Over the past 20 years, I have engaged with many leaders of companies, governments, and other organizations. I have observed how some organizations have evolved and changed. Some modified their hiring practices to encourage a diverse pool of talents and others reshaped their marketing approaches to connect their brands to diverse audiences. Forward thinking organizations recognize the necessity to include all people’s backgrounds in their marketing strategies or risk leaving behind an entire population of diverse audience who would only engage with and purchase from businesses that respect and value differences of race, gender, financial circumstances, customs and beliefs, and more. Increasingly our communities are becoming more diverse and companies should strive to target demographics using marketing styles that are sensitive to individual attitudes and practices.
Leaders, whatever industry they work in, have a strong impact on people’s lives and can influence how our society advances. As a marketing and communications professional rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion principles, I have observed many organizations that promote the benefits of diversity and inclusion by including their commitments to lift all people up in their mission and vision. Their decisions are moves in the right direction and response to the increasing diversity of the U.S. population. According to the U.S. Census, more than 50 percent of the American population is expected to be composed of minority groups by the year 2042.
Fifty years ago, a company could be successful marketing only using the “mall concept,” – a general marketing strategy. Today, however, the market is different. Customers in different cultures have different values, experiences, expectations and ways of interacting. Even within a culture, such differences will be apparent between different subgroups – not just ethnicity, but also age, gender, profession, religion, and more.
Diversity marketing involves acknowledging that marketing and advertising must offer alternative ways of communication to these diverse groups. It is worth noting that deep-level diversity is one of the most powerful proven concepts to include in diverse marketing strategies development. This term deep-level diversity mentioned in an article by Harvard Business Review, refers to diversity of personality, values and abilities. It is simply not enough to only conduct market research on consumers buying habits. Multicultural marketers such as Khoo Consulting starts with the diversity context as a critical asset within a multichannel marketing mix to connect people in each of the diverse groups with the brands. We adapt the messages and images to the market. We connect business to community leaders. Today’s audiences are savvy and they look to engage with authentic organizations. Reinstating a commitment to valuing differences is a step in the right direction to establishing a credible brand.
Photo by Hưng Nguyễn Việt on Unsplash
