Multicultural Marketing

Multicultural marketing is becoming more, well, multicultural!! Most of my clients have become more interested in diversity over the years as multicultural marketing becomes status quo in marketing, rather than just a late, extra addition to a plan. Last week I was in a meeting where we were discussing nuances among distinct ethnic groups especially in Chicago. Here are some interesting facts I learned:

• The digital divide with African Americans is shrinking – not because more African Americans are getting home computers, but rather due to the growing popularity of smart phones.  
• Also due in part to smart phones, social media has become a major factor in how African Americans communicate and expect to receive information.  
• Latinos typically have more family members living in their home, which means they consume products differently – for example, they may have multiple refrigerators in their home.  
• Often Latino households have someone up all hours of the day and night due to alternate work schedules (shift work, etc.) so they consume more electricity than the typical household. 

But there is more to multi-cultural marketing than Latino and African American audiences. You may have seen, like I did recently, this interesting fact on Taxi TV. Chicago has the largest Polish-speaking community outside of Warsaw.  The Polish community also has its own characteristics. Because electricity is so costly in Eastern Europe, many Polish immigrants are already used to reducing their energy use, such as turning off the lights (and heat) in unused rooms or running the dishwasher or vacuum cleaner at night.

These are just a couple examples of cultural nuances seen within the diverse communities in Chicago. We are in an age where micro-marketing campaigns and localized, one-to-one communications have become standard components of any consumer marketing plan. Consumers have come to expect messages that are not tailored to their particular needs.  Not considering these variations may have an impact on the success of your consumer marketing initiatives.