www.business-review.eu Business Review | July 2021
28 MARKETING
The future of marketing is multicultural The US demographic landscape has transformed; 129 million multicultural consumers now represent 40 percent of the population. At the same time, multicultural consumers have driven over 100 percent of US population growth over the last five years and are projected to drive even greater growth for the foreseeable future, while Hispanics in the US are set to reach the 111 million mark by 2060, according to the US Census Bureau. By Romanita Oprea oneself,” said Cristina Blanaru, COO & founder at Digital Marker. A study conducted by PQ Media on behalf of the ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) revealed that overall multicultural advertising and marketing spending totalled USD 25.9 billion in 2018. Spending targeting Hispanics reached almost USD 18 billion, a 5.3 percent increase over the previous year and far ahead of the amount of spend aimed at African-Americans (USD 7.2 billion, up 6.1 percent) or Asian Americans (USD 722 million, up 7 percent). According to 2017 US Census Bureau figures, Hispanics comprise 18.1 percent of the overall population, while African-Americans make up 13.4 percent and Asians represent 5.8 percent. Moreover, multicultural consumers comprise Cristina Blanaru, Digital Marker
A
almost 40 percent of the total US population, yet multicultural media investments make up only 5.2 percent of total advertising and marketing spending.
fter years of research and building
marketing refers to marketing efforts made
business cases for multicultural
to reach all consumers in a specific market;
marketing initiatives within Fortune
cross-cultural marketing refers to market-
2019” report also showed that there was
50 brands, Juanita Velez, Multicultural Mar-
ing efforts that capitalise on insights from
a clear opportunity for more marketers to
keting Expert and Founder of HYPE, defines
multicultural and general audiences through
engage multicultural consumers to drive
Multicultural Marketing as a niche within
shared points of connection in a specific
business growth. In what is perhaps the most
marketing growing a brand’s marketing goals
market, while international marketing refers
significant finding, multicultural media rev-
within a clearly defined ethnic/race-specific
to efforts made to reach international custom-
enue significantly under-indexes against the
audience such as Hispanics, African Ameri-
ers capitalising on cultural insights within
general population. Although 100 percent of
cans, Asian Americans, LGBTQ+ or perhaps
a country or region outside of the United
the total population growth comes from mul-
BIPOC and non-multicultural segments as
States,” added Juanita Velez for campaign-
ticultural segments, marketers are significant-
well. This automatically forces this team to
monitor.com.
ly underspending to reach these consumers,
be intentional about learning this target audi-
“We live in a world in which people from
The “US Multicultural Media Forecast
and conversely, decidedly overspending to
ence’s motivations, aspirations and purchase
different cultures find themselves being
reach non-multicultural consumers. Market-
drivers for the brand’s product or service.
blended together. Each have their own
ers should better leverage digital advertising
characteristics, sensibilities, ways of reacting.
to reach multicultural consumers and there
multicultural can take on a variety of defini-
And it is important for marketers to be aware
is an opportunity to have multicultural com-
tions, it is also equally important to differenti-
of and address common points, but also dif-
munication specialists work more in non-
ate multicultural marketing from other niches
ferences, which come from an underlaying
endemic media (i.e., general market media) to
that fall under the marketing umbrella as a
cultural divide, from colour perception to
help craft communications to appeal to both
profession: total market or general market
the style of reactions and ways to formulate
general market and multicultural audiences.
“And while we understand that the term
