Ethnic Technologies is pleased to announce the release of E-Tech Version 8.1

E-Tech January Press Release
January 31, 2013
by Karen Sinisi karens@ethnictechnologies.com
South Hackensack, NJ The Global Leaders in Multicultural Marketing Research, Database Enhancements, Modeling and Analytics is pleased to announce the release of E-Tech Version 8.1. While our software is already the best, our team has been working hard incorporating even more of the most up to date multicultural demographic information. On a typical national database, you will see the following substantial increases in your ability to market to individuals of the following ethnicities, representing billions of dollars in market share:

Comparison of E-Tech 7 Series Software Data to E-Tech Version 8.1

Hispanics                                        + 7.5 % Increase
African Americans                          + 16.9 % Increase
East Asians                                    + 8.3 % Increase

E-Tech Name Research:

Leading name research has been a key strength of E-Tech for more than 30 years. E-Tech Version 8.1 now incorporates 7.39% more First Names and 8.20% more Last Names than E-Tech Version 8.0. For unique First Name analysis, E-Tech 8.1 now has over 109,000 entries. On your database, one of these names can count for a single identification or thousands. The E-Tech Last Name tables now have more than one million entries.

E-Tech is More Than a Name System:

E-Tech has always been more than a simple Name System. Ethnic Technologies proprietary Enhanced Neighborhood Analytics (ENA) uses granular, multi-sourced geographic information as well as other proprietary technologies to determine the ethnicity of what a simple Name System could only identify as multi-ethnic. When you are looking for that perfect target audience, “multi-ethnic” leaves you stranded like the generic “one size fits all” approach. For example, “Lee” is a multi-ethnic Last Name. E-Tech can identify a person named John Lee as Chinese, Korean, English or African American. This same technology is applied to more than 4,000 other shared Last Names in the E-Tech product.

The E-Tech Challenge Guarantee:

There is nothing we love more than to show people the powerful multicultural marketing capabilities of our product. Please contact us for a free analysis of your customer data and how we can help you reach the fastest growing, highest dollar value groups of people in the United States. 

New Growth Strategies During Slow Economic Times

South Hackensack, NJ
June 20th, 2012
E-Tech June Newsletter
by Candace Kennedy candace@ethnictechnologies.com

Non-Traditional Growth Strategies During Slow Economic Times

During this time of economic uncertainty, we marketers immediately start to strategize. We ask “What are the most recession-proof industries to target?” and “How can I enable my clients to not only stabilize, but actually thrive in this environment?”

It is up to us, as the marketing experts, to answer these questions, and find real life viable solutions for our customers. In these tough times, we all need to think outside of the box and go beyond traditional multicultural marketing (which is) to Hispanic and African American groups.

This means targeting the influential and educated Asian American market.

Asian Americans have the highest income, best education and are the fastest growing racial group, now exceeding Latinos. They are more likely than any other racial or ethnic group in America to live in mixed neighborhoods and to marry across racial lines. Asians have surpassed Hispanics as the largest wave of new immigrants to the United States, pushing the population of Asian descent to a record 18.2 million and helping to make Asians the fastest-growing racial group in the country, according to a study released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census Community Survey – of the 4.27 million increase in the U.S. population from 2006 to 2010, 2.08 million can be attributed to South Asian and Asian Americans. They are also the fastest growing segment in the state of New Jersey, and 36% of the people in San Francisco County are of this ethnicity. According to the 2010 Census Figures, the median household income of the South Asian population is $78,315 and the Filipino population is $72,548. These numbers are rather elevated in comparison to the mainstream white population, which is estimated at $51,429.

Consider the following:

With over $300 billion in spending power, Asian Americans are a powerful force in the USA consumer market today. Over 36% of Asian Internet users have made more than 5 purchases using the internet over a period of 12 months, compared to 13.6% of Hispanics and 12.4% of African Americans -- the two largest of the ethnic populations in the U.S. Over 74% of Asian American Internet users access the net each day. Therefore, they are more likely to have a college degree and a higher average income than any other ethnic group. Media preferences for Asian Males between the ages of 25-54 are the Internet and online ethnic newspapers. Asian Males spend 58% more time on the Internet than any other ethnic group of males in the same age range. About 38% of Asian Americans read their daily news online, over 26% seek financial information on a typical day and 30% of them seek political news and information on a daily basis. These percentages are much higher than any other ethnic group including Caucasians in the U.S. and Canada. The language preferences during Asian Americans online visits list English as the most popular at over 37% (this may be attributed to their higher education levels and income status). Chinese is second at 14%, Japanese is 9% and Korean is 4%.  

These numbers are hard proof that there are new and different opportunities for multicultural marketing in 2012 and beyond. Reaching previously overlooked populations, who are thriving even in the current economic climate, can greatly increase your ROI. These diverse and growing ethnic groups offer tremendous potential to virtually every marketer and every brand out there.

In future newsletters, we will cover issues relating to the top Ethnic Groups within the Asian communities, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian, and Filipino.

National Minority Health Awareness Month

South Hackensack, NJ
April 11th, 2012
E-Tech April Newsletter
by Candace Kennedy candace@ethnictechnologies.com

The National Minority Quality Forum launched the first National Minority Health Month in April 2001. Its goal is to inform and educate emerging minority populations about disease prevention and cure. Scheduled events are designed to increase the understanding of diverse cultural differences within the context of prevailing health-related values and beliefs. A national focus on disparities in health status is essential to implement changes in health care delivery. Health care is a cultural construct, arising from beliefs about the nature of disease and the human body. These integrated human behavior patterns include language, customs, and beliefs. Cultural issues are at the core of wellness, health service treatment and preventive interventions. They influence how the patient and the health care provider perceive illness, disease, causes and cures. Proven over time and still one of the best ways to reach these populations is direct mail.

Some “minority populations” are emerging as the majority in major geographic areas. By 2050, the Census reports, the United States will have no clear majority population group. Our national tapestry will continue to be woven with diverse cultural, ethnic, and racial threads. Unfortunately still, at times, these groups experience poorer disease control and limited health care options. They have the highest rates of disability and premature death. Recently the University of Texas and Brigham and Women’s Hospital both found that Hispanic women can be at three times the risk for a pre-term baby delivery. Similar statistics for African American mothers. Cancer is the second leading cause of death for most racial and ethnic minorities. It is the number one killer for Asians. African American men are over twice as likely to die from prostate cancer as White men are. Black women are more likely to die of breast cancer than any other group; Hispanic women have the highest incidence rate for cervical cancer.

These statistics reflect genetic variations, environmental factors, and the cultural and linguistic traits that create and influence specific health behaviors. However, even when minorities have similar levels of access to care, health insurance and education, they often receive poor quality care. This may be a result of inadequate patient to provider communication or provider discrimination.

One objective of National Minority Health Month is to develop a clearer understanding of cultural competence. This ability to value and incorporate the cultural differences of diverse populations can create a health care system that serves the unique needs of populations whose cultures may be different from the prevailing culture. This month also addresses the issues surrounding minority under-representation in interventional and observational clinical trials. Recruiting and retaining participants remains a problem due to lack of cultural competency by the provider and distrust of the health care system by minority group members. Hispanics are particularly affected because they are the largest minority group without medical insurance. These influencers affect valid analysis and outcomes of the studies and dilute what constitutes effective and safe care for these groups. The cornerstone of this campaign is overcoming minority group barriers through community awareness, education and involvement.

The costs (financial and human) associated with patient noncompliance are staggering and very well documented. Understanding ethnicity, language preference and country of origin can influence -- for the positive. New technologies and applications are coming, but true understanding and respect of these populations are what will continue to make a difference. National Minority Health Month hopes to raise awareness of disparity and the need to include all groups in health care education, policies, and programs. Inclusion of marginalized groups in the decision making process creates a health care system that benefits all groups well into this century and beyond -- plus it can be good business as well.

Achievements in Black History

South Hackensack, NJ
February 1, 2012
E-Tech May Newsletter
by Candace Kennedy candace@ethnictechnologies.com

With the celebration of Martin Luther King’s 83rd birthday on Monday January 16th and the coming to the end of the third year of office for our first black president, E-Tech would like to honor all those who contributed to African American History achievements.

The 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama as president of the United States marked a defining moment in both American and World history. This historic event was another step toward Martin Luther King’s dream of a more equitable society. Throughout Black History Month we remember how Black American leaders of all kinds helped to bring our Nation together.

History of Black History

In February, the nation joins Black Americans in celebrating their rich culture, heritage, and contributions to the American lifestyle during Black History Month. Black History Month began as “Negro History Week” in 1926 which was established by Carter G. Woodson and was expanded to a month long celebration in 1976. Woodson is said to have chosen the second week in February for the celebration to honor the birthdays of Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist and editor, and Abraham Lincoln.

The scope to which Blacks have contributed to American life can be witnessed at even the most fundamental levels: Garrett Morgan invented the first Traffic Signal (1923); Lewis Latimer invented the Carbon Filament used in Light Bulbs (1882); Richard Spikes invented the Automatic Gear Shift (1932) and Lydia O. Newman invented the Hair Brush (1898). Today, Black Americans are still achieving firsts in politics, education and business: Condoleezza Rice was the first Black Woman to serve as US Secretary of State; President Barack Obama was the first African American President of the Harvard Law Review and was the first African American to run for the Democratic Party's Presidential Candidacy; and Robert Johnson, owner of Black Entertainment Television, became the first Black Billionaire in 2001.

The Black Consumer Market

There are 42 million African Americans and they comprise 13.6 percent of the U.S. population down from 14.8 percent of the population in 2000. African Americans became the nation’s second-largest minority group in the first decade of the 21st century. The African American population exceeded 500,000 in 15 states. They are the largest minority group in 24 states, compared with 20 states in which Hispanics were the largest minority group.

The Black population is younger than the rest of the U.S population. In 2011 the median age of the Black population was 41 compared to the general U.S. population at nearly 45. In addition, females represent a greater percentage of the Black population in the United States. While the Black American median household income is lower than the U.S. average, the percentage of Black American households with an income of $50,000.00 or more grew 13.5% between 2003 and 2010, compared with 8.4% for the total U.S. households.

According to the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth, the buying power of Black Americans was $895 Billion in 2010 and estimates the buying power in 2012 to reach $1.1 trillion. In that same year, the US Census Bureau estimated the number of Black residents at 40.7 million, comprising 13.5% of the total US population. The number of Black-owned businesses was 1.8 million in 2010, a 58% increase since 1997 and Black businesses generated revenues of $92.7 Billion that year. Black Americans are also gaining ground in education. In 2010, 18% of Black Americans held Bachelor Degrees and 1.7 million held advanced degrees (Master’s, J.D., M.D. PhD).

As this group becomes more educated and their median household income increases, they will have greater control of the consumer marketplace. Black Americans are attracted to companies that represent their lifestyle with targeted messages and images. It is the responsibility of marketers to attract and maintain a relationship with the Black consumer.

“Black folk are not just dark-skinned white people. Marketers who consciously establish a relationship with this lucrative yet underserved market, by better understanding the African-American culture, mindset, attitude, behavior and lifestyle, will reap significant long-term rewards from a loyal, influential, increasingly affluent customer base.”
-Herbert Kemp, Founder & CEO of What is Black about IT? LLC

>>>>>TIDBITS<<<<<

LOCATION
More than half of black Americans live in the South.
New York had the largest black population of any state as of July 1, 2010 (3.6 million); Georgia had the largest numeric increase since July 1, 2007 (67,500). The District of Columbia had the highest percentage of blacks (56 percent), followed by Mississippi (38 percent).

Cook County, Ill. (Chicago’s county) had the largest black population of any county (1.4 million), and Orleans Parish, La. (New Orleans’ county) had the largest numeric increase since July 1, 2007 (16,000). Claiborne County, Miss. -- on the Louisiana border --had the highest percentage of blacks in the nation (84 percent).

Seventy-seven counties were majority-black or African-American; all were in the South.

More than half of black American (53 percent) rent their homes—that’s the largest percentage of renters among the races in the U.S.

GENDER
There are more women than men.

Households: Nearly one out of every three black households (29 percent) are headed by a single woman, the highest percentage of female-headed households in the U.S.

MARRIAGE
Nearly half have never married, the highest percentage for all racial groups. Only 30 percent of blacks are now married.

MONEY
Black median family income was just over $34,000 in 2010, the lowest in the United States of any racial group. A single black woman with children earned a median annual income of $25,958.

No surprise then that one out of five black families lives in poverty. More than 40 percent of black families headed by a single mom are poor.

From 1974 to 2004, the median income fell 12% for Black men while rising 75% for Black women.

IMMIGRANTS
Only 3 million African Americans are immigrants. Of that number, nearly two-thirds were born in Latin America, the other one-third of the immigrants were born in Africa.

Only 7 percent of us speak a language other than English.

MILITARY
Number of black military veterans in the United States in 2010: 2.3 million. More military veterans are black than any other minority group.

Ethnic Technologies, LLC -- African American Insight
Ethnic Technologies, LLC is the platinum standard in multicultural marketing. The result of over 40 years of continuous ethnic, religious and language preference research, E-Tech allows clients to segment their database by ethnicity, religion, language preference and Hispanic country of origin more accurately and comprehensively than any other approach. E-Tech incorporates a unique approach for identifying the different African American Consumers. After identifying by their specific names, E-Tech does a neighborhood analysis using multi-sourced information compiled from our research team. From that data, E-Tech is able to accurately identify the African American individuals’ Country of Origin. The incorporation of Enhanced Neighborhood Analytics (ENA) technology in E-Tech Version 8.0 establishes a new and unprecedented level of granularity and completeness in the ethnic marketing industry. Clients also benefit from and acquire ethnic mailing, telemarketing and email lists for both the United States and Canada. The analytics department at E-TECH offers ethnic data appending services and mapping to provide businesses with an overview of new and existing markets.

E-Tech ® and The EthniCenter ® are registered trademarks of Ethnic Technologies, LLC. www.ethnictechnologies.com

Multicultural Market Insight

South Hackensack, NJ
July 6th, 2011
E-Tech July Newsletter
by Candace Kennedy candace@ethnictechnologies.com

Most U.S. banks, Financial Services and Insurance Businesses, unlike many media, retail and grocery companies, have avoided marketing their products and services specifically to the Multicultural consumers. This made sense since the majority of the 50+ million Hispanics and the 40+ million African Americans, the two largest of the groups, who live in the United States typically spend less than the average U.S. consumer on financial services but more on groceries, retail goods and media. Sidestepping the Multicultural market made sense to financial institutions, until now.

With economic recovery on a slow rebound, financial institutions could be missing out on a huge opportunity. By 2012, spending by Multicultural Consumers living in the United States will have risen to more than $2 Trillion a year, from around $1.5 Trillion, with financial services accounting for a substantial part of that increase. Industries that currently cater to the Multicultural markets benefit conspicuously from the growing population. However, some industries such as housing, health care, and financial services that target middle and upper-income consumers are likely to benefit significantly as Multicultural consumers household incomes rise.
To succeed in this diverse market, banks and insurance companies will have to do more than translate their brochures into different languages. They could benefit from the lessons learned by other consumer product marketers. In courting the Multicultural consumer, financial-services companies must not only attract a new customer segment but also change its buying behavior. Financial institutions will have to educate these consumers about such products as mortgages, investments and insurance. Companies can implement techniques such as using multicultural faces in your campaign creative in order to increase the rapport between your organization and your audience or adjusting color preferences and graphic presentation forms to increase the effectiveness of your website presentation. To achieve a competitive edge in campaigns, marketers must understand the cultural differences and lifestyle characteristics of Hispanic versus Asian versus African, etc.
The incomes and assimilation levels of Multicultural consumers vary widely. Banks should offer a choice of products at every rung of the ladder: from inexpensive services like international wire transfers and check cashing targeted at recent immigrants, to mortgages and insurance products geared toward the emerging middle class, to the full portfolio of financial services for second- and third-generation Multicultural consumers.
Clustering all Multicultural consumers in one large category is not the proper approach since many different groups compose that market. Nonetheless, there are trends that can be highlighted. For example, purchase decisions among many Hispanics are driven by familiarity or lack of familiarity with brands. The bulk of Hispanic consumers, particularly those who are Spanish dominant buy products and services that they recognize and know something about. Marketing to the Hispanic consumer has at its core the establishment of a relationship between the seller and the buyer. Hispanics are particularly sensitive to the establishment and maintenance of that relationship.
The Hispanic consumer is generally more sensitive to offers that are acceptable to family and friends as a good decision. We see both individual and external attributes that drive the decisions differently within this segment. Product and offer attributes such as price and availability and perceptual attributes such as quality, benefits, and cultural sensitivity are obviously key drivers in the purchase decision. After all, businesses cannot reap the rewards from this segment unless they understand and target it.

SAVE THE DATES!!!!

Ethnic Technologies, LLC will be exhibiting at the Bridge Conference in Washington DC July 20th till July 22nd.
The DMA National Trade show in Boston MA October 2nd till October 5th..
Visit our booths and learn more about our New Release E-Tech Version 8.0 due out late Fall 2011 and our other Multicultural Marketing products and services.

Get an additional 10% off of any African American, Asian or Hispanic Financial Related Lists!
Mention the special code: 74AAH

Doppelgangers and Searchability

by Lisa Radding lradding@ethnictechnologies.com

Last time I posted, I was considering other people who share your name. We all know they are out there; we google ourselves. Most of us are intrigued by the existence of our googlegangers, defined on urbandictionary.com as, “similar to that of a doppelganger, it is another individual with the same name as you whose records and/or stories are mixed in with your own when you google yourself.” Although my one googleganger, that other Lisa Radding, comes up first when you google me, I too show up on the first page of results. But what if your name is Jonathan Smith?

If I type “Jonathan Smith” in the search box on facebook, I get over 500 results. Quickly scanning the first few pages of results, I notice that “Jonathan Smith” is as likely to be Caucasian (with descent from practically anywhere) as African American, but could also be Hispanic or even Asian. Also, he is male. Shelving the ethnicity (and gender) issue for now, however, I’m thinking about how a search on a name like “Jonathan Smith” doesn’t return an individual. In this increasingly electronic world, where many of us want a unique, searchable identity with which to leave our electronic footprint, what can you do if your parents lacked creativity when naming you?

I know a Jonathan Smith who, in some instances, purposely misspells his name so as to differentiate himself. His name on facebook looks something like Jonatthan Smiith or Jonnathan Smithh… you get the idea (and I’m withholding his exact spelling to protect his privacy.) When you search his spelling, he is the only one who turns up in the results page.

Just as companies try to optimize the searchability of their websites by inserting key words into headers and first paragraphs, individuals manipulate their own names. While our googlegangers may pique our curiosity, we also want to possess a unique online identity. Thus as the Internet proliferates society, names evolve without officially changing.

Are these misspellings, such as Jonathhan Smmith, legitimate names? That depends how you understand “legitimate.” My friend Jonathan Smith didn’t officially change his name. Since he still gets mailings addressed to “Jonathan Smith,” for the purposes of our software, the “Jonathan Smith” spelling we have in the database will suffice. (And we will say he is male and English speaking, though beyond that, this name doesn’t give us much to go on.) As I ponder the future of multicultural marketing in an electronic age, however, I anticipate lists from Internet databases. On the Internet we are free to create unofficial names, infinite variations, in order to optimize our individual searchability. If in the future we want our software to correctly identify everyone, we must keep up with the creation of new names and spellings, the human drive to be unique.