Multicultural Marketing Focus in on the markets you've been missing to broaden your business's horizons.

Focus in on the markets you've been missing to broadenyour business's horizons.

You've probably seen those ads showing cookies, cupcakes ora peanut butter sandwich, with the caption: "Got milk?"Those ads boosted milk sales in the first quarter of 1996 by 9.5percent over the same period in 1995. An attempt was also made toincrease milk consumption in the Hispanic community by launching a"Got milk?" campaign in Spanish-language media.Apparently, however, the creator of the initial Spanish-languageads had a limited grasp of the culture. The phrase "Gotmilk?" was literally translated as "¿Tieneleche?" But "¿Tiene leche?" doesn't exactlymean "Got milk?" in the way the advertiser intended."¿Tiene leche?" is roughly translated as "Areyou breast-feeding?" Fortunately, the milk producers came upwith a better approach for the Spanish-language market. Theircurrent ads show a family group, with the caption, "¿Yusted, les dio suficiente leche hoy? (Have you given them enoughmilk today?)"

As this story shows, multicultural marketing is not simple. Notethat the milk producers' successful ads did more than merelytranslate the English-language ads into grammatically correctSpanish. They used an entirely different approach to the consumer.Consider the subtext of the two ads: the comedic English-languageads appeal to a sense of anxiety about the self: "What if Ilose a $10,000 radio quiz question about Aaron Burr because mymouth is full of peanut butter and I don't have a glass ofmilk? What if the senior citizens' group I'm entertainingattacks me because I didn't bring them milk to go with theircookies?" The Spanish-language ad, on the other hand, appealsto a mother's sense of responsibility for her family:"Have I taken good care of the people who depend on me?"The person who created this ad understood who does the buying inthe Hispanic community and what's important to them.

You'll probably hear more stories like this as the Hispanic,Native American, Asian-Pacific, and African-American populations ofthe United States grow. You, as an entrepreneur, need to be awareof the issues involved in multicultural marketing: The ethnicmarket is $785 billion strong in buying power and growing. Considerour example of the Hispanic market: "It's one of the mostoverlooked and misunderstood retail markets--and the one with themost buying potential," says Jack Kyser, chief economist forthe Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. The rewards foreffectively marketing to this group can be great, as is shown bythe success of the Vons Grocery Co. of California.

Vons, a chain of approximately 180 stores, found a big hole intheir market: Ten years ago, there were 4.5 million Hispaniccustomers in their service area, but only a few independent grocerystores to serve them. Generally, a small selection of Hispanicfoods would be displayed in a supermarket's "ethnicfoods" aisle, competing for space with Kosher and Asian foods.Bill Davila, the president of Vons, was well aware of the potentialin selling to the Hispanic community. Accordingly, in 1987, Vonsannounced the opening of Tianguis Markets, billed as "100%Hispanic supermarkets." With in-store tortillerias (smallshops selling fresh tortillas), and produce sections filled withthe fruits and vegetables used in Mexican cooking, Tianguis (thename comes from the Aztec word for marketplace) was animmediate success. Vons showed a significant increase in saleswithin two years after the first Tianguis opened, and increasedsales with the opening of each new Tianguis location.

The first piece of advice any new businessperson usuallyreceives is: "Know your market." But how do you get toknow your market if you don't speak their language or sharetheir cultural heritage? A growing number of consultants areavailable to advise businesses on multicultural marketing. But ifyou decide that hiring a consultant is not for you, here are somethings you can do on your own:

1. Become familiar with the cultures with which you will beworking. "Read publications like Hispanic BusinessNews, Black Enterprise, and TransPacific, as wellas publications for the Native American community, such asNative Peoples," advises Barbara Deane of the GilDeaneGroup in Seattle, which publishes Diversity MarketingOutlook and Cultural Diversity at Work. "What arethey talking about? What are their needs?"

Reading the ads in ethnic publications will tell you what yourcompetitors are doing, as well as give you some idea of whatappeals to different groups. What attributes of the product orservice being advertised are underscored? Is it the pleasure theconsumer gains from using it, or the pleasure the product willprovide to the consumer's loved ones? Do advertisementsemphasize personalized service or efficient service? Are theystressing the reliability of familiar brands? Looking analyticallyat the ads will tell you what people are buying and why.

There are a number of sources that can tell you what the marketpotential is for different groups, and what cultural differencesyou should keep in mind. Where do you find them? Do libraryresearch. "For example, the Hispanic Market Handbook isfull of information," says Deane. "The American MarketingAssociation has done some studies. Look in the magazineMarketing News. Some companies are developing researchdatabases on ethnic markets."

Many colleges and universities now offer continuing-educationclasses in cultural diversity and global business. Manyentrepreneurial programs, such as UCLA's Executive Educationprogram, often include components on cultural diversity. Find outwhat's available in your area. Don't overlook any potentialsource of information on your market.

2. Learn what you can about your specific product or servicein various cultures. In many Asian cultures, the concept offeng shui, the art of designing a physical environment thatpromotes a sense of harmony and well-being, is important. Ifyou're in real estate, you should be aware that a house at theend of a cul-de-sac in a neighborhood with a large Asian-Americanpopulation is not likely to sell for what you might expect. Thenegative energy on the street is presumed to flow toward the end ofthe cul-de-sac; a building located there would have more than itsshare of bad luck, which would discourage prospective buyers. Also,many Asian-American households consist of extended families, andtwo-story homes with a downstairs bedroom and bathroom for theelderly members of the family will sell better. If you're inconstruction, you should be aware that Asian clients may preferbathrooms with the commode in an area separate from the sink andtub, and kitchens that can accommodate woks and have extra-strongventilation systems to direct the vapor from stir-fried dishes awayfrom the living area. This kind of specialized information can befound in trade publications, such as Progressive Grocer,Chilton's Hardware Age, Beverage Industry andFootwear News, which have all featured stories on targetingethnic consumers.

3. Appreciate the diversity within groups as well as amonggroups. Terms like "Hispanic" and "Asian"are frequently used without acknowledging the wide variety ofpeoples such terms include. "Asian" can refer to any oneof hundreds of nationalities, language groups and cultures.

Entrepreneurs need to be aware that what appeals toChinese-Americans in California may have little appeal forKorean-Americans in New York, although they are allAsian-Americans. New York Life Insurance learned this the hard waywhen their ad campaign, targeted toward Korean-Americans, failedwhen they used ads featuring Chinese-American models.

Recognizing the variety within groups may also help you toutilize employees appropriately. The management of the Great GorgeResort in New Jersey initially assumed that the large contingent ofAsian-American skiiers came from the large Chinatown area of nearbyNew York City. A survey, however, revealed that 80 percent of theseclients were actually Korean-American. They were then able to hireKorean-speaking employees to better serve their clientele.

Even within the same cultural group, there can be differenceswhich must be taken into account. Arab-American Christians andArab-American Moslems may coexist peacefully, but that does notmean that one group will be effective in marketing to the other.There may be differences, for instance, in how familiar youremployees are with the culture (for example, employees raisedoutside their ethnic communities may be unfamiliar with someaspects of their own culture); in how strongly they are influencedby mainstream U.S. culture; and in how great the gap is between thesocial class of your employee and your clientele (for example,African-Americans from a middle-class background may not be able tomarket effectively to working-class African-Americans). Thesedifferences may have a significant impact on the ability of membersof the same culture to communicate. Knowledgeable entrepreneursdon't just target the entire Hispanic market, they target thatportion of the Hispanic market most likely to be interested intheir product or service.

4. Be prepared to rethink what you believe you know aboutmarketing. Successful marketing in ethnic communities oftenmeans going against conventional wisdom. "MainStreet"-type business districts, with independent store-frontretailers who offer highly personalized service, are supposedlyrelics of the past--we all go to the mall nowadays. But merchantsin Southern California have done well by recreating "MainStreet" business districts (as can still be found in LatinAmerican cities) to serve Hispanic neighborhoods. For example,businesses in the Pacific Boulevard shopping area of HuntingtonPark, California, reported total sales of $87 million in 1995, thelatest year for which there are complete figures.

This brings up another point: We previously thought that therewas no money to be made in inner cities. But these areas may have astronger business base than is popularly imagined. After the 1992riots, South Central Los Angeles was characterized as ahigh-unemployment area. While there is certainly unemployment, andmany of the positions in the area do not pay high wages, the LosAngeles County Economic Development Corp. reports that there arecurrently more than 350,000 jobs in South Central--more thanin the sleek high-rises of downtown Los Angeles.

One particular neighborhood, Baldwin Hills, has the highestper-capita disposable income in Los Angeles, according to HaagenProperty Management, which develops and manages the BaldwinHills/Crenshaw Plaza shopping mall. The Top Valu/Valu Plussupermarket chain's 14 stores sell $200 million annually inlow-income neighborhoods. Their average sales are $800 to $850 persquare foot, as compared to $350 to $400 for major chain markets.Even businesses specializing in big-ticket items that are usuallysold on credit can thrive in less affluent areas. Central Stores,which sells appliances and furniture in low-income, primarilyimmigrant neighborhoods, reports annual sales of $100 million andhas opened seven new stores since 1990. An inner-city location mayjust be the best place for your business.

Gone are the days when businesses could succeed with a "onesize fits all" approach to marketing. It's a "massmarket" no longer. The multicultural market is where theopportunities are, and successful entrepreneurs are quicklylearning how to get there.

Rhonda Albey is a diversity consultant with Allen Associatesin Los Angeles. She is a member of the Los Angeles County DiversityAdvisory Committee, and an instructor at the University of Phoenixin Southern California.

Contact Sources

Collins Center For Executive Education, 110 WestwoodPlaza, Ste. #A101D, Box 951464, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1464, (310)825-2001.

The Gildeane Group, 13751 Lake City Way NE, #106,Seattle, WA 98125-8612, (206) 362-0336.