Recently I read in Warc.com about Proctor & Gamble, Wal-Mart, Coca Cola and McDonalds - all looking to multicultural customers to dramatically lift sales in the domestic US market.

Bob McDonald, the chief executive of P&G specifically identified Hispanic and African-American consumers as key targets in 2010 in the US market.

For the Hispanic community, P&G is effectively breaking down the border separating north Mexico and south west USA by offering products that appeal to Hispanic consumers across these areas.

Hispanic consumers traditionally prefer laundry detergent in bags rather than cardboard boxes.  So P&G has introduced two new laundry detergent variants in Texas and Arizona for the Hispanic market.  Gain, a top seller amongst Hispanic community in the US and Ariel, a top seller in Mexico will be packaged in bags and with Spanish language consumer information.

The FMCG giant is also investing in multicultural consumer and trade marketing.  Stew Atkinson, P&G's manager of global brand-building purchases will devote 16% of its US marketing expenditure to suppliers owned by minority groups or women over the fiscal year ending in June 2010 according to Warc.com.

Shai Luft, Managing Director of Marketing Culture says agile Australian companies are also starting to take multicultural consumers seriously.  Marketing Culture was engaged by GoTalk Mobile to introduce a new prepaid SIM product tailored especially for the multicultural market.  “The product was hugely successful because it was what the market wanted and at the right price.  We backed it up with in language user instructions, significant multicultural marketing budget and an in language customer sales and support network” said Mr Luft.

In 2009, Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer opened two ‘hypermarkets’ to cater especially for Hispanic shoppers.  Supermercado de Walmart stores are based in Houston and Phoenix.

Warc.com also reported in December last year of Coca-Cola’s ambition to double revenue by 2020, with growth coming predominantly from the US.

At an event for investors, Katy Bayne, Coca-Cola's North American chief marketing officer claimed 51% of teenagers in America now fall into the "multicultural" bracket.

In 2010, the company is using the FIFA World Cup to heighten Coke’s appeal in this segment.

“It’s an event that unites countries no matter which part of the world you come from.  With football being the number one sport in many countries, there are definitely huge opportunities for organisations in Australia to leverage this event to get more into the hearts and minds of Australia’s multicultural consumer” agrees Melissa Chaw, General Manager of STW’s Etcom.

McDonalds generates around 40% of US sales from multicultural customers, with half under 13 years of age.  The company is directing research and insight strategies towards producing advertising that engages with this group.

In fact the company weights it advertising budget to match the representation of multicultural communities in the US, including Hispanic, African-American and Asian groups.

McDonalds has even gone as far as setting up metrics to assess whether their advertising ‘delivers against ethnic insights’.  Accountability is something I’ve called for repeatedly in the Australian context.

While encouraged by the developments in the US, Chaw says “for now, in Australia, much of the multicultural activity involves clients having a ‘dip’ into the ethnic space with translated mainstream ads placed in ethnic press.  Multicultural marketing is so much more than that”.

Lou Petrolo at LOUD Multicultural in Sydney reckons the focus on multiculturalism will spread to Australia “just as the performance of the US economy is seen as a barometer to the health of financial markets globally, the strategies employed by these FMCG giants can and should be seen as a beacon for leading Australian firms”.

While the Australian multicultural market differs to the American market in size and cultural diversity, it still offers marketers a wealth of opportunities,” he said.

I couldn’t agree more.

thang.ngo@sbs.com.au
www.twitter.com/thangngo

Info sourced from Warc.com, Financial Times, AdWeek, AdAge, MediaPost with additional interviews with Etcom, LOUD Multicultural and Marketing Culture.