NEW YORK: The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) is forming a new group to pursue the "advancement of multicultural marketing", with founding members including Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble.

One of the main objectives to be pursued by the new body, which is called the Alliance for Inclusive & Multicultural Marketing (AIMM), involves building a "blueprint" for multicultural communications, according to the ANA.

"Its goal is to bring together senior thought leaders from the African-American, Hispanic, Asian, LGBT and general-market communities to create a united blueprint for the evolution of multicultural and diverse-segment marketing in America," the industry organisation said in a statement.

More specifically, AIMM will develop deep insights via collaborative research, communicate best practices, help formulate "unique marketplace experiences", focus on driving return on investment, and hold forums to share examples of success.

Additionally, it intends to establish what the ANA described as "alternative and distinguished approaches" for tackling diversity issues across the industry.

The slate of participating brand owners – beyond Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch and P&G – will include Dunkin' Donuts, Kaiser Permanente, Kellogg and Wells Fargo.

"At Wells Fargo, we are about reinventing marketing, keeping our customer at the center of everything we do, and this directly aligns with the goal of AIMM," Michael Lacorazza, EVP/Brand & Advertising-Integrated Marketing at the financial services provider, and a Co-Chair of AIMM.

"We look forward to working together to advance multicultural marketing as a fresh voice in the industry."

Lacorazza's fellow Co-Chairs will be Antonio Lucio, Chief Marketing Officer at HP, and Bob Liodice, President/CEO of the ANA.

"As the marketplace becomes increasingly diverse, the ANA recognises that the strategic evolution of multicultural marketing becomes even more important to brands," Liodice said.

"Our strategic intent is to reach out to all constituencies in order to collectively make a difference in realising the potential of multicultural marketing."

AIMM's membership will also feature the AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing, Burrell Communications, IW Group, López Negrete Communications, OMD and Target 10.

They will be joined by NBCUniversal, Univision and the Video Advertising Bureau, with membership of AIMM being limited to an invitation-only basis for its first year of operation.

Data sourced from Warc