As we continue with the multicultural marketing theme, I decided to attend an in-depth discussion that touched on how a company’s ignorance to these groups will create huge profits for others. The aptly named “Your Ignoring Multicultural Markets Will Make Me Rich” was led by Sheila Marmon, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of UrbanAdserve, a digital media company reaching multicultural consumers. When we talk about multicultural marketing, a lot of attention goes to Hispanics. But multiculturalism represents all people of color, so African-Americans and Asians need to be included in the conversation. In the U.S. this cultural trifecta has grown 24% in the last decade. I have touched on the growth and digital usage of Hispanics, so let’s talk about the other groups. African-Americans represent 25% of all Twitter users and access the web mostly through mobile devices. And Asian-American buying power is forecasted to... Read more

The purchasing power of ethnic groups is north of $2.3 billion – hence the reason multicultural marketing is currently trending in marketing department meetings. Some companies are even hiring cultural experts (a trend likely to increase in the next five years) and developing niche marketing groups to target each segment properly. But while there’s talk about its importance, companies are not taking any new or “real” action (i.e. spending money) to attract the ethnic dollar, especially Hispanics. According to a 2010 Orci survey sent to 9300 senior marketers for Fortune 500 companies, the majority of respondents recognize the impact of the Latino market, yet “82% have no plans to begin or increase existing efforts aimed at Hispanics in the next 12 months”. This is pretty disturbing news. I’m not a marketing expert, but shouldn’t we be paying special attention to a group that is currently 1/6... Read more

After attending two informative, thought-provoking panels on the expanding digital activity in Latin America, I walked into my third one just looking for additional footnotes. However, upon entering the meeting room, something seemed different this time. Unlike the previous panels I attended earlier, this was going to be a one man show. Most discussions at SXSW contain three or four presenters. And the model makes sense. Multiple presenters lead to a discussion filled with varying opinions, insight, anecdotes – which is necessary for such dense topics. But alone sat Joseph Crump, name placard slightly crooked, waiting patiently for attendees to take their seats. During this time, I decided to read Mr. Crump’s bio. Joseph Crump, Senior VP of Strategy at Razorfish, “specializes in using his training as an anthropologist, a journalist, and a creative director to discover unique insights about the way people behave, and then... Read more