What Is Multicultural Marketing?

Marketing is important for every company. It’s how company messages get out into the world to attract leads and bring them back to become Clients. But is your marketing bringing back as many potential Clients as possible?.  

If your marketing doesn’t have a multicultural focus, you’re probably not getting the best possible response to your efforts.

What Does Multicultural Marketing Mean?

At its most basic level, multicultural marketing refers to marketing that appeals to more than one culture or ethnicity. While this type of marketing is crucial for companies that operate globally, even more localized companies can benefit from multicultural marketing. Marketing isn’t about sending your message to just anyone. You have to really think about whom you’re trying to attract. I like to call this your “target audience.” And multicultural marketing opens up a whole new realm of potential target audiences you had no idea were interested in your product or service.

What Does Multicultural Marketing Look Like in Practice?

At its most basic level, multicultural marketing isn’t all that different from how a company might market differently to two different customer segments. If a health food company, for example, targeted both new parents and young, health-conscious singles as ideal markets for their products, they would produce different copy and ads for each segment. I might respond to one of those categories, while not responding to the other.

A great and tangible example of this is Netflix. Netflix is one example of how a company can target media towards different markets. Seeing a space that needed to be filled, several of Netflix’s original shows have focused on Black or Indian audiences. The company has expanded its offerings of Bollywood movies. By making these products available and featuring them prominently, the company is engaging customers who may have thought Netflix was not “for them”. But I for one found out that I really enjoyed a lot of these different options; they’re great for a night when I want to relax. For a lot of people, these more diverse options are why they’ve continued their Netflix subscriptions – or why they got them for the first time.

What Do You Need to Succeed at Multicultural Marketing?

If your company is going to try and create multicultural marketing offerings, it’s important that you work with people who are deeply familiar with the culture or ethnicity you’re courting. For example, many companies may want to move into the Chinese market since it was one of the fastest growing consumer markets in 2018. But companies that do so need to be careful of the timing; businesses do little marketing during the year of the sheep, as it is considered inauspicious. Without in depth knowledge of the Chinese culture, a company could waste a lot of their marketing budget trying to make a dent when the consumer is uninterested.

Another well-received example of a multicultural marketing campaign was Pharrell Williams’ Originals campaign, which featured a cast that was both gender and racially diverse. This gave the campaign a sense of appealing to a broader audience and brought in a bigger market segment than a more limited campaign could have done. This is the kind of “big picture” marketing I go in-depth with many of my Clients. The way we market is constantly changing and the way we add value to our Clients and their business is by educating and understanding.

Do Companies Need to Invest In Multicultural Marketing?

A simple answer: yes. As audience segments broaden, it’s not enough to assume that only one type of consumer is the type looking at an ad. Companies that want to succeed need to work within their niche, but make sure that the niche is inclusive of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Companies that are trying to expand absolutely must make sure that their campaigns are attractive to as many people as possible.

How Can We Help?

At StartUp TakeOff, we know that a strong team is crucial to your success – and may be difficult to find. We’ve worked to make finding that team easy for our Clients. Our founder, Stefani Thionnet, has assembled a globally diverse group of marketing experts from across the industry. We will work with our Clients to create solutions which will save you both time and money. We focus on getting to know our Clients so that our solutions are perfectly tailored to your brand. Don’t worry about finding the best people; we’ve done it for you, and we’re ready to get results you will love. Call today: (855) 209-0226 (New inquiries, press 1; Current Clients, press 2).

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