ANA Marketing Maestros

Who am I? Tapping into the Chinese consumer market

By: Irina Skaya

Born in a small town that is unfamiliar with traffic lights and shopping malls, in Moldova (located between Romania and Ukraine) and growing up in the Big Apple, I continue to struggle with cultural duality and self-identity. On one hand, growing up in a diverse city like New York, I am more open-minded about other cultures than my parents. But I am always reminded that I am not American enough because I don’t eat hash browns, bacon and eggs for breakfast. On the other hand, I am not completely emerged in the Moldavian culture either because I was raised during the former USSR and I only speak Russian, not Moldavian.

But I am not alone. Whether you’ve emigrated from Moldova, Latin America or China, first and second generations struggle with cultural duality—we are pushed around by our American counterparts for not being American enough, and by families for being ashamed of our own heritage.  At last week’s ANA Multicultural Marketing Conference, Starcom Media Vest Group (SMG) presented marketers with insights into the cultural identities of Chinese Americans, and discussed the importance of researching the values and motivations of this group in order to truly connect to this market.

Although immigrants in general share similarities in regards to the assimilation into the American culture, the assimilation and acculturation models are very unique to the Chinese member community. For instance, the first generation is considered to be the protectors of the culture—they settle into metropolitan areas that are culturally saturated in order to maintain same traditions and rituals. The second generation, born on the American soil, is the forefathers of what it means to be Chinese-American.  They struggle with self-identity during the early part of their lives—they do not feel fully Chinese nor fully American. As they mature, they begin to embrace their culture and heritage by integrating their culture into American life. This group is known as the, “Hyphen in-between.” How does this duality and having two identities impact the Chinese sense of consumerism?

As marketers, it is critical to align messages based on the audience’s relationship to the following core pillars of value: tradition, frugality, family, worth ethic, education, food and entrepreneurship. The state of duality helps explain how participation with English-leaning communication approaches tethered to cultural nuance is vital to messaging. The growing paradox of Westernization and a desire to retain traditional cultural touchstones such as language will create a need for communicating in a nuanced and balanced way. Chinese Americans are the largest consumer of in-language media. The primary language spoken in families and among friends will influence the media consumption. The other indicator is generations. The younger generations are more English-leading as expected. However, most of them have seen Chinese media, consume it when they spend time with the older people in their families—this calls for more balance. In fact, the overall consumption of television is down by 35% and an increase of 53% in time-shifting because of lack of relevance of in-language media and antiquated stereotypes such as emasculated and sexualized Asian Americans. What does the Chinese American identity morph into moving forward?  How do we know this community aligns with our category and brands?

For a more in-depth analysis of the cultural identities study, visit www.ana.net.

89 Days Till the DTV Transition...

By: Irina Skaya

With 89 days left till DTV transition, it is important to understand why it’s happening and who will be affected. On February 17, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. all television stations across the U.S. are required to broadcast digitally only, phasing out analog broadcasting. The digital TV transition promises better sound, clearer pictures and most-importantly, multi-cast channels that will allow for more content and better targeted information.  Earlier this morning, the National Association of Broadcasters forewarned the audience at the Multicultural Marketing Conference about who will be affected by the transition and discussed what advertisers can do to smooth out the analog-to-digital process.

Although most of us are DTV-ready or have made plans to purchase new TV sets with a digital turner or a converter box, or subscribe to a pay-TV service, many seniors, low-income families and those who reside in rural areas will need to upgrade . So, how many are approximately affected? Approximately 19.6 million (17%) of US households receive their television signals through a rooftop antenna. Another 34.5 million (31%) have some over the air usage, meaning they may have a family room set connected to cable, but their bedroom set may broadcast over the antenna. And who specifically is affected? Many of the low-income families include Hispanics. In fact, as many as forty-one percent of Hispanic house-holds where Spanish is the primary language, will need to upgrade their TV sets.  This number is especially important to multicultural advertisers whose target audiences  are Hispanics.

What are some marketing efforts being put in place to spread the word about the upcoming digital transition?

From local churches, analog shut-off tests to “Trekkers” and monitors in grocery shops and gas pumps, DTV transition messaging is targeting Hispanics at work, in their homes and where they hang out. The television industry’s plan of $1.1 billion has made the transition process affordable for anyone. Each household regardless of income can apply for up to two coupons that run between $40 and $75. So far 35 million coupons have  been requested from 18 million households. If a household orders coupons, there is a 90 day expiration day, and once it aspires, they cannot get another coupon. With the numerous number of efforts from the broadcasting industry and the government, the percentage of people unprepared for DTV transition is expected to be low.  As advertisers, we can help aid the transition by promoting the transition to our clients via emails, events, and online efforts.

How President-elect Barack Obama became the first African-American president of the U.S.

By: Irina Skaya

Bob Dylan’s song, “The Times They Are A-Changin” is truer today than ever before. As Martinez and Garcia become two of the top twenty most-common surnames, and salsa outsells ketchup, the most notable change is the victory of the first African-American President-elect Barack Obama. How did the first black president win the 2008 election when so many Americans thought it was merely impossible?

Roland S. Martin, American journalist and CNN contributor spoke to 250 marketers at the Multicultural Marketing Conference about the important role the Latino vote played in the 2008 election.  Not only did this year’s election had a record Hispanic turnout, but Latinos played a key role in swinging the election outcome. In the past, Cuban-Americans who used to make up the majority of Hispanic population in Florida have consistently voted Republican. Today, the Hispanic population is much more diverse, comprised of Puerto Ricans, Central and South Americans—this shift in population and the combination of black and Hispanic voters have directly influenced the 27 electoral votes in the swing state of Florida.

The credit for Obama’s win doesn’t only go to record turnouts of Hispanic and black voters, but to his flawless presidential campaign. I agree with Martin—his campaign is the epitome of an integrated marketing campaign.  Its structure is already being studied and will continue to be talked about. One interesting thing that Martin pointed out was the many Americans believed Hillary Clinton was going to win the primaries because after all, she had the “money, the resources and the staff,” not to mention the popularity as First Lady. Obama had to start from scratch. However, he recognized the generational shift, targeting the youth demographic. His team was ‘right on the money’ to use social networks to target the youth population that would otherwise not be as politically active. One other thing that Obama did was he did not target the African American population because he had their vote already. He targeted the undecided voters in swing states like Florida. In October, just weeks prior to the election, I was watching television in my hotel room at the Annual Masters of Marketing Conference, and I remember thinking about the frequency of the political ads for Obama.  He spent his ad dollars wisely, on target audience whom he depended on to win.

The practices of advertisers must change and so should television programming. Martin said the ads and programming must reflect the changes in the population. He asked advertisers, “How do you in your shops begin to operate as of January 20th, 12:01 p.m.?" He didn’t answer marketers with a clear-cut answer, but he did leave them with a smart advice, “You might want to change it up a little bit or you’ll be left behind. “

Obama's victory speech:

Only the Growth Champions will Survive

By: Michael Palmer

If we are to survive this economic challenge in front of us, marketers take note – we have to start leading our organizations towards the light at the end of the tunnel.  What does it take to be that kind of marketing leader?  How can marketing assume a leadership role when it is still viewed as a cost versus an investment in many organizations?

ANA studies have found that you can categorize marketing into six organizational roles, each with its own view as to their responsibilities within the company. While each group has its own relevance within an organization, there is a performance difference based on the role the marketing team plays.  Growth Champions are 20 percent more likely than their industry peers to exhibit superior revenue growth and profitability.  Why?

Very simple; Growth Champions, who currently represent about 10% of all marketing teams, are more connected to their company’s strategic agenda. A survey of 370 corporate marketers from 100 companies in nine industries revealed a significant disconnect between CEOs’ agendas and marketing teams’ activities. Forty-six percent of marketers in the study named driving growth as a priority while over 85% of CEOs indicated that “sustained and steady top-line growth” was their top priority.  More alarmingly, only 37 percent of the marketing respondents said “driving the CEO agenda” was an essential objective of the marketing team

So what does it take to become a Growth Champion?  An ability to seek commonalities across markets in which your company has a presence, both to find efficiencies and to clearly identify where customized communications or marketing operations are required. Look beyond customer satisfaction to how customers use your brand and what problems they are trying to solve, and then collaborate with sales and product-development teams to develop and deploy products that solve these problems.

Most important, growth champions excel at collaborating across multifunction’s - R&D, finance, sales, and etc. - to more quickly bring products to market. And they have standardized methodologies and metrics that allow them to calculate return on investment (ROI), and to demonstrate their accountability for the entire organization’s results.

What should you do now?  In conjunction with Booze & Co., we have developed a marketing profiler survey.  It will tell you what role your marketing team currently plays within your organization (we would recommend that several of your team take this survey, then compare the results – does your own team agree on the role you are currently serving, it would be interesting to find out).  Once you agree on the role you now serve, should you wish to move up the ladder towards the Growth Champion rung, the ANA School of Marketing has a host of ways to help you and your team.  Let us know how we can build the right program for you.  We understand you are time-starved and budget challenge, no problem we are flexible.