Inclusive marketing by brands for diverse audiences requires cultural intelligence
Almost half of the population in GTA (Greater Toronto Area) is from a visible minority. The common Ethnics in Toronto are English, Chinese, Canadian, Irish, Indian, Filipino, and more. And believe it or not, each person sees millions of ads every year.
And it wouldn’t be wrong to say that:
The advertising and marketing industry could be helping the audiences to reflect themselves positively or portray negatively as stereotypical or irrelevant.
However, in recent times, we’ve seen an incredible change in the way messages are communicated and viewed by audiences across several mediums.
So, now the question is:
Why cultural intelligence is critical for marketing teams of businesses?
In 2019, Adobe conducted a report on the research of 2000+ consumers. The results showed that 66% of African-Americans and 53% of Latino and Hispanic Americans feel their ethnicity is portrayed stereotypically in advertisements.
The report also suggested that 38% of consumers are more likely to trust brands that do well with showing diversity in their ads.
Diversity, inclusive marketing and a sense of belonging are gaining momentum as it is now crucial for the customers to whom the brands cater.
Sadly, we still see stereotypes, no sense of tone and insensitivity in portraying a culture in several ad campaigns, and it has also caused these brands to apologize for missing the mark or for not reflecting the values of the culture.
Customer intimacy
The above discussion leads to a lack of customer intimacy in the teams that produce ads.
A customer intimacy strategy builds a deep and lasting relationship with your customers by customizing your offerings or communication to meet their specific needs or challenges.
Excellent examples of these are Home Depot and IKEA.
They give customers an innate experience to feel their products and not just see them. Their communication with diverse customer profiles is commendable.
Watch this:
Building customer intimacy takes time, commitment and most important resources. It requires a huge amount of courage to speak up for marketing communications being produced that do not go well with the consumers you target.
Here are a few ways you can increase your marketing team’s understanding of inclusive marketing with diverse customer groups:
- Choose inclusive creativity:
Make creative choices by avoiding stereotypes and adding customization to the messages your audience relates to while writing the script or story of your marketing messages.
- Take accountability:
Set goals and measure your progress by evaluating if your work is on the right track. You don’t expect to improve customer intimacy if you don’t take everyone with you, right?
- Get help from a diverse and extended team:
If you are looking to market to a niche customer group, particularly that you are not familiar with or do not belong to, you can ensure your team incudes people who are a part of that group.
LAT has a diverse and dynamic team who specializes in translation, content adaptation, localization, and multicultural marketing. If you want to learn more about how we can help, let’s talk!
- Make customization and immersion compulsory:
You need to immerse yourself in the world of your consumers in order to understand the nuances of the culture, their language, and their preferred platforms. It takes empathy to communicate meaningfully.
Marketing in the Greater Toronto Area and other large, multicultural cities across Canada and the US can be tricky. Audiences are diverse. So let’s keep learning! Your brand should take it upon itself to make everyone feel included, safe and respected because:
Inclusion only happens when ALL of us are in.
