MIAMI, FL: Wells Fargo, the financial services group, is tapping into the power of total market communications to both build its brand and champion key product attributes.
Mariela Ure, Wells Fargo's SVP/Consumer Segments Strategy, discussed this subject at the Association of National Advertisers' (ANA) 2015 Multicultural Marketing and Diversity Conference.
"It's no longer okay to do phenomenal Hispanic marketing – or even African-American marketing, or Asian [marketing]," she said. (For more, including further insight into the company's strategy, read Warc's exclusive report: How Wells Fargo manages total-market marketing.)
"It takes more than that: the country that we are speaking to has changed significantly."
While the "general market" approach traditionally assumed that the bulk audience for marketing messages was largely similar, the total market model actively recognises the demographic and cultural shifts that are reshaping America.
"The 'majority' in the country has been redefined. What that means for marketers is that ... what we used to call 'general-market' marketing cannot continue," said Ure.
"And the same is true for those of us who had been doing segment-focused marketing. Our work has gotten a lot more complicated."
Guiding Wells Fargo in its approach is the underlying principle that its potential customer base is made up of various groups which are, in fact, constantly influencing one another.
"We think, first, that the total market in the US is inclusive of multiple segments. It includes white Americans, Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians and LGBT consumers, just to name a few," said Ure.
"They don't live in isolation in the way that we used to think about marketing – doing something separate for each [audience] … This is the reality of America today. People are experiencing multiple cultures in their everyday life."
As such, the brand works to reflect meaningful cultural cues and sensibilities in its marketing planning and actual campaigns, and then carefully monitors effectiveness with robust measurement.
High-level metrics like consideration are undoubtedly important, but the firm also aims to ensure that messaging around "key attributes" for its products are making an impression, too.
"It's critical that the attributes of a product that we know are important for the consumer are coming across in our work. One of those is, 'How easily can I do my banking on a smartphone?'" said Ure.
Mariela Ure, Wells Fargo's SVP/Consumer Segments Strategy, discussed this subject at the Association of National Advertisers' (ANA) 2015 Multicultural Marketing and Diversity Conference.
"It's no longer okay to do phenomenal Hispanic marketing – or even African-American marketing, or Asian [marketing]," she said. (For more, including further insight into the company's strategy, read Warc's exclusive report: How Wells Fargo manages total-market marketing.)
"It takes more than that: the country that we are speaking to has changed significantly."
While the "general market" approach traditionally assumed that the bulk audience for marketing messages was largely similar, the total market model actively recognises the demographic and cultural shifts that are reshaping America.
"The 'majority' in the country has been redefined. What that means for marketers is that ... what we used to call 'general-market' marketing cannot continue," said Ure.
"And the same is true for those of us who had been doing segment-focused marketing. Our work has gotten a lot more complicated."
Guiding Wells Fargo in its approach is the underlying principle that its potential customer base is made up of various groups which are, in fact, constantly influencing one another.
"We think, first, that the total market in the US is inclusive of multiple segments. It includes white Americans, Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians and LGBT consumers, just to name a few," said Ure.
"They don't live in isolation in the way that we used to think about marketing – doing something separate for each [audience] … This is the reality of America today. People are experiencing multiple cultures in their everyday life."
As such, the brand works to reflect meaningful cultural cues and sensibilities in its marketing planning and actual campaigns, and then carefully monitors effectiveness with robust measurement.
High-level metrics like consideration are undoubtedly important, but the firm also aims to ensure that messaging around "key attributes" for its products are making an impression, too.
"It's critical that the attributes of a product that we know are important for the consumer are coming across in our work. One of those is, 'How easily can I do my banking on a smartphone?'" said Ure.
Data sourced from Warc
