Multicultural marketing.Despite the current economic downturn, major global companies such as Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler sustain specific budgets for multiethnic marketing. Industry insiders say Kmart's recovery strategy targets the African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. market as a core loyal buying segment. In addition, U.S. Census figures indicate that women purchase 81 percent of consumer goods consumer goods Any tangible commodity purchased by households to satisfy their wants and needs. Consumer goods may be durable or nondurable. Durable goods (e.g., autos, furniture, and appliances) have a significant life span, often defined as three years or more, and ranging from cars to clothing and financial services to household goods with an annual buying power Buying Power The money an investor has available to buy securities. In a margin account, the buying power is the total cash held in the brokerage account plus maximum margin available. Also referred to as "Excess Equity. estimated at $3.3 trillion. "The largest corporations have been researching and pursuing (these) markets for quite a while, says Dr. Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of economic forecasting at University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth. "This is a wake-up call for any consumer business that's been neglecting these markets." Effectively reaching emerging multicultural market profit centers requires going beyond traditional marketing strategies. Developing creative cutting-edge tactics that involve advertising, public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most and innovative community outreach is mandatory. Comerica Bank, for example, launched a multicultural marketing initiative several years ago to better serve existing customers and to reach new markets. "Our niche marketing efforts are enabling us to fulfill our commitment to build long term-relationships with our customers," explains Elaine A. McMahon, senior vice president, Small Business Banking-Southeast Michigan. "Through these efforts, we've become more focused on the unique needs of our customers who are Hispanic, African American, Arab and Chaldean American or women business owners Many online and offline organizations have been created to collect information about businesses around the world owned and operated by women. Many other organizations have been created to assist the women that own and operate those businesses. and can better respond to their needs." Marshall Field's 10-year partnership with the Renaissance Links Inc. in the Detroit Region enables successful fund-raising for such institutions as the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History is located in the Cultural Center of the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1965, it holds the world's largest permanent exhibit on African American culture. . While helping the community, Marshall Field's gets its product in front of an affluent multicultural niche market of over 1,000 in one evening when it annually hosts a fashion show event at the Somerset Collection in Troy. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan actively interacts with multicultural communities regarding health care projects that directly relate to marketing objectives. Cultural institutions such as the Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), originally named the Detroit Museum of Art, has one of the largest, most significant art collections in the United States. , the Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) was founded in 1914. It performed the world's first radio broadcast of a symphonic concert on February 10, 1922 with pianist Artur Schnabel, and became the first nationally broadcast radio orchestra on the Ford Sunday Evening Hour, later Ford and the Detroit Public Library The Detroit Public Library is the largest library system in Michigan. It is composed of a Main Library on Woodward Avenue, which houses DPL administration offices, and twenty-three branch locations across the city. have expanded multicultural marketing efforts to such an extent that some of these programs have become major crossover crowd pleasers. Though event planning is an important strategy in a multicultural marketing campaign, advertising and newspaper/magazine/broadcast news and feature coverage are critical to the success of a multicultural strategy. Buying ad space with the ethnic media including broadcast and print is often overlooked or relegated to Third World status by businesses and their ad agencies. The ethnic media is the key to developing long-term customer loyalty with minority markets. Multicultural markets are the new consumer frontier that guarantee increased profits if valued and approached with knowledge and understanding. Worth noting Minority buying power doubled during the past 11 years in the United States, meaning the collective buying power of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and American Indians reached $1.3 trillion by 2001. African Americans comprise the largest buying power group, representing two out of every three dollars spent by minorities. Source: Selig Center for Economic Growth, University of Georgia Organization The President of the University of Georgia (as of 2007, Michael F. Adams) is the head administrator and is appointed and overseen by the Georgia Board of Regents. Marketing Visit the Detroiter online at www.detroitchamber.com for a list of multicultural links, including the Detroit Regional Chamber six diversity partners. Click "Detroiter" on our home page and go to Marketing: Multicultural Links. Laura R. Moseley, J.D., is owner/president of LRM LRM Language Reference Manual LRM Casa De Campo, Dominican Republic (Airport Code) LRM Long Range Missile LRM Line Replaceable Module LRM Local Resource Manager LRM Line-Reflect-Match LRM Land Resources Management Consultants in Southfield, a member of the Detroit Regional Chamber. |
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