Notes I took from the Multicultural Marketing Conference put on in spring 2009 by Marketing Mag

1. Marketing Magazine’sMulticulturalMARKETING CONFERENCE 10:00am to 11:00am - Panel Discussion: Multicultural Rapid Fire Leading marketer and agency executives discuss the issues facing multicultural communications. NameTitle, Company1.Saluja GhelaniMulticultural Marketing Manager, TELUS2. Partha GuhaMarketing Manager, Unilever Canada3. Loretta LamPresident, Focus Communications4. Kim MoseleyDirector of Local Markets and Employee Recognition, Scotiabank5. Ramesh NilakantanAccount Director, Publicis Diversite6. Albert YueOwner and Managing Director, Dynasty Advertising & Communications7. Moderator – Christopher LoudonMarketing Publisher & Editor-in-Chief These consumers tend to be very loyal but also less forgiving. In the first years of the transition they will not want to shift products and services and this is the chance to build loyalty. They have higher savings and larger families and are a prime market for goods. 4. Kim said that straight English ad translations don’t speak to the unique characteristics of the market and they must cater to them. You are not looking for the how you are looking for the why? Agencies will seek efficiencies in a way that doesn’t suit these markets and some brands like Wonder Bread has no cultural relevance so the English message that focuses on history will not succeed. 4. When coming up with their richer than you think messaging Scotiabank considered how does that impact a new immigrant who is new and has no job. You must figure out a way to get to the essence of the brand for the market. There is a lack of consistency in messaging when selecting an agency partner. What does a potential partner offer strategically and do they have the experience needed to handle the unique needs of different ethnic communities. 2. How do brands stay consistent? Worldwide Dove is Dove and segmentation is global for the brand. ROI - How do you measure ROI for multicultural marketing? For ethnic markets direct and interactive are easier to measure and should be used to secure other media vehicle support. 4. What they did at Scotiabank is market a specific product for a period of time to an ethnic market to see if that product moved units. 3. Many times media is not audited or tracked. Post sales research can be done. You can’t use traditional metrics because this is not the mainstream they don’t work for these small markets. Companies need to stay with it and use pilots as a way to gain feedback going forward. 3. Of everything in the marketing budget multicultural marketing is usually cut first. 2. You need to know how to track this market but that should not be a barrier for your ROI because the numbers can be misleading. 5. Canada groups retain their culture compared to the USA where they are assimilated in. 4. Scotiabank uses a slice of life picture in their commercials that show these groups. In Canada multiculturalism is the mainstream. 2. Integration is accepting that the products are there and we are at the stage engagement comes in. 1. Need to see how a campaign impacts everyone and then segment it. 3. Need to search out multiethnic talent that understands that group. Q&A Acquisition strategy – 2. This relies on a strong partnership based on an agency’s expertise with targeting these markets. 6. North 44 has a good multicultural experience and collaborates with main agency. ROI – 4. You need the commitment from the top of the house and must be accountable to show results, educate them and celebrate your successes. 3. Use best practices, case studies and targets when they did not have the ability to measure ROI. Tracking by last name is not ideal but acceptable. GM and Telus do it. 1. But it depends on the product you are selling where it can be done. 5. Rogers bundling Increased 50% of calls when Canadians replaced with ethnic groups in the Metro. This targets a lower income immigrant vs. a higher income one who consumes other media vehicles. 11:00am to 12:00am Keynote speaker – Naeem “Nick” Noorani, Founder and Publisher, Canadian Immigrant Magazine Reach Canada’s Fastest Growing Population: New Immigrants He grew up in Mumbai and came to Canada from Dubai. No one was talking to him when he came here. Getting a credit card felt like the Spanish inquisition. After spending 10 years in a country paying no taxes he came here for his penance. He doesn’t like to use the word minority he prefers the term visible immigrant. An immigrant and a visible immigrant are not one in the same. The mag tries to speak different languages but also lots of English. It is an aggregator and was bought out by the Toronto Star. Noticed it was other ethnic people talking to other ethnic people. Are immigrants refugees? No. Immigrants value quality over price. They are a 250,000 market for homes, banks, telecommunications products and etc. He had could get a delicious blue cheese in a tin but it was not sold in this country except for at Indian stores. Immigrants want to buy products they are familiar with and this is a huge opportunity. Today’s immigrants are not the same as those from 50 years ago this is the time of the skilled immigrant in areas like healthcare, engineering, IT, finance, sales/marketing and HR. 10 years ago when no one spoke to him it made him feel unimportant. 80% of immigrants will talk with those who connect with them. There is an immigrant twitter where immigrants talk to each other. Immigrants are driving population growth in Canada. 50% of people in the GTA are immigrants. 50% are university educated and they use the Internet a lot because it is the cheap way to communicate back home. 50% buy a home within 3 years. Their experiences are as varied as their background. The challenge to move beyond our biases he is proud for any successful immigrant. At the top of mind awareness is education with 60% enrolling in a course to find work. When they buy a home they want fixed vs. variable because they want to know what they will pay every month. They see an RRSP as the government giving me free money while Canadians see it as a way to save. Attitude towards like is they are happy to be in Canada. His mag sells distributes 82,000 copies nationally. Immigrants want to know why the magazine is in English it is because they speak English too. For the magazine editorial is what connects the reader the principles behind the mag are to inform, educate, motivate and connect. They have an advisory board made up of people from all walks of life and at different stages in life to vet each issue. The biggest challenge has been distribution. The airport is a great opportunity to connect with them from the start. Immigrants use public transit, and libraries more and we go where they live. 30% of the hits to the website are from outside of Canada they use it to find what they need to know before they get here. He says they are first site to build functionality like an immigrant job board in partnership with workopolis into the site. It is not just a mag but a way reach out to communities and shows them success stories. It is about reaching beyond the mag to give them what they need. He helped develop immigrantnetworks.com a social network for immigrants to connect them together. Canada is a nation of immigrants but there is not national recognition of immigrants. So he created the Top 25 Canadian Immigrants sponsored by RBC which has been almost too successful. Q&A He wants his mag to attract all immigrants though his website skews more women. In general it takes about 10 years fir an immigrant to come back to where they were when they left their home country. It takes time for them to come full circle and he just helps them on their way.