Multicultural Marketing: The BIGGEST Growth Opportunity

When markets grow, everyone benefits. We grow the pie and create business versus taking from others. So, growing markets is the most important kind of growth.

The biggest opportunity for market growth is the “multicultural market.” In the past 10 years, 100% of U.S. population growth came from increases in the Black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native, Indigenous, multi-racial and multi-ethnic segments of the population with buying power worth more than $5 trillion. 

At P&G, we now know that half of our sales growth in the U.S. is consistently coming from those same consumers. And if we simply close the brand market share gaps among multicultural consumers that are below the national average, P&G would add more than $500MM in extra sales annually. Do the math for your brands. Few opportunities come close.  

But why aren’t we making more progress? Why is it so hard? HABITS. We need to break some old habits in how we do marketing and build new habits to seize this substantial growth opportunity in front of us.  

How? Adopting seven new habits to drive multicultural market growth.

First habit: Change Mindset from general to multicultural. 

It’s time to retire the archaic term “general market” that results in marketing to the averages. There is no “general” or “average” consumer. This new habit builds multicultural marketing into the fabric of everyday marketing – which includes specific, unique, and precise marketing to each consumer group – Black, Hispanic, Asian-Pacific, Native-Indigenous, People with Disabilities, people who identify as LGBTQ+, AND White consumers. Change Mindset works because multicultural marketing IS mainstream marketing.

Second habit: Inclusive Research from a rep base to a multicultural base.  

It’s time to break the “rep base” research habit that is historically skewed to White demographics. Now, we must instead go deep into understanding the needs of each individual multicultural consumer group. Truly inclusive research enables us to understand specific habits, and practices of Black, Hispanic, Asian-Pacific, Native-Indigenous, People with Disabilities, LGBTQ+, and White consumers – leading to unique products and marketing programs developed to precisely meet each of their unique needs.  

Third habit: Diverse Media Reach, from average reach to maximizing reach to each multicultural consumer group. 

It’s time to break the habit of focusing on achieving a national average media reach that tends to limit brands to being “averagely insufficient” among each consumer group. Instead, adopt the new habit of building plans that deliberately reach up to 80 to 90% of each unique multicultural consumer group, 52 weeks a year. That’s the true definition of sufficient reach. 

Fourth habit: Representation in Ads, reflecting the people the brand is serving. 

It just makes sense that if you see someone like yourself in an ad, you are more likely to relate to the brand’s message. So routinely check and audit representation of Black, Hispanic, Asian-Pacific, Native-Indigenous, People with Disabilities, LGBTQ+ and White roles in advertising…and get into the habit of inclusive representation in all ads – proportionate to the percent of the population being served. 

Fifth habit: Relevance in Ads through accurate portrayals.  

That means no stereotypes, no objectification, no diminishing…and portrayals that are accurate, real and authentic…with insights reflected to the point people say, “you understand me.” When people see themselves reflected as who they are – it builds familiarity, trust, and ultimately leads to purchase.  

Sixth habit: Resonance in Media Programming, placing ads on media programs that resonate with who we’re reaching. 

People are more engaged in media programs made uniquely for them. In fact, ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing just published a study indicating a 17% to 38% sales lift and a 46% to 52% increase in trust across multicultural consumers when relevant ads are shown in resonant media programming. But the problem is, there’s not enough of this programming, less than 5% of all media is invested in multiculturally-owned and operated media. The media market needs to be bigger – here are three ways everyone in the industry can help.  

• One, develop partnerships with Black, Hispanic, Asian-Pacific, and Native-Indigenous owned and operated media companies – just as we do with major broadcasters and platforms. That includes direct partnerships with the bigger players. It also means forming consortiums that bring together smaller companies to create scale, so our brands can more easily buy media from these companies. P&G is committed to lead this effort with ANA, AIMM, NABOB, and others.
• Two, join forces to co-develop more resonant programming that builds media inventory for brands to buy. That’s why P&G launched Widen the Screen – an expansive content creation, talent development, and partnership platform that enables increased inclusion of multicultural creators across the advertising, film, and media industry. And, it expands the multiculturally-owned and operated media ecosystem. We’ve started with Black creators and program development, along with Black-owned and operated media companies…and we’re expanding to Hispanic, Asian-Pacific, Native-Indigenous, People with Disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community. But this is not a P&G program only – it is an industry-wide program designed to expand programming, build audiences, and make the market bigger – so please join us.
• Three, work together to upgrade and/or develop the technology infrastructure to facilitate more easily buying multiculturally owned and operated broadcast TV, streaming TV, radio, and digital media. We need to access media and audience data, conduct analytics, and build digital technology solutions – allowing brands and publishers to connect to Demand Side Platforms and Sales Side Platforms to buy automatically through programmatic media, and to accurately measure. P&G is willing to lead this effort with ANA, AIMM, NABOB, companies like Reset Digital, and anyone else who wants to help.

Seventh habit: Accelerate Investment in multiculturally-owned and operated media.  

We all need to do our part. P&G has committed to be the number one spender in all multiculturally-owned media, AND to take steps to significantly expand the ecosystem. We are investing, and if we all invest, we will make the media market bigger, and it will help us ALL achieve multicultural market growth on our businesses.  

What Do Successful New Habits Look Like?

Here are a few examples from P&G brands that are adopting these habits, and achieving significant growth among multicultural groups, AND the total brand, AND the overall market.  

Always. Their mindset is that multicultural marketing is just what they do. Always conducts research among each consumer group – leading to insights like the fact that many women are using the wrong size pad. That led to product, packaging, and sizing changes and a complete reconfiguration of store shelves – along with representative and relevant advertising like their new Always Flexfoam ad featuring a multicultural cast and their first ever non-binary talent -- highlighting Always as “The Pad Made for Anybody and Every Body”.…(Show Flexfoam ad – 15 ).  

Always is deliberately building reach to up to 80 percent among EACH consumer group in advertising, including in resonant multiculturally owned and operated media programming. And the brand is conducting unique community efforts in support of its signature #EndPeriodPoverty program with multicultural grassroots reach…driving social impact by partnering with the new film, Black Girls, and empowering Hispanic Youth with the Capitanes Del Futuro program. Always is a brand where multicultural marketing IS mainstream marketing.

Vicks is another brand with the mindset that the multicultural consumer is not a “side target.” They are the “core” of Vicks marketing.  Inclusive research indicates that Hispanics prefer more sensorial experiences they can “feel.” Trust is king and although many are budget constrained, the perception among this audience is that “Lo barato sale caro” or “cheap is expensive.” And they are more inclined to self-medicate at home, with the doctor as the last stop.  

The team designs unique and specific programs with the Hispanic consumer in mind…products like Nyquil with VapoCool building from the iconic VapoRub…new forms like VapoRub stick for ease of application…and advertising that is representative, relevant, and authentic – with Spanish language that is “real Español.”

Vicks ads show up in resonant media like Televisa-Univision but there is even MORE opportunity because reach among the Hispanic community is still 15 to 20 points lower than the national average. But just wait…Vicks is taking care of that with its recent Major League Soccer-Mexico National Team partnership and the upcoming World Cup. The brand is on fire, not only with Hispanics, but with all multicultural consumer groups, and there is so much upside.  

Metamucil has made a step-change in results due to multicultural marketing. For years this brand languished despite having a superior Psyllium Fiber product for digestive health that also supports healthy sugar levels, lowers LDL cholesterol, and regulates appetite. They made a pivot and asked who could benefit from Meta the most and made multicultural – with particular emphasis on Black consumers – THE Metamucil marketing plan. Inclusive research indicated higher incidence of diabetes, heart disease and weight challenges among Black consumers. When we make them aware that something as simple as Meta every day can have a big impact, it was a mind opening idea. But the brand needed to build trust, and that came from joining forces with relevant communities like the Bridges group, programs with HBCUs, and representative spokespeople like Sheryl Underwood to launch the Meta 2-week challenge.  

Meta ads consistently show up in resonant programming on BET, OWN, Sheryl’s show The Talk, The Steve Harvey Show, and more. The brand has more than doubled sales in the past five years and is gaining momentum among all consumer groups – because the insights resonate with all consumers. Meta marketing IS multicultural marketing.

Gain is a laundry detergent that delivers “Seriously Good Scent.” The brand team changed their mindset to start “digging deeper than rep base to get “Seriously Good Results.” Gain’s inclusive and diverse research found that "freshness" is an aspect of clean that is important to all consumers but particularly important to Black and Hispanic consumers, who often face bias and take extra care to have their clothing and appearance represent their best selves.  They also see fresh smelling clothes as a way to take care of their families and bring joy to their lives. Gain builds representation into everything they do – their brand and agency team…their ads…and their media reach to achieve 80-90% among each group. They are significantly investing in resonant Black and Hispanic owned and operated media and showing up in resonant programming with relevant ads like First Timer and this ad which shows Dave in his happy place.

Old Spice transformed its appeal among Black men, featuring Deon Cole and Gabrielle Dennis in the “Men Have Skin Too” campaign. The brand is now expanding to reach Asian-Pacific men…joining forces with the PCA agency and director Clayton Tony Au on “Finer Things” featuring Ross Butler, Melody Peng, and Peggy Lu in Finer Things.

Pantene Europe is another strong example where the multicultural marketing opportunity is significant.  Pantene’s brand promise is the Power of Hair, recognizing that hair is a unique expression of who we are. For example, Pantene knows that hair is identity – and they support the LGBTQ+ community with #HairHasNoGender and Family Photo Recreated. 

For Pantene, hair is ethnicity and they celebrate the unique beauty of Black hair.  Hair is an expression of age, and they celebrate the power of grey. And Hair is a feeling, where they feature Lucy Edwards, a vision-impaired influencer who brings to life what the feeling of great hair is like in this ad.

Pantene is growing among all consumer groups, including Asian and White consumers, because it extracts unique insights from each group, creates products and packaging to meet their needs, and communicates their superior benefits in a way that reinforces the brand’s equity, and in a way that is accurate, relevant, and resonant.  

Beyond these examples, Olay is developing unique programs made specifically for Chinese-Canadians with special emphasis on the multi-step skin care process, in Mandarin. Always recognized the insight that skin care is important to Asian-Canadian consumers and modified the advertising to reflect the superior performance of how Always keeps skin dry.  Venus enjoys more than a 7-point share advantage among AAPI consumers through the inclusive My Skin My Way campaign.  And Pampers, Vicks, and P&G joined forces with the all-AAPI team from RGA who created this beautiful film, The Name, for the AAPI community.  

For the LGBTQ+ community, we are coming up on year four of Can’t Cancel Pride with iHeart, where we have activations from multiple brands like Tide, Dawn, Voost, Meta, and Charmin.  We’re deeply proud of films we’ve produced – such as the award-winning CODED with Imagine Entertainment. For People with Disabilities we’re partnering with Harder Than You Think and ensuring that all of our marketing content is fully accessible. 

And we’re building programs with the Native American community, such as This is L brand’s “Long Line of Ladies,” a beautiful, award-winning film about the Ihuk, a traditional coming-of-age ceremony of the Karuk people of Northern California, changing attitudes and mindsets about periods.

This is hard work, but it can be done. P&G is deeply committed to accelerating multicultural market growth. We believe it is THE most significant opportunity for the industry, for companies like P&G, for our brands, and for the consumers we serve. Accelerating growth requires delivering superior experiences for ALL consumers across gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, religion, age – EACH AND EVERY multicultural consumer group. 

So, let’s once and for all time, adopt the habit that multicultural marketing IS mainstream marketing and achieve what we all want: GROWTH.