Cultural Marketing PR Blog

Social Media is not a new invention

2011-07-14T17:30:00.001-05:00

Social Media is as old as Dial-Up Connections on computers. In 1969 CIS, or CompuServe Information Service, was started. CIS remained a major player through the middle 1990’s. CIS charged by the hour, and when AOL launched an offer of a monthly plan instead of an hourly charge, CIS was sidelined.

Internet Forums were an offshoot of Bulletin Boards, known as BBS and had a SysOp (which we would now think of as a moderator). They were popular in the 1970’s to the mid 1990’s.

There was also another service which used an X.25 dialup, called Prodigy. It was founded in 1984. By 1990 it was the second largest online service, trailing Compu Serve (CIS). Prodigy provided what was a forum for many people to meet and discuss similar interests and issues. One of the groups on an Electricians Forum was featured by Prodigy due to the success of bringing people from across the country together in one place. That particular forum was primarily educational, and there were electricians there who mentored other electricians. When I look back at the nature of the group and their dedication to Electrical Safety, done initially in a DOS setting on Dial-up, we are talking about a dedicated group of Social Networkers.

There are other sites, and this is not meant to be all inclusive, but it is meant to illustrate that Social Media has been around awhile and in different forms:

1969 CompuServe (CIS)
1984 Prodigy
1994 Internet Forums
1999 Blogger (Prya Labs)
2003 TypePad, WordPress
2003 MySpace
2004 Digg, a Social News Website

2004 FaceBook
2004 Yelp
2005 Reddit (Open Source by 2008)
2008 Posterous

If you are a marketing professional, it is important to take a step back and think about your business and marketing strategy mission, and then integrate the applicable Social Media within your tactical elements. All too often, I see or hear of people who are doing it all backwards, and more often than not, this leads to ineffective use of some unique tools for today’s world. However you choose to use Social Media, keep in mind that the goal should always be to build your brand first.

What is the point of using Social Media as part of your business strategy?

2011-06-22T18:20:00.000-05:00

One of our firm’s professional services is Integrated Public Relations. IPR requires stakeholder respect and is a model used for companies and organizations that are socially responsible. This is done online and where appropriate, off-line. A tactic that is considered in our assessments is social marketing. One of the big mistakes we see organizations make is that they have bought into the belief that they can employ social media without any effort.

In marketing communications, as in life, very often you reap what you sow. When you invest in having a marketing communications firm manage your strategic communications, your results will generally be different because they are responding to commentary based on sound business and MarCom principals.

Let’s look at Social Media. When choosing one, it is important to utilize the type achieves your marketing and business goals. In some cases you may need to do several, and integrate their message. Common marketing and business goals include:

Expanding Reach
Engaging new customers
Developing and improving customer relationships
Announcing new products

Essentially, whatever you do on Social Media should build your business. The operative words here are “build YOUR business.” In order to do that, you need to have some measure of control over the platform that you use, and you also need to be aware of what control you do or do not have, and invest your time accordingly.

Beware of Practicing Digital Age Ageism

2011-04-25T16:34:00.000-05:00

Many of us have our BlackBerry or iPhones, our Netbooks, our Ultraportables and iPads, as well as a desktops computers. We’re all abuzz about CR Codes and Social Networking; however, we should remember as business people that not all consumers are computing equally. Granted Face Book and Twitter, Blogging, and Yelp may all be second nature to many Gen X, Gen Y and certainly the Millennials, but many assumptions, often misplaced, have been made about the Boomers and the Greatest Generation.

Considering that computers were invented during in the mid period of the 1900’s, and Dr. Grace Hopper invented the Cobol programming language (1959-1962), technological advances and applications were no stranger to this generation, although widespread application use was mainly limited to businesses until the mid 1980’s, when the Personal Computer first made its appearance.

One of the largest demographic generational groups has been referred to as the Baby Boomers. To make looking at the Boomer Generation meaningful, one must recognize that Boomers are not one monolithic group, but at least two groups with segments and sub segment target markets. Defining it as one group with such a range of time cohort socialization experiences does not adequately capture the psychographics. Jonathan Pontell, a social and cultural commentator, had identified the Boomer Group to be comprised of:

Boomer, born post war to 1953
Generation Jones, born between 1954- 1965.

So often I have assumptions regarding “older” people who are unfamiliar with technology. While there are plenty of Boomer and Gen Jonesers who are technologically savvy, we also need to remember that the Information Age was born from part of the Boomer group. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are both Generation Jonsers. We know how President Obama’s election campaign relied heavily on Social Networking. He too, is of Generation Jones.

When we look at generational cohort groups and technology, it is more appropriate to segment these groups in terms of lifestyle and psychographics. Looking only at age cohorts is not only misleading, but fraught with errors. What does occur when it comes to thinking about the older generation and the Boomer Segment, is that often people make assumptions based on ageism. When we stereotype, we are bound to make decisions based on false assumptions.

In Cultural Marketing, we not only look at ethnic subcultures of the “Big Four” in the USA (Latinos, Asian Americans, African Americans and Native Americans), but we also look at stereotypes and how they serve to not serve us. Remember, it wasn’t all that long ago that stereotypes about Asian Americans included the assumption that Asian Americans cannot be creative or good leaders in business. Tell that to Tony Tsieh, of Zappos, or Guy Kawasaki, or Christine Poon. Kawasaki is also a Generation Jones, that “older” generation that created the Internet, and revolutionized the way we do work and communicate using Microsoft and Apple Gen Jones products.

Speaking of the Internet, don't forget Sir Timothy John "Tim" Berners Lee, the inventor of the Internet and a Boomer segment member of Generation Jones.

Sometimes it's not about age, but more about segmentation and lifestyle aspirations.

Why social media should not be your only marketing tactic

2011-04-20T20:47:00.000-05:00

It’s here to stay. Social media is considered de rigueur for marketing communications. Social media should be a part of, that is an integrated part of, your company’s total Integrated Marketing Campaign (IMC). For most companies and organizations, it should not be your only tactic to reach your target market. By definition, if your firm’s target markets are segmented and identified, there is a good chance that you will find that social marketing will actually miss a portion of the market that you are trying to reach.

There has been an interesting trend of late, where organizations are choosing to use FaceBook and Twitter as their primary communications channel to the publics. Some organizations are heavily pushing the use of CR Codes as the way to reach the tech savvy generations. The problem is that some companies have been only using Social Media. Why is this a problem?

1. Without integrating your marketing message across different media, the opportunity to get it reinforced via hearing it multiple ways is lost.

2. Using Social Media only reaches those who are online, and only that segment of the population that is online and receiving your message. By only using Social Media, you exclude not only that part of your target market that may not be online and on the site you want them to be, but you can be missing those who for some reason or other, aren’t connected to the Internet or aren’t users.

While most of my friends have their iPhones or BlackBerry phones, iPads, Ultraportables and Netbooks, not everyone is online. We tend to have friends with similar interests and lifestyles, and technology fits in this category. However, a February 2010 Survey reported by CNET indicated that in the USA, 40% said they had no Broadband access at home, and 30% had no access at all. The report states that:

“People with higher rates of broadband access tend to be younger, white or Asian, highly-educated, married, and with higher incomes, while those with no broadband are often seniors or minorities, less educated, and living in non-family households with lower incomes or unemployed.”

While this demographic may appear to be the one you want, it is important to recognize you will be missing your secondary target. The secondary target may be the group that influences the primary target, especially if they are seniors or disabled persons with limited incomes but with families and friends with whom they have influence. Also keep in mind that there is often the assumption that people with low incomes lack education, but due to economic downturns and high unemployment, this is not necessarily still true for all persons with low incomes.

Multicultural Marketing is more than a language issue

2011-03-28T12:34:00.004-05:00

One of the biggest mistakes companies can make when they are trying to reach ethnic markets is to lump everyone by racial characteristics. For example, when trying to reach the Hispanic Market, often attempts are made to use the Spanish language in all media. While this can be effective in reaching the immigrant population, it can fall short for the large and growing population of Latinos here in the USA who speak English as their primary language, especially the older generations of Latinos.

I have also seen this occur when companies try to assume the Hispanic population is one group. They are one group in that the immigrants generally all speak Spanish, but the Spanish language has regional differences. Cuban and Puerto Rican Spanish is different from much of the Spanish spoken in Central and South America, particularly in pronunciation. Certain words in one country's Spanish can mean something completely different in another country, so reaching your audience, if it is appropriate, in Spanish needs to be done using a non-regional and non-national approach.

For older generations of Americans of Latin descent, not all speak Spanish, or speak Spanish fluently. Many of our friends can understand Spanish if they hear it, but cannot speak it or read or write it unless they have studied it formally. Therefore, using print media in Spanish to reach a 3rd or 4th generation American of Latin American descent is not necessarily the best tactic, and it also sends another message that may not be well received.

Asian Americans are actually a very straightforward group to reach, however the segmentation is more complex. The immigrant generation can be reached in their native language, but for most Asian Americans, the common language that binds them is English. Depending on the cohort you are trying to reach, cultural and sociological knowledge and history are important for effectively knowing how to make your products and services relevant, or in some cases, not making them irrelevant.

However, when reaching later generational groups, trying to reach certain subcultural segments in another language can be almost insulting, especially given our country's history and treatment of Asian immigrants at the turn of the 1900's. Marketers and companies who try to do this are sending a message that they may not intend to, and worse, it can be very insulting because it taps into the Perpetual Foreigner Syndrome.

The same analogies can also be made for other types of cultural marketing when we look at generational cohorts such as The Baby Boomers. While it is a generational group, it needs to be strategically defined and segmented for effective reach and relevancy.

Understanding Japanese American Generational Terms

2011-03-18T08:34:00.004-05:00

Due to the Tsunami and Earthquake events in Japan, we've been receiving many questions about the Japanese American community, in general.

Due to demographic and experiential differences, what were terms that made sense for one cohort can cause confusion when discussing another cohort.

The terms Issei, Nisei, Sansei, Yonsei refer to first generation, second generation, third generation, and fourth generations of Japanese and Japanese Americans, respectively. These terms developed amongst the Japanese Americans.

Originally, the term "Issei" or first generation, referred to the immigrants who came from Japan to the United States, mostly under the "Gentleman's Agreement" between Japan and the United States. The bulk of the Issei came here between 1885 - 1925. Because of legalized racism, immigrants from Asian countries were barred from becoming US Citizens, in contrast to immigrants from Western and Eastern Europe, who were allowed to apply for Citizenship. European and African immigrants who came after the Issei were allowed to apply for citizenship. Immigrants from Japan could not become citizens until well past the middle of the 1900's, after the Civil Rights Act of 1963 was passed. It was not until 1952, that the McCarran-Walter Act giving first generation Japanese Americans the right to citizenship, and thus the right to vote, and the racial restrictions of the 1790 Naturalization Law were repealed.

This is a very important distinction, because when you bar a person from becoming a Citizen of the country they have immigrated to, they are prevented in voting and in fully participating in American society. They are excluded from ever becoming full Americans, not by choice but by law.

The term "Nisei" refers to the American born children of the Issei. By birthright, Nisei were American Citizens, something their Issei parents could never be at the time most Nisei were born. Most of the Nisei and their Issei parents were interned as a result of EO 9066, if they lived on the West Coast. By contrast, the sizable Issei and Nisei populations in Hawaii were not.

The Sansei refer to the third generation of Americans of Japanese descent. Like the Nisei, as Americans they have also experienced scarring due to the effects of having their grandparents and parent's singled out on the basis of race, but this generational cohort as a group has tended to be more outspoken and more active in understanding the effect of voiding civil rights based on race alone. The Sansei are the first generation to have gone through the American socialization and educational process with no governmental interruption, unlike their Nisei parents, for whom their educational pursuits were interrupted as they were forced to leave the schools they attended and forced to leave their homes, their belongings and anything else they could not carry with them.

There is a unique pschographic involved when discussing the Japanese American cohort, because the older generation of immigrant descendants have this in their history. Other older groups of Asian American immigrant descendants also have similar experiences, because they too were excluded from fully participating as Americans since all Asian immigrants could not become citizens until the mid 1900's, despite having been here often long enough to see their grandchildren born here.

The Kaisha is another term to refer to Japanese in America, and it refers to those who have come to the USA as a result of working for Japanese Corporations who have sent them here. This group is different from immigrants because their intent is primarily to come to the US for work, but to then return to Japan, having fulfilled their International requirement.

New Issei is a term being used within the Japanese American community to refer to new immigrants from Japan. Most have come here around the 1990's and later. For obvious reasons, their experiences as immigrants here are radically different from that of the Issei of over 100 years ago.

For additional reading, see:
The Issei Immigration
Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project
Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation

The Amazing Japanese Sense of Order in a Disaster

2011-03-15T10:50:00.000-05:00

While media coverage shows long lines of people patiently waiting for food, in the wake of the Tsunami, Earthquakes and other natural disasters that have hit Japan, many of us have been amazed that there is no looting, thuggery and other common crimes that we see here in the USA during times of similar strife. This morning, on WGN's Mike McConnell's segment, this was certainly a topic of interest, fascination and much conjecture.

In our work, we look at things in context of culture. In Japan, there are several major factors that make the culture unique.

Japan is an ancient culture, with a long history of cultural refinement that occurred well before many other areas of the world, except for in China and a few other Asian nations. They also have a historically high educational level. Add to this the fact that the Japanese are renowned for their sense of aesthetics, beauty and order.

Culturally there is much self discipline. Japanese tend to be inward seeking, which accounts for a different type of competition that seeks to continuously improve the self. The manufacturing quality concept of kaizen comes from Japan. It is a nation that has a huge population, of over 127 million people. Our population is around 310 million but we have more land. The physical space that Japan has is roughly equal to the state of Montana. Population density in Japan is very high, in Tokyo about 10% of the nation's population resides there: 13 million people! The nation has learned, rather well, how to live with among so many others.

Japan, as many Asian and Latin American countries, has a strong group orientation versus a "me" or "self" orientation. The concept of shame is a part of this culture, which translates in that one does not do things to bring shame upon their family. The concept of family is very important in Japan, as, again, we are looking at a very old culture where the ties of family and friends go back for centuries upon centuries. When you bring dishonor and shame upon yourself, you do so to your family, as well. This isn't only a Japanese concept, but it seems to be more of a non-USA concept. Anyone familiar with Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice" would recognize the same theme when a selfish and immature sister nearly brings shame upon her family, with the seriously real potential of ruining all of her sister's chances to improve their lot in life by marrying good partners." Many US subcultures have similar versions, where guilt is a major piece of the cultural mix.

Shintoism also exists within the Japanese culture, and is a part of daily life, and perhaps more of a philosophy rather than a religion when we compare it to how well it is integrated in society and life. Seriously practiced, Shintoism respects life, and honors the God within all forms of life. It also can co-exist with the practice of other religions.

When one takes into account all of these known factors, and the prevalence of Shintoism that is a part and fabric of Japanese culture, one can better comprehend the sense of order and respect that prevails in a manner that is uniquely Japanese.

Consumer Identity: Why Hauls Are The Rage

2010-03-10T02:05:00.000-06:00

If you are an IPR firm, this topic should resonate with you. Integrated Public Relations Professionals know that when properly implemented, word of mouth promotions are vastly more effective than advertising because as consumers, we will tend to listen more, and be more open to learning about a product, service, or company when a friend, acquaintance, or an person who is not paid to promote a product tells us about it.

We also tend to listen more and be more interested when the person telling us about it is someone we want to emulate, someone in our cohort group, and/or someone whose lifestyle, look, values, ethics, or subcultural contexts resonate with who we are, who we want to become, or who we'd like to be friends with.

Enter the latest You Tube trend called hauls. NPR's Tess Vigeland referred to these hauls as: "video diaries about the junk people buy," and noted that they have hundreds of thousands of viewers. Indeed, I checked out Beautycakez's hauls and most had thousands of views just on a single topic (putting on eye makeup). Vigeland noted that it is common for most of us to come home, and show off things that we've purchased to our friends and family.

From a marketing perspective, hauls change the reach, both horizontally and vertically, and bring this concept of social sharing into a new realm. They are a mixture of self brand identity, self identity, and social networking. For aspirants, it says that if you can't shop with a cool person, than watch their Haul and find out what they buy so you can also be cool. It allows the viewer to know what the hot brands to someone that they think is a trend setter. It also provides a comfort zone, providing them with the ability to walk into any cosmetics department and ask for a specific item and appear to know what they are looking for. Hauls enable shoppers of products to be more informed as to their use, to know who is using them and how.

Because many Hauls are done by people "just like you or me" rather than "the professionals," they can garner more credibility with their followers. They also tell people what's new, what to look for, and allows the consumer to hear an assumed non paid opinion about a product. In some ways, they are video blogs. Hauls will also become an important tool for media monitoring, to know who else is saying what about your product. Most hauls are positive endorsements now, but the power of the haul and You Tube can also be a way to uncover problems with your products that may need to be addressed before sales are negatively impacted.

You can listen to the NPR segment here: http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/02/26/mm-wwyt/, which also provides several interesting links and information about Rob Walker's book, "Buying In, What we buy and who we are," which is available at Amazon.com.

Brand identity is no longer just for products or services. In the new Millennium, for some trendinistas, it is also about creating a sense of celebrity, being special, having style and edge, and for others it is an identity that others just identify with based on other personal and perceived attributes. Any way you call it, it is still reputation management.

The Internet is The New Street: The Importance of Marketing and Reputation Management

2010-02-15T14:27:00.002-06:00

So often perspective clients hear the term: "crisis management" and they believe that they do not need this, because their company is not in crisis. A crisis is not necessarily devastation in the public sector. Integrated Public Relations and Communications firms have a broader scope for what needs to be addressed and the types of information that need to be managed, before your organization ends up on the 10:00 news.

When I say "managed" I am not referring to lies, mis-truths, or creating myths that are not real. In the professional sense, "managed" means taking information that is true and positive, which needs to be out there and made more accessible in order for the business to promote itself responsibly. Responsible public relations and marketing communications, and strategies, need to not only include the concept of responsibility, but they need to integrate it in all levels of their campaigns. Most importantly, these responsibilities and values need to be integrated in your client's core values and operations. If they are not, as a marketing communication firm, you will be creating hollowed, empty attempts.

This article is being addressed initially as "crisis management" but the crux of what we are talking about is reputation management. Everyone, including companies, should be concerned about their reputations. For businesses, a good reputation translates to goodwill, increased revenues, and a destination product. All other things being equal, a high end or mid-range product in competition with similar products of lesser reputation will usually translate to consumer preference of the one over the other.

Many online consumers will quickly look for product reviews, not only by 'experts' but by everyday people who have made past purchases, when they are considering buying a product or service not previously consumed. There are many areas of online media: traditional media, blogs, forums, and product reviews both by consumers and "professionals." Anyone who has read a CNET review will notice that often the ratings will differ between professional reviewers versus users who may be from all walks of life.

Irregardless of the product or service, the Internet has become the New Street. Your reputation is on the New Street. In the old days, vendors out on the streets knew that their reputation was important if they wanted repeat sales. Those that had good products often were able to graduate to store fronts, and in some cases, for example Quill Corporation, they eventually grew, based on their excellent reputation for customer service, into one of the nation's largest office supply stores.

The importance of reputation still holds: whether you are a fledgling entrepreneur, a growing small or medium sized business, or even a fictional character on television. Reputation makes a difference in what stores we tend to welcome with open arms into our communities. Target is an example of a large, big box retailer that has done much to become a good corporate neighbor, engendering the goodwill of various stakeholders on a consistent basis. As a result, when Target stores want to open, they are generally welcomed, versus criticized or reviled.

Whole Foods is another example of a large company that has managed its reputations well. They have achieved this by basically doing what is right as a neighbor by being good corporate citizens. This has not been done in a vacuum, as they also use forms of integrated public relations and communications. If you are doing something positive and good, and it helps your organization's reputation, letting the public know about this is a good thing, but it should also be, as I've said earlier, a part of your core values. If it is not, and your organization has a track record of being known for the opposite of what you are promoting, even with the work of a professional public relations firm, your organization may very well end up creating an even more negative reputation, as hypocritical and insincere.

That being said, all organizations can benefit by reputation management, since there are also people who simply may have an ax to grind, and post harmful or damaging information online that may or may not be truthful. There is also the issue of management: if there are problems with your product or service offerings, your consumers will often write about it online. Finding these missives, and addressing them constructively can go a long way to creating excellent customer relationships and long lasting brand loyalty.

We often perform media monitoring for our clients, in order to help them address these types of issues, and to create a more solid, positive online relationship with their clients. Individuals do this often, by putting their own name through a major search engine, such as Google, to see what comes up. Organizations need to do this if they care about what their customers are really saying.

In the end, you want your product and/or your services to be able to make you proud when you ask yourself, and others: "What do you stand for?"

Pew Internet reports that Seniors are less likely to go online

2010-01-20T16:06:00.000-06:00

The Pew Internet and Life Project has reported that:

As of December 2009, 38% of U.S. adults age 65 and older go online, a significantly lower rate of internet adoption than the general population (74%) and even the next-oldest group (70% of adults age 50-64 years old go online).

In addition, just 26% of U.S. adults age 65 and older have home broadband access, compared with 56% of adults age 50-64 years old (and 60% of all adults).

Older internet users are also likely to stay in the shallow end of the internet activities pool: email and search. A few pioneers have jumped into the social media deep end, but these seniors are the exception, not the rule.

Because our organization delves into the cultural factors of consumer behavior, I found this information fascinating, and a beginning point for many other questions.

For anyone pondering multicultural, or ethnic marketing, you may also want to consider our thoughts and questions that were a result of this report.

1). For both groups, what percentage of each group is comprised of Asian Americans, Latinos, African Americans and First Nation persons? During the turn of the New Millennium, when Internet adoption was around 48-49% for most White Americans, Asian Americans overall showed an extremely high Internet adoption rate of 78-79%.

It would be interesting to see if the Asian American component is nearly fully saturated at all age range cohorts, including these two older aged groupings.

It would also be interesting to see the numbers for Latinos, especially those who are immigrants because Internet usage makes communications to family and friends from their homelands easier and less expensive.

2). Of all groups in the 65 year range and older, what percentage of those who have Internet adoption living alone or with a spouse, versus living with extended family (children, grandchildren) where Internet adoption would be higher. This question is particularly pertinent for US ethnic subcultures here who have a high group orientation versus a low group orientation.

The Pew Internet and Life Project has many fascinating studies available for download. If you are a webhead or love online consumer behavior, this is an excellent place to educate yourself about current and past trends.

The decline of the paper greeting card?

2009-12-23T09:47:00.001-06:00

This morning there was an announcement that American Greetings Corporation posted better than expected earnings. From the Wall Street Journal: "American Greetings Corp. posted better-than-expected earnings amid higher sales. The greeting-card company returned to the black in its fiscal third quarter as last year's results were hurt by write-downs and restructuring charges."

What struck me was the radio reporter's assessment that greeting cards are experiencing a demise because online e-cards have replaced them. While there certainly has been cannibalization of the paper card by online e-cards, to some extent this is also being done by the card companies themselves. Go to the American Greetings corporate site and you'll see that they offer a free line of e-cards. Other independent e-card companies such as Jacquie Lawson charge a subscription fee for her uniquely stylized cards that feature darling animals. Previously more unusual, her cards have grown in popularity. Whereas I used to receive them from one person only, now I regularly receive them from several people. Does this indicate a decline of the paper greeting card?

Just as any target marketing demographic, this must be segmented. However, typical orientations such as age, education, and adeptness with the Internet, etc. apply, so should the all very important assessment of consumer behavior and lifestyle. On the face of it, one could agree with the radio reporter who attributed the decline of the paper greeting card to "young people who seem to be the largest group of e-card senders," one needs to take a closer look at the total market of who sends cards and why.

First, look at the American Greetings website:

"The company's major greeting card brands are American Greetings, Carlton Cards, Gibson, Recycled Paper Greetings, and Papyrus, and other paper product offerings include DesignWare party goods, American Greetings and Plus Mark gift-wrap and boxed cards and Date Works calendars."

Each of the three card brands are known for their specific type of psychographical appeal and to some degree, socio-economic appeal. Papryus, which offers stand alone stores, and which was sold on April 17th, is a high end card retailer with increasing popularity amongst the fashionable and artistic consumers who enjoy purchasing cards that are little pieces of art. This has also spurred the growth of many independently owned card stores that also sell high end, artsy cards. For example, Hazel in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood often features local artists as well as their work. So at least as far as the high end market goes, there seems to be an increase in purchases of the paper greeting card, not a decline.

There is another slowly moving phenomena which seems to be occurring, which includes the increasing rejection of e-cards as the primary form of card communications. Within middle income and higher demographics, many people who send these cards do so in addition to the paper card. This is not an unusual set of circumstances, as there are many online shoppers who prefer to view products from a hardcover catalog and then make their purchases online.

So while online card sending may be growing, this does not necessarily spell a death knell for those who make and sell hard copy greeting cards. In today's environment, the customer experience still rules the court, and with the exception of highly niche online card companies, there is no finer experience than receiving a handwritten card which you can save, display, or in some cases, even frame, all of which also say, "I care enough to take the time to do this."

Multicultural Marketing, Food and Language

2009-11-25T20:30:00.000-06:00

Very often, actually too often, I receive requests from organizations that want to market to Asian Americans and assume that they need to 1) reach them in languages other than English and 2). reach them by catering to specific tastes in products.

The first key to any type of multicultural marketing is no different from general marketing. It's all about segmentation. Know who you are trying to reach. Are you looking for a more affluent segment, college educated, and/or who have higher incomes? Most often, although not always, you will be looking at native born Americans. This is consistent whether you are targeting Americans of Asian descent or Americans of Latino descent. It is consistent with the immigrant process of virtually all general market groups. So why do people insist on reaching people in a non-English language?

Often this is because of the assumption that a visible minority is a foreigner. This is a common stereotype, perpetrated by the Perpetual Foreigner Syndrome for Asian Americans. It also applies to Latinos, as many, like Asian Americans, have been here for multiple generations and often they cannot speak a language outside of English. Asian Americans know this. Latinos know this. Unfortunately, often times businesses and marketers don't, or they perpetrate it if the marketing agency is owned by someone whose primary language is not English.

If you are a business that is serious about reaching multicultural markets, you first need to ask yourself what segment are you trying to reach? Are you looking for immigrant minorities or are you looking for acculturated visible minorities? Are your products appropriately labeled for the former and the latter? Research has shown that often, for example, trying to reach Asian Americans by sending them materials in a language other than English can be offensive, and sends the message that you don't believe they understand English, or worse yet, that they are foreigners when they are native born or even 4th or 5th generation Americans. Because there are historical issues with these assumptions that are very negative, reaching the wrong segment with the wrong language even if it is well meaning can end up back-firing.

There are also organizations who believe that they must reach multicultural markets by catering to specific tastes in their preferences due to their ethnic background. This is a more laudable, and lofty endeavor because we are talking about major sub-segmentation here. For example, Asian Americans and Latinos are not one monolithic group with a monolithic tendency toward buying certain products or services consistency across the group. That being said, within each group there may be consumer product, food or service preferences based on lifestyle.

That brings us back to lifestyle marketing again, only now we're looking at the added twist of cultural preferences, avoiding stereotypes, and doing this all in a culturally appropriate manner for each sub-segment of the group. For example, within the Asian American segment, at one time, tofu consumed by Americans of Japanese ancestry is the tofu eaten by almost everyone else at natural food stores, and had its roots in Japanese tofu styles. During this time, Korean American tofu was similarly if not the same, but Chinese dofu was substantially different.

Similarly, since I'm on the food theme as it is near dinner time, coffees that are popular in Mexico may not be in Cuba, and visa versa. Latin America is a huge continent, and assuming that everyone eats tortillas would not be a good assumption, or that all foods in Latin America are spicy (they are not). Even more confusing is that fact that you can get an almost Japanese style food item quite easily in Peru, for example, since they have a sizable Asian Peruvian population.

If you are really unsure, especially if you are selling food, once you know who your demographic market is, hire the appropriate marketing strategy firm, one that can do research for your target market. Often this involves consumer behavior observationals or focus groups. The results will be much more rewarding than a hit or miss approach.

Just throw in a pinata and put some "oriental" music on

2009-11-16T14:23:00.000-06:00

There was a time when cultural marketing meant diving head first into a stereotype or something "familiar," tossing it into the mix and considering it ethnic marketing. We've all seen these depictions, even in films, where they wanted to represent an exotic concept so the shamisen music suddenly comes on, only in a scene depicting a Chinatown. Even worse are businesses who still insist on using the term Oriental to reach Asian Americans, when most Asian Americans consider the term appropriate for objects like rugs and vases, but not people.

At least nowadays, there are more professional services firms that actually have a solid grasp of the subcultural groups they develop marketing plans for. If you are trying to reach a multicultural market but you do not have the budget to hire a professional firm to develop the entire plan, at least consider hiring them for consulting services. In this way, you can pitch a concept and have a more anthropologically appropriate evaluation before you go to market. We once saw an organization attempt to reach the Hispanic market on their own, and their solution to being culturally adept was to toss in a pinata.

Enter the Pinata, the ever present symbol of los Mexicanos. For some, the pinata has become the symbol of all Hispanic marketing, in the same way that our American Flag stands for all of being a U.S. American. The only problem is the flag is a 24/7 concept, whereas pinatas, while used in other Central American countries, are primarily a Mexican and Mexican American cultural phenomena and they are used for special occasions, so hanging a pinata in your advertising with no context will draw more amusement than a cultural connection.

Cultural marketing is no different than any other practice of market segmentation. Know your demographic, your segments, your subsegments and what drives them to make buying decisions before you throw in the pinata and put that shamisen music on.

Television, Advertising and Multicultural Marketing

2009-11-14T18:58:00.000-06:00

On the face of it, television dramas are part of our popular culture, In 1942 there were perhaps 5,000 television sets nationwide. By 2006, USA Today reported that the average home has more television sets than people. We are a culture that watches a lot of television, which means that how people and situations are portrayed does influence the perceptions of both the general market and the total market.

There are certain subcultures of our population, who in general, tend to cluster in urban, metropolitan locations: Asian Americans, Latinos, and First Nation people. For these population segments, how the media, especially dramas, portray them can go a long way to promoting acceptance or stereotypes by the large populations of people who do not live in major metropolitan areas and or who do not normally have contact on a personal basis with anyone in these groups.

There are obviously more visible minorities, and it is easier to see more African Americans and Latinos playing positive and recurring regular roles during prime time dramas. So what is going on with First Nation and Asian American actors and entertainers? If you are wondering if there are even any Native American actors, than sadly this is testament that the major network program's dearth of this population is being ignored by writers and those who do the casting. One does not need to be in a stereotypical role in order to cast a visible minority, unless it is specifically a piece involving those minorities. Even the popular Adam Beach is gets little air play. In most cases, anyone could easily be cast to play a lawyer, doctor, or police officer on television.

And then there are the Asian Americans, who have been here easily 4-5 generations yet they still hear the inevitable, "Where were you born?" and "You speak such good English." Until the last several years or so, many television dramas required Asian American actors to speak with a fake accent, despite the fact that English is their first language, and in most cases their only language. This is akin to blackface. Can you imagine watching 24 with major African American characters missing, but instead seeing people in blackface? It would erode the credibility of the drama. I was appalled when a new television drama, supposedly set in Los Angeles, had no regular Asian American actors on the program. Even worse, they portrayed an Asian immigrant man who was "married to an American," and the "American" was a Caucasian person. There are plenty of non-Caucasian Americans, and given this relatively new drama's lack of demographic awareness, this is not surprising.

Contrast this to programs like CSI, Numb3rs, The Mentalist, and Grey's Anatomy, who have Asian American regulars and in some cases, Asian Americans portrayed in positions of power (versus subservience which had been the television stereotype norm in the 1980's and 1990's). Now if you are a business selling consumer goods and you advertise, why should you care?

The most obvious reason is that by 2009, we should as a culture be more aware and more conscious and more responsible. We should know that pigeon holing and stereotyping Americans who are visible minorities is a dinosaur mentality way of thinking. If you need a monetary incentive, think of your customer base. Latinos, Asian Americans, African Americas and First Nation people tend to have a larger younger population and less of an older population. This translates to more disposable income per group. According to Census 2000, Asian Americans have the highest income levels and educational levels, and have long been known to be early adopters of technology. In 2001 the level of Internet usage by Asian Americans was substantially higher than that of the general population. By 2050, population trends indicate that as a whole, the U.S.A. will be comprised 50% by visible minorities. We are looking at growing segments of non-immigrant, acculturated diversity as well as immigrant populations.

This leaves the question about advertising efforts. If you are a company that advertises, do your advertisements include people of color, sending the message that you have a wide target market of clients or consumers, or does everyone in your commercials look like they stepped out of an exclusive, private country club from the 1940's? Good advertising helps the viewer say, "That's me!" if the product or service is ready to solve a problem or fill a need. Good advertising also says that "me" is inclusive.

I am a fan of Mad Men. The series is incredibly well written and cast, and has touched upon many social issues and moires of the early 1960's. It is impossible not to notice the absence of any person of color in a position of power. With Mad Men, the absence of minorities in any position of power, and the lack of minority diversity is consistent with the period of time depicted. Yet, this drama is written with today's awareness, and is an education for anyone who was not alive during this time, or not old enough to work in the business world that the U.S. business world has seen quantum leaps and bounds in many areas.

Many of the actions depicted during the series, if they occurred in today's business environment, would land a plethora of lawsuits. Many a woman viewer can greatly appreciate the challenges and hurdles that older women who entered the business world have had to endure. A common comment that I hear from friends is that "I had no idea what my mother/grandmother had to go through." So it is that our awareness and consciousness should not be locked into the 1960's. Neither should your advertising.

During an extensive pan-ethnic marketing research project, we found that most visible minorities do pay attention to advertisements with minorities in them. Multicultural marketing is just good business sense, but if you are going to do it, do it right.

Size Does Matter

2009-11-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

I was in a meeting with a new client, who needed SEO help. SEO, for anyone who is unfamiliar with the term, stands for Search Engine Optimization. Essentially this is the largely behind the scenes work that helps a website gain traction on the search engines. When a person enters search terms, hopefully it is your business website that comes up on top, not your competitor's.

We were reviewing the work done by the previous firm. I will not name the company, but I will say that it is a national company that is very large and they also outsource their help outside of the U.S.

One of the things that happens when a business hires a very large marketing communications or public relations firm is that, like in a boutique firm, they will be assigned a Client Services Director or Manager. This person meets with the top level management or the owners of the client firm, and essentially interviews them to ascertain how their organization can help them. Unfortunately, that is usually where the similarities end.

With very large marketing service firms, the actual work to be done is delegated down the organizational chain. This means that very often, the person actually doing the work can be two, even three levels below and removed from the person that you, the client company, had spoken with in detail. Remember the childhood game "telephone" where you pass on a message and the last person repeats what they think they heard? This may be okay for a game, but not so when we are looking at what should be effective marketing communications or business public relations strategy and implementation.

The new client owner showed me all the things that they were told to do. At one time these tactics made sense. In the Search Engine world, things change. Algorithms have changed. The tactics this firm employed stopped being effective at least five years ago, but the client was given the run around, and told to change "this and that" as the explanation as to why their rankings were sub par.

There was no initial site analysis done for them, no back office evaluation, no assessment of what directories they were already on and if these were search engine friendly or not. In fact, a major directory that is de rigeur by any SEO professional wasn't even one they were listed on, and this client has had a website for many, many years. In terms of service level, what was apparent was that this large company, which isn't even a marketing firm, decided to branch into SEO work so as to not lose any potential business. They then outsourced their SEO operation overseas, but the client's business was uniquely specific to niche marketing, which was not something that the outsourced staff was familiar with or had any knowledge of how to do.

The final coup de grace was when the outsourced staff told the client to replace certain words and gave them several paragraphs to put on their website. The content was unintelligible, the result of it being written by non-native English Speakers who also had no understanding of cultural context.

So sometimes bigger just is not better. Sometimes you can get lost in the organization with no one really accountable for the quality of work that you are paying for. This isn't to say that your company cannot get good service with a large firm. However, if you are a small business (500 employees or less), it may make more sense to hire a boutique agency. In our case, our clients consider us to be an extension of their company, their outside marketing organization. Service issues with certain types of large marketing firms and the need for highly personalized professional services has given rise to the popularity of boutique agencies.

What is cultural marketing?

2009-11-05T20:03:00.000-06:00

Broadly defined, cultural marketing is marketing to a person, groups of people, businesses, or other audience by appealing and connecting with them in a way that they can identify with for themselves.

Cultural marketing is all about consumer behavior, understanding why people make the buying decisions that they do, and don't.

Cultural marketing is also about subcultures, or nuances held in common by groups of people. It is commonly a term attributed to minority subcultures here: Asian Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, Native Americans and African Americans. However, that is not the only scope of cultural marketing.

Webheads have a culture, which is further broken down, or segmented into areas of interest. These can include webmasters, news junkies, online researchers, social networking aficionados, gizmo fanatics, electronics buffs, and so on.

In our world, essentially everything is about culture. Everyone is a part of a culture. Many people are a part of a sub-culture.

Cultural marketing is about niche marketing, reaching various segments of the population in ways that resonate with the audience they are trying to reach. In essence, politicians do cultural marketing to reach constituents and potential voters.

We hope to share a variety of stories, experiences and insights on this all encompassing area we call cultural marketing. Sometimes we'll be talking about clients, past and present, and how they solved problems with or without our help. Other times we may be writing about an issue of interest relating to marketing, business, and aspects of our popular or sub cultures. We hope this blog venture will be fun for all of us!