Advertising

By V. Radhika/Toronto

The land of the mounties is changing fast—its white social fabric is increasingly assuming multicultural hues. Foreign-born people accounted for 18.4 per cent of Canada’s population in a 2001 census, the highest in 70 years. Of this, Asians constitute the largest chunk.

The might of the east: Asian buying power is estimated to grow by an amazing 287 per cent by 2007

Acknowledging this change is necessary because the growth has significant economic overtones. Immigrants, as consumers, have begun shifting from the fringes to the mainstream. According to the Selig Centre for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia in Atlanta, US, Asian buying power is estimated at $253 billion annually.

Canada is new to the game of celebrating diversity, but not the US. "We call the Asian American segment, a segment of superlatives," said Wanla Cheng, principal of New York-based Asia Link Consulting Group. "From the last wave of immigration, there are more Asians who have been in this country longer and their accumulated wealth has increased over time."

The challenge here is how to tap the multicultural market where the consumers speak different languages and have different customs and values. However, companies are keen to explore below the surface of this multicultural iceberg.

Last October, home furnishings company IKEA launched a campaign during Diwali and Ramadan in Canada. Two months later, the Brampton Board of Trade in Ontario expanded its English-only Web site into Punjabi, Portuguese, Italian and French. Stuart Johnston, the board’s executive director, summed up the new reality. "Talking about the changing face of our community, we realised that our organisation should reflect what our community is made up of," he said in an interview. "If we are going to speak in the voice of business, we have to speak in the voices that are in our community."

Most of them learnt from the success of Charles Schwab & Co., a San Francisco-based brokerage firm. Spurred by a 1990 census that showed that the Asian community was becoming wealthier and growing at a faster pace than any other ethnic group in the US, it launched an ambitious ethnic marketing initiative. By 2001, the firm employed more than 300 people who spoke Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese at call centres dedicated to Asian American customers who wanted to communicate in their own languages. Asians have access to over 14 Schwab branches in predominantly Asian neighbourhoods on the east and west coasts. It is now one of the leading financial services firms serving Asians.

Automakers were one of the first to jump onto the bandwagon by targeting black, Hispanic and Asian-American communities with tailored advertising. Whether they were selling a Toyota Camry or a Jaguar S-Type, companies were no longer taking a one-size-fits-all approach to marketing. Instead, they began creating ads that spoke to specific groups and placed them in targeted media outlets. The growing awareness of diversity even trickled down to the way cars were designed.

Soon, other sectors began hopping on, too. For the last six years, Boothcreek Resorts in Nevada has been reaching out to Asian Americans. It launched a series of seven Chinese advertorials promoting skiing and published them in prominent Chinese media. It set up photo shoots at the resorts, using its Asian customers as models, and went after young Asian professionals—called Yappies—with special deals for lift tickets and more. Teachers at their ski schools were trained to accommodate Asian culture. The company also had festivities on the Chinese New Year.

The Selig Centre estimates that from 1990 to 2007 Hispanic buying power will grow by 315 per cent, Asian 287 per cent and black by 170 per cent as against 112 per cent growth by non-Hispanic white. If so, the only way for ethnic advertising to go is up.