8029: Is Bob Liodice Intellectually Challenged?

ANA President-CEO Bob Liodice presented 10 Industry Challenges Successful Marketers Have Overcome at AdAge.com. Check out Number Seven:

Multicultural marketing
Multicultural marketing exploded in the 1980s as the need to create more tailored advertisements based on cultural differences became increasingly essential. This growing emphasis, combined with media proliferation, has challenged marketers to align their brands closely with varied cultures. The next step in marketing’s evolution is to shed the arrogance of the “general market.” Marketers must avoid simply translating English ads into other languages and create campaigns targeted specifically for certain ethnic markets. They must also be acutely aware of cultural sensitivities that may be pertinent to their campaigns, embracing the many facets of multicultural marketing from start to finish.

This is all swell, until one realizes that the majority of ANA members polled at the 2009 Masters of Marketing conference admitted their companies do not partner with multicultural marketing specialists. Plus, advertisers like General Motors and Burger King have dumped their multicultural agencies, handing over the minority-targeted assignments to White agencies. Oh, and Liodice’s lame list failed to include the industry’s greatest challenge.