Most major cities have newspapers, magazines, radio, and television stations that serve ethnic groups. Contact a local advertising agency that has experi- ence reaching the ethnic community.
Hispanics are especially fond of television and radio. Spanish-language televi- sion can be particularly effective in reaching Hispanic customers. Univision, the largest Spanish-language television network in the United States, report- edly has a penetration rate of more than 97 percent of Latino households!
However, national outlets, such as Univision, Telemundo, Azteca America, and TeleFutura, may not be appropriate for local and regional businesses.
Check with your local media representative to see what she can do for you.
Another source of information is the Nielsen Hispanic Television Index (www.nielsenmedia.com/ethnicmeasure/hispanic-american/
indexHisp.html).
Harnessing the power of the Internet
In terms of how effective the Internet is at enabling you to reach ethnic groups, that really depends on the group:
Asians tend to use the Internet more than Caucasians.
Hispanics and blacks use the Internet a little less than Caucasians.
Latinos tend to provide e-mail addresses on the Internet more than the general U.S. population.
As socioeconomic status rises, so does Internet usage.
According to Jeff Yang, vice president and consumer strategist for Iconoculture (www.Iconoculture.com), “Asian Americans are far more likely to use the Internet for product comparison than any other group. Over 80 percent of adult Asian Americans have used the Internet on a regular basis, and it remains one of the most powerful media for cracking this par- ticular nut. Beyond that, Asian Americans are also more likely to use online banking than any other group. So I don’t know how many credit unions have actually taken that step yet, but it’s become a very powerful tool to sell into this market.”
If you don’t have a Web site or blog yet, set one up as soon as possible. You can launch a blog in about 15 minutes. You don’t necessarily have to set up an eCommerce Web site where customers can place orders and make payments, but most people at least do some research online before they run out and buy stuff. So make sure you’re reaching those people if they’re your market. For assistance with building a Web site or blog, check out Building a Web Site For Dummies by David A. Crowder or Blogging For Dummies by Susannah Gardner and Shane Birley (both published by Wiley).
James Wong, vice president of marketing for e21 Corporation (www.e21mm.
com), offers several additional recommendations:
Link from your home page to in-language pages for people who may not speak English as a first language. (This can depend on the acculturation level of the potential customer. We discuss acculturation in detail earlier in this chapter.) Make sure you use a translator who’s familiar not only with the language, but also with the culture and the products or services you’re selling, as we explain in the section “Picking a good translator or interpreter” earlier in this chapter.
Use opt-in e-mail to stay in touch with customers. eNewsletters can be very effective if you have the recipients’ permission to send them.
Use Internet portals to target online consumers. Some Internet portals have a fairly sophisticated way to slice and dice names for local busi- nesses. (An Internet portal is simply a site that provides links to other Web sites or search tools to help people find what they’re looking for.
By having your Web site or blog added to portals that people in your target market are likely to use, you can begin to tap into the traffic that flows through the portal.)
Some portals that can be helpful include:
• African American portal: www.UrbanMecca.com
• Asian American portal: www.Kineda.com
• Asian Indian portal: www.IndoAmericanCommunity.org
• Hispanic American portal: www.HispanicPortal.org Another option is to establish a presence on popular culture-specific Web sites, including the following:
African American sites
• BET.com
• BlackEnterprise.com
• BlackRefer.com
• BlackVoices.com
• EverythingBlack.com
• NetNoir.com
• Tbwt.org (The Black World Today)
Asian Pacific Islander sites
• AsianWeek.com
• FilipinasMag.com (Filipino information)
• GoldSea.com
• HmongNet.org (Hmong information)
• LittleIndia.com (Asian Indian information) • LittleSaigon.com (Vietnamese information) • PacificMagazine.net (Pacific Islander information)
Hispanic sites
• TheHispanicAmerican.com
• HispanicBusiness.com
• Latina.com
• Quepasa.com
• Telemundo.yahoo.com
Middle Eastern sites
• ArabSites.com
• MiddleEastDirectory.com
10_377017-ch05.indd 106
10_377017-ch05.indd 106 10/10/08 10:05:00 PM10/10/08 10:05:00 PM
Native American sites
• NativeCultureLinks.com
• NativeWeb.org
Establishing a Community Presence
Community sells, both online and off. Being a trusted member of the commu- nity is like setting up shop in a small town, where word-of-mouth advertising prevails. You become the go-to guy or gal for whatever it is you’re selling.
The only downside is that you need to earn community support, and you may have to work at it a long time before you see any return on your investment.
We reveal what you need to know in the following sections.
Although community marketing certainly requires more time and effort and takes longer for you to make cultural inroads than most traditional ad cam- paigns, it certainly can be worth the effort in the long run. At the beginning of any relationship, people of all cultures are going to exhibit some reluctance and reticence. After they get to know and trust you, however, they’re more likely to patronize your business and send even more referral business your way.
Only long-termers need apply:
Committing to the community
Marketing to ethnic communities is not a one-shot or short-term effort. You have to make a long-term commitment and develop a lasting presence. Many companies, for example, seem to believe that all they have to do to appeal to the African American community is to take out ads during Black History Month. As Howard Buford of Prime Access Inc. explains, “That’s a common mistake. First of all, there’s too much clutter, because a lot of competitive companies end up doing their one advertisement during that month. You don’t really break through, and it doesn’t really say anything about your product. It just kind of says, ‘We value African American history.’ One thing that African Americans look for is not just an advertising campaign that runs for three to six months. They’re looking for a consistent, ongoing presence in their community that is meaningful to them.”
Establish partnerships with the communities you want to serve, because you can’t succeed unless the community and its members succeed. Your goal is to show them that they can’t be as successful without you. You can often make a long-term commitment to ethnic business and community orga- nizations through ethnic chambers of commerce (see Chapter 4 for more on
getting involved with these groups). You can also reach many of these groups through religious organizations that serve these communities (see the next section for details).
How do you show ethnic communities that you’re a valuable partner?
According to Jeff Yang, a multicultural marketing consultant, you gather the leaders together and form a partnership. Here’s the advice that Jeff offered a bank client, which is applicable to any business:
“It’s becoming ever more important for the grass-roots leaders to be in touch with the decision makers at the local branch. Pull all the leaders and decision makers together: the bank managers and executives, com- munity leaders, the heads of chambers of commerce, business leaders (of businesses both large and small), membership institutions that draw large numbers of potential customers, and so on. Then, you basically tell them, ‘Look, we’re treating this as a partnership. We know that we have a lot to offer you, but more importantly, you have a lot to offer us.
Let’s share ways in which we can do that together.’ Now, if this is done properly, you have the beginnings of something that can prove extremely powerful.”
Getting involved in special events
Community is particularly important in high-context cultures, including Hispanic and Asian groups (see Chapter 3 for more on high-context cultures), and one of the best ways to get your foot in the door is by supporting cul- tural fairs and community events, such as the following:
Cinco de Mayo and Día de las Muertos events are common in Hispanic communities.
Chinese New Years and the Cherry Blossom Festival are events often held in Chinese and Japanese communities, respectively.
Indian Independence Day and Divali celebrations are celebrated in South Asian communities.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Kwanzaa are opportunities to reach African Americans.
Ethnic music festivals.
Ethnic heritage celebrations.
Ethnic dance troupes.
Culturally specific sporting events.
Fundraising events.
Nonprofit efforts by ethnic groups.
10_377017-ch05.indd 108
10_377017-ch05.indd 108 10/10/08 10:05:01 PM10/10/08 10:05:01 PM
Service organizations’ efforts.
School events.
Cultural institutions.
Ethnic chambers of commerce events (see Chapter 4 for more about chambers of commerce).
Health fairs.
For a comprehensive calendar of special holidays and celebrations, check out the appendix.
In most cases, you can offer to sponsor the event or set up and run a booth, but if you’re not sure how to get involved, ask. Contact the leader of the group that’s hosting the celebration; she’ll be glad to educate you.
Think outside the booth. Everyone sets up a booth, so think creatively. Ask the organizers about the products and services that people in their commu- nity really need. Following are a couple of ideas that can get your creative juices flowing:
One credit union has had great success partnering with local police departments in a Kid ID program that fingerprints children to help identify them if they are abducted or turn up missing.
Healthcare tie-ins are very effective in attracting ethnic groups, par- ticularly Hispanics and African Americans. If you’re in the healthcare industry, consider stationing a health information van at the event and providing free screenings for common conditions that particularly affect your target market.
Consider teaming up with local ethnic restaurants to explore co-promotional opportunities. As we point out in Chapter 4, food is an important part of cultural celebrations and often serves as a bridge between cultures. The door to a culture’s heart is often through its stomach, so familiarize yourself with the unique aspects of the foods of the customers you serve.
Don’t dive into a community event without checking the water first. Such over-enthusiasm can be costly and time consuming. Here are some criteria to consider when choosing events:
Is this event consistent with the image I want to project?
Does the organizer have a track record of producing successful events?
What is the organizer’s reputation in the community?
How many times has this event been held?
How many people usually attend?
Is the cost worth the benefit?
How will I measure the value of my investment?
How long am I willing to invest in this event?
Turning face time into cash
Calculating the ROI on public relations efforts, such as renting a booth at an ethnic fair, can be a bit of a challenge. Bill Imada, president of iW Group (www.iwgroupinc.com), which specializes in marketing to Asian Americans, notes that many marketing directors and other executives complain that they give out thousands of pens or other novelties at multicultural fairs and other events but are unclear on what they’re getting in return (their ROI). They’re concerned that while such activities increase their visibility, they have no idea of how this translates into sales.
Imada says companies should work toward turning face time into cash. He suggests that company representatives give away items that people will stand in line for at these events. Although the items don’t need to be expen- sive, they do need to be unique, useful, and clever. As people wait to get their gift, you can ask them to complete a short survey, including their contact information.
Imada suggests that you can stretch your public relations dollars by offering a chance to win a trip for two to Hawaii or the Bahamas. He did a campaign at an Asian American gathering for Bank of America and AT&T in conjunction with an airline. To qualify for the prize, people had to complete six questions about their banking, long-distance telephone service, and travel purchases.
In this one campaign, they collected more than 16,000 completed surveys, which became lead-generation sheets for the bank, telephone company, and airline. To calculate their ROI, all these companies had to do was track the resulting business from these leads and use the ROI formula provided in the earlier section “Calculating your ROI (return on investment).”
Generating positive PR
Public relations (PR) consists of obtaining publicity for yourself or your company for free or for very little money. You can do this by appearing at a community event, such as a parade, or having the media run a news story about you.
While “free” always sounds good, generating positive and effective PR is very difficult, and the results can be even harder to predict. You must have experi- ence, timing, and skill to get the PR machine cranking out positive messages about you and your organization.
10_377017-ch05.indd 110
10_377017-ch05.indd 110 10/10/08 10:05:01 PM10/10/08 10:05:01 PM
If you feel you have what it takes, here are ideas on how you can start gener- ating your own positive PR:
Contact news media in your market area and let them know you’re an expert on whatever product or service you’re selling. Send them a packet complete with your business card and résumé or curriculum vitae, along with a cover letter about your areas of specialty, your eagerness to speak with the press, and the fact that you’re available at a moment’s notice.
Sponsor a community initiative. If you notice a way that you can team up with other businesses and organizations in your area to promote improvements for the multicultural community, take the lead.