Line 25 Consulting

Diversity & Inclusion From a Marketing Perspective

diversity marketing

What is a Fractional Inclusive Marketing Consultant?

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We are all familiar with the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) managing the marketing plans and budgets for an organization. A fractional CMO helps organizations on a part-time basis regarding their marketing efforts. So, what is a fractional inclusive marketing consultant?

A fractional inclusive marketing consultant is an outsourced contractor who helps the marketing team with management and insight on including fair representation in your marketing campaign.

fractional inclusive marketing consultant
consulting concept chart with business elements on blackboard

What Does a Fractional Inclusive Marketing Consultant?

A fractional diversity marketing consultant will:

  • Develop a short-or-long term marketing strategy.
  • Manage marketing campaigns.
  • Oversee content development and digital footprint.
  • Hiring new employees and building an engaged team for success.
  • Works with organizations or marketing agencies.
  • Training or coaching to marketing team.
  • Provide leadership or act as an advisor.

One of the most important characteristics of being a leader is the willingness to have tough conversations and provide sound advice. As marketers, we like to throw out our ideas, brainstorm, and plan the campaign. Adding the topics of diversity requires a heightened sense of awareness to navigate conversations.

What is the Cost of a Fractional Inclusive Marketing Consultant?

The average CMO demands a salary north of $150k. It is hard to justify the need for two marketing executives. A fractional diversity marketing consultant comes in on a short-term basis for the fraction of the cost. Most fractional consultants are prepared to work at least 10 hours a week managing up to five clients at a given time. The standard hourly rate is $200-$300 per hour. For example, if you hire an inclusive marketing consultant for $250/hour for a three-month campaign it will cost you $10,000 a month or $30,000 for the duration of the project.

Does a Fractional Diversity Marketing Consultant Work In-person or Virtual?

In today’s climate, most people prefer working virtually. If the contract is local hybrid work can be a viable option. With COVID-19 continuing to fluctuate in numbers, it may be challenging to find someone to work in person even during a short-term project.

At Line 25 Consulting we prefer the hybrid approach. The majority of work, meetings, and training can be held online. We do enjoy hosting facilitation, training, and keynotes in-person under proper guidelines.

Is a Fractional Diversity Marketing Consultant Right for You?

The best way to know if a fractional inclusive marketing consultant is right for you is to look at your marketing team and the performance of your work. A few questions to consider:

  • Are you struggling to find fair representation with your marketing team?
  • Do you have a solid understanding of inclusive marketing?
  • Are you struggling to coordinate your marketing team with your agency?
  • Are you creating effective campaigns with fair representation?
  • Have you received negative comments or backlash from a marketing campaign?
  • Does your marketing team need support?

If you are experiencing any of these problems, a fractional diversity marketing consultant may be a viable option for your organization.

Hiring a Fractional Diversity Marketing Consultant?

Line 25 Consulting has been working as a fractional inclusive marketing consultant for years. We are happy to support your organization in the best way possible. We offer a variety of services to help your team on their inclusive marketing journey. If you’re ready to learn more, schedule a 15-minute consultation today. We were recently listed as one of the top Houston market research agencies.

What Is Multicultural Marketing? Why Do You Need It For Your Brand?

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multicultural marketing
Adobe Stock – Group of cheering African American, Caucasian, Hispanic, and Latin young adults outdoor in summer in the city.

Multicultural marketing is a strategy that focuses on different cultural audiences. The best way to coordinate multicultural marketing for your business is to build your ideas around the targeted ethnic group’s cultural traits such as celebrations, customs, and traditions. Also consider diverse communities such as people with disabilities, neurodiversity, or LGBTQ.

The main aim of this marketing strategy is to help your marketing campaign resonate with potential customers across diverse cultural audiences. When executing your campaign it helps to educate the audience that your brand is also catering to different cultures. 

Moreover, applying multicultural marketing methods will open new paths for your brand engagement with all consumers, including those outside the “majority audience.” This marketing will also help you build a secure emotional connection to increase the chances of conversions. 

Strategy is essential, how do you get started? Before we can delve deeper, let’s learn how to approach multicultural marketing. 

How Do You Approach Multicultural Marketing? 

It is essential first to know there are different cultures, and their consumer behaviors are different. So, you have to come up with various advertising campaigns for your brand. Also, the message in your brand should attract and be relevant to consumers from specific cultures. Therefore, you don’t necessarily have to translate your message into another language. 

However, when you create a marketing message with a limited understanding of a specific culture or based on stereotypes, it will not work as expected. You can not also include a token to represent a unique cultural group in your campaign. 

What you need is to customize a message that will perfectly suit a specific target cultural group. Getting cultural nuances right is extremely important.

If the message is misunderstood or misinterpreted, it will alienate your target group instead of bringing engagement with it. You have to; therefore, conduct research carefully to avoid misrepresentation by historical or modern-day cultural references based on context.

There are a few approaches to this strategy, you must connect with all target groups. By including fair representation it is highly based on visibility, actions, and speaking parts. Another option is customizing the campaign for each targeted group. Consider their perceptions, preferences, and needs because they are all crucial. Know what the customer needs and desires, you have to converse with them. Besides, it also helps you or your team garner knowledge regarding the way your brand will fit into the target cultural groups. 

Allow your multicultural marketing to be offered by people residing from your target audience or ethnic groups. It means your marketing team should be diverse. If they can directly identify with customers, it means they can truly empathize appropriately with them. 

There is a need to have representatives of various diverse groups in your marketing team. A diverse team can bring life experience and practical knowledge to the table. 

Lastly, in your approach, consider the accuracy and authenticity of your multicultural marketing strategy. That is through sharing with those minority groups that represent your target audience and getting various opinions before the start of the campaign. 

Which Tips Should You Consider While Creating Multicultural Marketing Strategies For Your Brand? 

If you’re selling your products globally, considering the multicultural campaign is among the best way you can build relationships. The strategy has helped smaller companies to strengthen their value proposition with unique knowledge about the different cultural groups they target. 

However, when you want to launch a multicultural campaign, consider these tips: 

  • Proper Planning Of Activation Calendar And Channel Selection

An inclusive marketing campaign’s success will depend on the channel you use. For example, print media can effectively work with consumers who are aged above 60 years. However, using interactive platforms such as TikTok or Snapchat, it is suitable especially for the current Generation Z. 

The channel of choice you choose should be from the research you have conducted. For instance, in a study conducted by Neilsen in 2019, they reported that African Americans aged above 35 years surpassed by 2% of the total age group in terms of owning a smartphone. It indicated that conducting mobile campaigns in this group can be effective for companies manufacturing smartphones. 

However, during engagement timelines, a frequency for targeted consumers, preferred days in a week, and the activation calendar should be considerable factors. 

  • Analyzing CRM And DMP Platforms Data 

You should analyze data management platforms and customer relationship management data. The two usually carry a vast respiratory of data gathered from different consumer segments. 

If you consider this data using advanced analytics, it helps you identify targetable segments and move a step ahead. 

You also have to ask yourself some of these questions. 

  1. Are there correlations between cultural groups and a specific CRM channel?
  2. Is there a right time for engagement in the day? 
  3. Is there a key product trait required for repeated conversions? 

When you analyze both DMP and CRM data, you can quickly answer the above questions. It also helps you form a foundation for your multicultural marketing technique.

  • Analyzing Constantly & Re-launching At The Correct Moment

If you consider choosing this strategy, it should not be considered as a one-off marketing technique. You have to focus on multiple communities and consider their needs as a consistent theme in identifying your brand. 

You have to analyze the performance of your campaign in varying languages or geographical locations. It will pinpoint the challenges experienced in those areas. When doing that, tweak your message slightly, and after an opportunity has presented itself, relaunch immediately. 

However, you should embed analytics on the whole omnichannel landscape to help analyze performance at that moment. This should give you an actionable and accurate report. 

  • Bolstering Your Data With Focus Groups And Third-party Research

Internal data analysis for both CRM and DMPs are not enough for consumer sentiment and preferences.  Therefore, the results you get, you can not use to highlight opportunities not present in your existing customer base. To succeed, you need third-party research together with A/B experiments.  

Further, look at customer insights present in different regions and cities relevant to the targeted cultural group. It will give you the next step, where you have to conduct A/B tests to help figure out the product traits, visual elements resonate, and messaging with different groups. 

  • Considering Diversity And Inclusions To Make A Decision 

Last, when you are launching a multicultural campaign, this practice is critical. For example, a message that has been directed to a single consumer group can’t be termed as offensive in another group. 

Your team will require contributions from various voices across cultural, economic, locational divided, age, and gender to make a decision. 

However, if you don’t have adequate diverse decision-makers in your team, it is recommended you partner with an agency. It helps ensure that you have content that is not close to cultural prejudice or any stereotype. 

Best Multicultural Marketing Campaigns Inspirations 

We have looked at the best impressive examples to help bring you to the top campaigns. Most companies have already launched their multicultural campaigns and proved to be a working marketing strategy. 

Here are the award-winning multicultural campaigns examples that have struck a chord: 

  • Coca-Cola

Juan Pablo Gonzalez, a Senior Brand Manager at Coca-Cola, claims that multicultural marketing has increased their brand loyalty, referring to it as a “total market.” It has allowed the company to share resources and establish relevant multicultural market connections. 

Coca-Cola introduced the Super Bowl ad in 2014, where a choir of Americans was singing “America the Beautiful.” The company utilized the “Total Market” mindset by singing the song in seven different languages. The ad was also aired again during the 2017 Super Bowl to help the company continue with its multicultural market. 

It has tried to monitor demographics because there was controversy with the Super Bowl ad. Coca-Cola, therefore, changed the marketing technics, where it targets different demographics using one global campaign. It has a slogan it features “taste the Feeling” in its global campaigns. 

In its attempt to focus on the multicultural markets and maintain a sense of unity, the strategy has become sufficient to brand perception for this soft drink giant. 

  • Toyota

Toyota is yet another company venturing into a multicultural marketing strategy. In their advertising, it is of a father and daughter who drive home after baseball practice. There is a momentary glimpse because of a peacock, the Queen song singing ” Don’t stop me now,” and an ignored call from mom. 

These are among the marketing campaigns of Toyota’s new Camry. However, the commercial you’ll see depends on your ethnicity. 

For African Americans, it is of a black man driving featuring a peacock’s image and centered on “strut” as the theme. The entrance music is John Cena – a wrestler. 

In Hispanic, there is a Latino man who enjoys his driving experience such that he even declines his mother’s call. That is a move to show rebellion. 

In an Asian American ad, a father will pick his daughter after baseball practice. This ad is a casting decision suggesting Camry is a model that brings affection to Asian-American fathers. 

Toyota has, therefore, unveiled numerous ads for its car with several designs that resonate with Hispanic, Asian-American, or African-American audiences. 

  • Chevrolet 

Chevrolet partnered with NNPA – National Newspaper Publishers Association – to help portray African American students can also achieve suitable journalism careers. 

During the campaign, the theme was to “discover the unexpected.” NNPA did select six students to offer them educational scholarships. For each student chosen, he or she could access Chevrolet vehicles to help find and capture new stories where they could share their experiences via social media. 

Therefore, the six selected students were able to find their new roads and explore their career pathways in Chevy Blazer. 

  • Chase 

J.P Morgan Chase is among the leading financial services firm across the globe. This company’s asset ranges up to $742 billion. It operates in many countries – more than 50 countries worldwide. Chase is a leading firm in asset management, investment banking, private equity, private banking, transaction services, and custody. 

In its multicultural market, this company focuses on Hispanic consumers. In their campaign, it relays essential and relevant cultural messages that have been developed specifically to showcase its brand. It also has to array its broad product offerings. 

The ad campaign is about Hispanics improving their lives. The commercial is of a young couple who gets engaged and looks forward to their future. Another ad is of an architecture that expands his business with the help of chase’s expertise and product offerings. 

  • Google

Google launched “Grow with Google” in October 2017. The main aim of its multicultural marketing is to help serve job seekers, small-business owners, teachers, and educators who are in underrepresented communities. They can, therefore, access digital training education and skills. 

Aisha Taylor, who worked in Google’s business inclusion team, but is currently the community engagement manager, was heading the multicultural marketing program. She claimed that before they launched their multicultural campaigns, the inclusion team had conducted both qualitative and quantitative research. Their focus was on diverse small businesses in the county.

Overall, Google might not have the best reputation compared to other technology companies in terms of inclusion and diversity. The multicultural marketing strategy is, therefore, helping them to reach more diverse audiences through authentic ways.

Final Thoughts

If you consider the above multicultural marketing examples, they show that there is a vast possibility of your brand also succeeding. In this time, you can deep-dive your brand into existing consumer segments to find meaningful ways in which you will strengthen your relationships. 

Multicultural audiences’ projects are expected to grow by 6% before the end of this year. It is, therefore, upon you to utilize this excellent marketing strategy and campaigns. By practicing recommended tips and taking inspiration into account, it is easy for your brand to pave through for success. 

With that in mind, your multicultural marketing campaign should shed light on the challenges the minority are facing and prove a benefit to society. It will not only help your brand loyalty grow, but you can also make the group feel genuine.

Hire a Fractional Diverse Marketing Consultant

If you are looking to improve your marketing strategy through a multicultural or inclusive marketing strategy, invite Line 25 Consulting to come in to help your organization. One of Michelle’s favorite topics is Knowing How Diversity Drives Revenue training. She will guide your marketing team through a 5-Point Framework on inclusive marketing. Schedule an easy 15-minute consultation.

Is There Such a Thing as too Much Diversity?

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Diversity has been being pushed so much in all realms of our lives from the workplace to commercials and so much more. This push comes from people of color (POC) who are tired of being left behind, lack representation and are not included in conversations. The question is, is there such a thing as too much diversity?

diversity

This is not as simple as it may seem because there are many underlying circumstances that shape anyone’s answer. When I first considered this question I chuckled because of course there is no such thing as too much, there can’t be. But do I think this was as a queer Black woman? Is my unconscious bias setting in? After all, we all have it.

From a media standpoint, visuals help form our perceptions of what we see happening around us. As a fan of television, it has been quite interesting witnessing the shift in media and seeing how this changes the way that we view diversity. I will say while it is nice to see characters that are not cookie-cutter like we have in the past, it has been an unusual experience living through a time where diversity is now a necessity. Let me explain further. You’ve been keeping up with your favorite television show for five seasons, and suddenly a character who never showed interest in men comes out as gay or lesbian. You are caught off guard, pleasantly surprised but still confused. Now, this character’s entire storyline revolves around their gay identity and their struggle as a member of the LGBTQ community. Now let’s say the show introduces a black character, again you’re pleasantly surprised, that is until you notice this character’s entire story arc is based on their black identity. It is important to see these characters, but not in the continuous cycle of stereotypes and hardship.

These instances are not uncommon because this is what happens in television now, and it is an attempt to appear more diverse, but at what cost. When characters are reduced to their identity as a black person or a gay person, or a Muslim or Jew, it diminishes their autonomy as a person. They have now become a token for the show and ticked a diversity box. This is when too much diversity becomes to exist, not because of the character’s existence but because of what they are meant to represent. This does not only apply to television but to our everyday lives. We see it happen in the workplace and often times we may not be able to make the connection.

Therefore, diversity is best received when done with the right intentions. When diversity is pushed only to fix a companies image or reach a quota, it can feel forced and inauthentic. While one might think that POC will benefit no matter the circumstances, representation is only worthy of praise when done right.

Your Inclusive Marketing Company

Maybe you’re not in media, but you know your company needs help with their DEI and inclusive marketing initiatives. We would love to collaborate with you. Take a moment to schedule a 15-minute discovery call, reach out via email at ngome@line25consulting.com, or call (713)298-5851.

Marketing to a Diverse Audience

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diverse audience

How is marketing to a diverse audience any different than regular marketing? Is there different terminology? Are there different techniques used in marketing strategies? The answer is not simply yes or no.  

Diverse Marketing is a marketing strategy that appeals to and includes diverse groups of people, compared to what marketing has looked like in the past. Traditionally, companies marketed to the audience they felt was the most marketable, white people. Within white audiences lied influence, money, and popularity so by marketing to a white audience, companies were most likely guaranteed a better chance of gaining clients/customers. An article by Business.com states “when the people featured in advertisements are consistently white, straight, thin and young? Brands fail to reach a larger audience because their target markets are too narrow. That’s where diversity marketing comes in”. 

In the age of social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, companies can reach millions of people from all over the world, with different backgrounds. This reach makes marketing to a diverse audience more accessible, but not all companies.

Inclusive marketing acknowledges that advertising and marketing should offer alternative means of communication within diverse audiences. The ability to mix different communication methods enables you to reach more people from specific diverse groups. More importantly, people want to see themselves as much as possible before they support you with their time or money.

Inclusive Marketing Consulting & Training

At Line 25 Consulting, we provide consulting and training in diversity and inclusion from a marketing perspective. We provide the necessary tools to businesses wanting to tackle the complexities of DEI with our 5-Point Framework to Inclusive Marketing or Knowing How Diversity Drives Revenue. If you’re ready to move forward schedule a 15-minute call to get started.

 

What Does Diversity & Inclusion Mean in Marketing?

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Back in the day, any business would be successful in its marketing to White America because the group was representing the majority of consumers in the market. Along the way, companies realized there was business potential by marketing to African-Americans. In the video, The Secret of Selling the Negro, it outlines why and how African-Americans became an ideal consumer base. One can assume these tested methods applied to Blacks were applied to other ethnic groups on various multicultural marketing strategies. Nevertheless, companies have still experienced success, even when neglecting inclusive or multicultural marketing techniques. Therefore, what is diversity marketing and how does it pertain to diversity and inclusion.

In the current market, things have turned different. William Frey, a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, told the Associated Press, “we are browning from bottom up in our age structure.” According to statistics, the growth rate over the last 10 years among racial backgrounds is led by Asians at 30 percent, followed by Hispanics at 20 percent, Blacks at 12 percent, and White folks at 4.3 percent.

As America remains diverse, the minorities will become the majority in the near future. Therefore, using a general “white” market as your strategy will no longer be valid. As we see right now companies will get it right or miss the mark when it comes to diversity in their marketing strategies. 

What does Diversity Marketing mean?

Diversity marketing is defined as any marketing strategy used to recognize there are different subgroups in the target market, such as gender, age, ethnicity, sexual identity, disability, religion, among others. 

Customers from various subgroups have different experiences, values, ways of interacting, and expectations. In some cultures, some differences are apparent, such as between age, profession, gender, religion, physical environment, family, and more. We don’t assume two White people have the same experience; therefore, we should not assume two Muslims do as well. No group is a monolith.

In diversity marketing, it acknowledges that advertising and marketing should offer alternative means of communication within the diverse groups. If you have that knowledge, you should mix different communication methods to enable you to reach more people from specific diverse groups.

What does equity mean in marketing? 

It is fair treatment, advancement, opportunity, and access for all people. It aims to locate and remove those barriers preventing the full participation of all groups. 

If you need to improve equity, you should increase justice and fairness. And to tackle equity issues, then you have to be understanding the causes of disparities in a specific society. 

What does inclusion mean in marketing? 

Inclusion means creating an environment such that an individual or a group will feel respected, welcomed, valued, and supported to participate. It, therefore, offers respect in actions and words to all people. For an organization to deliberately address inclusivity issues, it has to focus on recognizing unconscious, increasingly, or implicit bias.

What does unconscious bias mean in marketing? 

Unconscious bias refers to navigating marketing strategy only to those people who have something in common. This is well explained by an idiom that says, “birds of the same feather will fly together.” It is, therefore, means all people have unconscious biases. That results from the social identity people see and evaluate in the world, which results in prejudices and stereotypes, although they are unaware. Some of the unintentional preferences and biases can be anything like gender, race, previous job experience, or even management style. 

Biases will affect people’s perceptions and can trap them without knowing. That can deny marketers an opportunity for embracing diversity, learning new things, or sharing different ideas. The first step to understand potential biases is conducting a self-evaluation where you learn to question your reactions and decisions in areas that bias could arise. 

What does stereotyping mean in marketing? 

Stereotyping refers to the oversimplification of a complicated thing as it is portrayed. However, stereotypes apply to people and things that are commonly used in an advertisement. People are usually sophisticated; therefore, they can’t be defined using a single role. That is why, in an ad, labels help to portray a person or a group of people within a particular light. Gender stereotypes are the most used in advertisements. Stereotypes play a vital role as marketing is targeted to a specific demographic. 

What Are The Roles of Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion? 

After learning and understanding what diversity, equity, and inclusion mean in marketing, let’s dive into their roles. 

If your organization will prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion, it should create an environment respecting and valuing individual differences. Inclusive organizations have to foster cultures because it will minimize bias and address inequalities. Whenever inequalities are left unaddressed, they usually bring disadvantages to various individuals. 

These efforts are supposed to be reflected in your firm’s values, visions, and missions. That is because they are not human resources issues but strategic marketing issues. 

However, don’t consider diversity and inclusion as something you have to accomplish once or as a lofty goal. You have to keep open and questioning in your mind because it will help your content to reflect on the evolving audience. 

Most importantly, it is to dig into your audience. Despite having to respect everybody, it does not mean you should address groups without interests or relevance in your products. A good example is where women should not be the primary audience when advertising a beard-care company. Another example is college students are not allowed to be a member of AARP.

In the global marketplace, diversity marketing is also among the best types of marketing. Others include content marketing, email marketing, and affiliate marketing. For traditional marketing, they include television advertisements, direct mail, telemarketing, and print advertisement. In diversity and inclusive marketing, it is about message delivery and representation. Organizations should want the intent and motivation of the marketing message to be accepted. 

Conclusion

The current generation is dominating the consumers’ expenditure. With the growth of ethnic populations, it means diversity marketing will become a crucial strategy for brands and marketers. If avoided, it might become impossible for companies to connect with consumers for them to become loyal customers or brand ambassadors. 

If you want your brand to succeed, start considering diversity marketing in your future planning. Place the right people in a position to craft the right message. Start implementing strategies that will support your efforts because it is a worthwhile endeavor for your brand.

If you are unsure of your organization’s diversity and inclusive marketing initiatives, schedule a free 15-minute discovery call for an inclusive marketing audit or strategy session.