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.

Multicultural Name Identification

by Candace candace@ethnictechnologies.com

Conventional wisdom says that America is a melting pot of many different cultures. Try mixing up six different cheeses in a pot then try to find the different taste values of each. It is very difficult to do. The same idea applies to identifying the different cultures that make up our nation. The segmentation system that we habitually use simply divides the population into color or racial categories: White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian. Using this type of approach or methodology has its downfalls and in most cases antiquated census information is used, as it's sole input for development. A better approach is to see the diversity in America as a mixed salad, where each ethnicity is a different ingredient and can be identified. This method, if used properly applies to the many ethnicities and different cultures in our nation and each can be identified.

Marketers, researchers, advertising agencies and the media often market to Hispanics as a separate group from Whites, Blacks and Asians. When you take an in-depth look at the Hispanic population in the Untied States they often associate with one or more of the aforementioned racial groups and those racial groups can be correlated to their country of origin or cultural identity. An individual or family from Puerto Rico does not exhibit the same cultural identity or buying habits as those of a family that has immigrated to the US from Mexico. If that is the case then why do marketers, researchers, advertising agencies and the media often approach Hispanic's as a whole with the same exact offers, disregard their country of origin and then complain that their campaigns were not successful. Even the dialect of the Spanish language they speak differs.

The same issues arise and in greater depth when attempting to target the Asian community, the "One Size Fits All" mentality is often the method used and low response rates and product interests are the norm. With so many different Asian countries of origin and Asian languages of preference currently residing in the US, it is the smart marketer that embraces technology that allows them to identify all ethnicities, countries of origin and languages that are available. An offer tailored to a Chinese American living in San Francisco CA should differentiate from one being tailored to a Korean American living in Fort Lee NJ or a Vietnamese American living in Houston TX. Now if you add into the mix the different levels of assimilation and acculturation, the buying habits and traditional cultural customs the individual embraces are all over the chart.

An individual's ethnicity is not in all circumstances related to ones "Country of Origin". A Deepak Banerjee may have been born in England and then came to our country, but his ethnicity and cultural identity is Indian and in most cases his religion would be Hindu.

Many ethnic and religious groups in the United States maintain a strong cultural identity. They are often attracted to communities with their same ethnicity, communities in which many traditional cultural customs are maintained. Given that the ethnic diversity in the US is far more reflective of a global landscape, it is even more important for marketers to fully understand cultural differences, language preference, purchasing habits and other socioeconomic information and integrate those variations into their everyday marketing strategies and tactics. The time for the" One Size Fits All" methodology is gone that way of the dinosaur.