The story below appeared at AdAge.com. Scroll through it quickly to read the brief MultiCultClassics commentary immediately following…
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When Targeting Multicultural Audiences, Be Relevant
OMD Study: Doing It Wrong Is Worse Than Not Doing It at All
By Megan McIlroy
NEW YORK -- Warning: When it comes to making ads relevant for multicultural audiences, doing it wrong is worse than not doing it all.
A new study from OMD Worldwide found that ethnic groups are turned off by ads that rely on stereotypes and caricatures rather than meaningful cultural cues.
“The respondents were saying, ‘We want to see ourselves represented in ads, but not in a stereotypical matter,’” said Pamela Marsh, group director-primary research and insights at the Omnicom media agency.
Consumer behavior
The OMD study, a telephone survey of 1,453 respondents 18 and older, sought to understand how ethnicity affects consumer behavior and advertising receptivity. Four different groups were represented: blacks, Asian-Americans, Hispanics and the general market (which was about 76% Caucasian in the study).
The ethnic groups agreed that messages should be culturally relevant, but they responded more positively to ads with multicultural cues, such as ethnic characters, phrases, expressions and values, than ads that were simply translations of general-market ads.
“Ad relevancy is more about communicating in kind than speaking in a language,” Ms. Marsh said.
Cultural relevance is also important for media placement, the study said, noting that ad models created on the basis of general population statistics, such as channel planning, are likely to fall short if they do not take relevant ethnic differences into account.
How to reach them
Though all segments in the survey gravitated toward the same top four media -- TV, radio, internet and mobile -- different ethnic groups spent different amounts of time with each of them. Blacks, for instance, spent the most time with TV; Hispanics spent more time with radio; and Asians used the internet at significantly higher rates.
The study also found that black consumers place a higher premium on word-of-mouth information before making buying decisions -- particularly when seeking feedback about a product. Asian-Americans also rely heavily on word-of-mouth because they are less receptive to ads than other segments of the population, according to the study.
Marketers have a significant opportunity to influence the purchases of blacks and Hispanics, the study said, because they are more open to advertising than other groups but feel as though most marketing messages are not relevant to them.
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It’s 2008, people. How many more times does some (usually) non-multicultural marketing company have to conduct a survey to gather consumer reactions to multicultural marketing? There is not a single new point in this Ad Age report. And it’s unlikely there’s a single new insight in the OMD Worldwide study. If a client paid for the research, they should absolutely demand a refund. If OMD financed the exercise, the internal accountants should stroll into Pamela Marsh’s cubicle and slap her upside the head.
Is it any wonder that Omnicom needed to assemble a special committee for dealing with diversity in the advertising industry?
2 comments:
Can I sum it up for you?
"Study proves Black people similar to other people."
I mean they had to do a study to prove that if you see a commercial that's supposed to be about your group- be it your race, your profession, your age, your hometown- and they get it wrong, you'll be turned off?
Amazing.
The kicker is that we keep seeing the same studies, the same conclusions and the result is.... well is there any result?? The average minority oriented ad is as coarse and stupid as it lacks sensitivity to any type of human emotion from a person. It's like companies are tying to find the key to communicate with some alien species that act different, dress different, and eat different food. That's why black men are portrayed with $100 sneakers, pants down to their thighs, and a whole lot of bling while eating fried chicken and drinking Koolaid. That's why Asians are portrayed as technological geniuses that have a collection of pocket protectors and always clasp there hands to say hello just before they snap a photograph of you. That's why Hispanics are mid twenties people with four kids, a big rosary and are eating rice and beans and or tacos while wearing a wife beater and a bandana or a shaved head. It's why other Asian Minorities can't seem to find a better place to work than 7 Eleven.
If the industry hasn't gotten a clue it's because they don't want to. Really, when they stop thinking of people as minorities and different segments and start understanding that they're people too, then maybe something good will come out of all this.
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