ANA Multicultural Marketing & Diversity 2011

Summary
This report from the ANA's Multicultural Marketing and Diversity Conference covers the keynote address of Simon Lowden, CMO of PepsiCo's Pepsi Bottling Co., who describes how the company now sees multicultural marketing as the new mainstream, and is calling it simply 'cultural branding'. This change sees the integration of multicultural consumers into the core of its marketing, with hyper-localizing programs that are relevant in local markets and product innovation to match multicultural needs. He argues that understanding and engaging the multicultural consumer is key to PepsiCo's future growth around the world and particularly in the US, where Hispanic, African-American and Asian-Americans are the fastest-growing segments of the population.

Summary
At the ANA 2011 Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference, Ida Liz Chacón of Senior Marketing Manager at P&G's Ethnic Center of Expertise presented four case history briefs covering its brands Crest, Gillette, Gain and Pampers. In a difficult competitive environment against leader Colgate, the challenge for Crest was to get close to the Hispanic consumer by creating a new bridge between oral health and advancement. Gillette targeted African-Americans who predominantly use disposable razors with the aim of converting to longer-lasting ones. This was done by going into barbershops, using direct-response television saying simply "and you'll feel better, look better, and be more attractive". Product design is critical in building a detergent brand in the Hispanic-American community and Gain created offerings that not only smells clean but also feels sumptuous and elegant in use and is "full of joy". While Pampers relies on OB/GYNs for its mainstream American consumers, Hispanic mothers were less likely to see doctors as often, so instead P&G reached them through digital media and a Facebook page tailored to Hispanic women's needs, which in turn leads to brand trust.

Summary
This report from the ANA's Multicultural Marketing conference covers the presentation of Tony Rogers, SVP/brand marketing and advertising at Walmart Stores, who describes the retailer's impending realignment of its multicultural marketing budget away from a single-department silo to across all its business units. Despite this change, he says that Walmart has long put a premium on ensuring general marketing messages appeal to different audiences, illustrating with examples of TV spots scheduled to run throughout the 2011 holiday season. Looking ahead, he sees the company becoming more inclusive in its marketing, reflecting the multicultural trends uncovered by the 2010 US census - which he calls an immutable "shift". He describes how Walmart started the changes in its approach to multicultural marketing by placing "small bets" - such as establishing a presence on Facebook, which led to the creation of digital content for Hispanic-American consumers.

Summary
This report covers the opening session of the ANA Multicultural Marketing and Diversity Conference in which Bob Liodice outlines how the US population is becoming increasingly diverse - to the extent that "multicultural" marketing may soon become a redundant term. But despite major demographic and economic shifts over recent years - and projections for the future - he notes that marketing specifically targeting Hispanic-American, African-American and Asian-American consumers still only attracts seven percent of the US's annual marketing spend. He cites Nielsen Research data that has identified a series of media usage habits that marketers can use as guidelines in reaching "cultural pockets", such as Hispanic consumers' interest in Telenovelas (limited-run dramas popular in Latin America); African-Americans' higher-than-average TV usage and multi-set households; and Asian-Americans' enthusiastic take up of digital media. He concludes by discussing the activities of nine companies that have established effective multicultural marketing programs: Coca-Cola, State Farm Insurance, McDonald's, Best Buy, Wells Fargo, Subway, Farmers Insurance, Toyota and Procter & Gamble.