” the Spanish pronunciation of NBA.

This move and the addition of “Noche Latino” or “Latin Night” by teams across the country are credited with helping grow Hispanic NBA viewership by 10 percent in 2009. The question is the same for the rest of us: What are we learning from our Hispanic customers about how to better communicate to them?

Darren Megarry
viaLanguage

Bookmark It

Hide Sites