DANA POINT, CA: Wells Fargo, the financial-services group, is refining its marketing strategy to reflect the fact consumer demographics in the US are rapidly shifting towards the "majority-minority".
Jamie Moldafsky, cmo of the San Francisco-based organisation, discussed this topic at the Association of National Advertisers' (ANA) 2015 Brand Masters Conference.
She reported that, according to 2010 Census data, there are 25 cities across America where cohorts which have traditionally been defined as "minorities" today make up over 50% of residents.
That list features urban centres like New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas and San Francisco. And looking ahead 30 years, Moldafsky stated, this situation will apply to the US population as a whole.
"The world is changing faster than we are," she asserted. (For more, including details of the four "major components" of its strategy in this space, read Warc's exclusive report: Wells Fargo builds total-market insights.)
"So we're working very hard to make sure we're incorporating - in real time - the diversity change that's happening ... [Because] 95% of our business is domestic, we really focus on this increasing diversity."
The messages Wells Fargo now brings to market are thus "inclusive of non-Hispanic whites … Hispanic, African-American, Asian-American and LGBT consumers".
Equally, however, its output "isn't just about addressing the segments: it's about addressing the entire shift in our culture as a result of these segments being included," Moldafsky said.
In providing some further context into this nuanced strategy, she debunked a couple of myths often raised when debating the total-market model.
"When we embarked on this journey, people said, 'So, you're walking away from your segment approach,'" she said.
"Not at all. Success comes both from a fully integrated, cross-cultural approach, as well as individual segment approaches," she said. "It's customised where appropriate and common as much as possible."
Similarly, while it is frequently suggested that such a framework is about saving money as well as driving effectiveness, cost reduction is not a motivator for Wells Fargo.
"We're not looking to take money with the bottom line. What we're looking to do is grow our business and serve our customers and [be] relevant to more customers," said Moldafsky.
Jamie Moldafsky, cmo of the San Francisco-based organisation, discussed this topic at the Association of National Advertisers' (ANA) 2015 Brand Masters Conference.
She reported that, according to 2010 Census data, there are 25 cities across America where cohorts which have traditionally been defined as "minorities" today make up over 50% of residents.
That list features urban centres like New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas and San Francisco. And looking ahead 30 years, Moldafsky stated, this situation will apply to the US population as a whole.
"The world is changing faster than we are," she asserted. (For more, including details of the four "major components" of its strategy in this space, read Warc's exclusive report: Wells Fargo builds total-market insights.)
"So we're working very hard to make sure we're incorporating - in real time - the diversity change that's happening ... [Because] 95% of our business is domestic, we really focus on this increasing diversity."
The messages Wells Fargo now brings to market are thus "inclusive of non-Hispanic whites … Hispanic, African-American, Asian-American and LGBT consumers".
Equally, however, its output "isn't just about addressing the segments: it's about addressing the entire shift in our culture as a result of these segments being included," Moldafsky said.
In providing some further context into this nuanced strategy, she debunked a couple of myths often raised when debating the total-market model.
"When we embarked on this journey, people said, 'So, you're walking away from your segment approach,'" she said.
"Not at all. Success comes both from a fully integrated, cross-cultural approach, as well as individual segment approaches," she said. "It's customised where appropriate and common as much as possible."
Similarly, while it is frequently suggested that such a framework is about saving money as well as driving effectiveness, cost reduction is not a motivator for Wells Fargo.
"We're not looking to take money with the bottom line. What we're looking to do is grow our business and serve our customers and [be] relevant to more customers," said Moldafsky.
Data sourced from Warc
