Marketing to the New Majority by David Burgos and Ola Mobolade is a thoughtful, well-researched read—which is not surprising, as the authors are key executives at global research agency Millward Brown. The book’s subtitle and self-promotion succinctly summarize the contents:
Strategies for a Diverse World
An exploration and analysis of America’s increasingly diverse consumer population, and the implications for marketers hoping to connect with this new mainstream.
For culturally clueless White people—a seemingly redundant term when applied to the typical Madison Avenue denizen—the book offers a decent, thorough overview of the major U.S. ethnic and racial segments today. For multicultural marketers, Burgos and Mobolade confirm the obvious. Overall, Marketing to the New Majority is definitely worth checking out.
Yet after scanning all the pie charts presented by the authors, one can’t help but wonder if the information and insights will lead to positive change in Adland. For starters, the pie charts breaking down U.S. Census racial and ethnic figures bear zero resemblance to any pie chart breaking down racial and ethnic figures in Madison Avenue agencies. Plus, pie charts spotlighting current marketing budgets would expose the extraordinarily thin slices—or crumbs—that multicultural shops are forced to swallow. And when considering how minority executives in the industry are ultimately treated and viewed by clients and White peers, well, it’s essentially a pie in the face.
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