The 8 Make or Break Rules of Multicultural Marketing

The Eight Make or Break Rules

The eight make or break rules outlined in Morse’s Multicultural Intelligence book are critical for anyone looking to target a specific group of people, whether it is based on their race, gender or sexual orientation. The first rule in the list says any marketing or communications professional should first boost their multicultural intelligence. This includes talking to consumers and finding what works best for each audience. There are six best practices in ethnic marketing. This includes thinking like your consumers, defining your “look,” tailoring your look to appeal to ethnic audiences, creating a culture that enhances store experience, recruiting and retaining a diverse staff, and developing a marketing plan to communicate value at all points of customer contact. Multicultural intelligence requires good market research and identifying the audience’s needs. It is not enough to just read about them. A great communications professional reaches their audiences in a personal way by visiting bars, barbershops and basketball courts. They do the research themselves and don’t rely on an outside source. Finally, they invest in diversity training, not only because it’s the smart thing to do, but also the right thing to do. Multicultural intelligence is very important and can fortunately be improved with time. One day it will be required of all marketing professionals.

The second rule of multicultural marketing is to divide and conquer. One cannot assume all people under a category or label are the same.  There are many subgroups that exist that need to be targeted in a specific way. For example, an important group that is difficult to segment is African Americans. A common mistake made by professionals is the assumption that the African American market is homogenous. What should be taken into account when working with this audience are personality characteristics, purchasing behavior, and most certainly socio-economic factors such as income and education. An entire group of people cannot be targeted with the same approach. Their unique traits and behaviors must always be considered.

The third rule is “don’t trust the experts.” The books says don’t assume that certain people can speak for an entire group. Go above and beyond the suggestions of an expert and do your own research. Many campaign messages fail because they lack “cultural competence” and will offend a group or be entirely misunderstood.   Cultural incompetence relates to rule four, “don’t let the joke be on you.” A communications or marketing professional should not assume humor translates across audiences. Jokes might come off offensive and stereotypical. Minorities are particularly sensitive to the way they are portrayed and satire can be dangerous to use. This rule once again comes down to the simple suggestion to do your own research.

Rule five is another suggestion to avoid offending a group of people. The book says “don’t get lost in translation.” It is not enough to just translate from one language to another and a professional should take culture and different linguistic meanings into account. A person’s culture and history are represented in a person’s language and it is easy to accidentally say something offensive or silly. A good way to avoid this mistake is to test the translation first to your audience. It is also important to brush up on body language cues in different countries and how that can affect the delivery of a message.

Rules six and seven deal with connecting to the audience on deeper levels. Rule six tells professionals to push their audience’s buttons. Find out how they want to see themselves and how that will create an emotional connection with the audience. Make your audience feel comfortable and use familiar products and language that they would use at home. Customization is also important. Be flexible to what an audience might want. Finally, be authentic and reflect the customer’s lives. Rule seven says “market on a wink and a prayer.” The secret to advertising to multicultural consumers is a mainstream advertisement with an embedded culturally relevant message, a private communication of camaraderie and recognition. Multicultural consumers rarely see themselves portrayed in mainstream ads and when they do, they are usually stereotyped or watered down. This strategy is a way to connect to the audience and sends a message that your are speaking to them directly. It shows that you “get them.”

The final and eight rule relates to making mistakes. It says “make up, don’t cover up.” When a issue arises the book says to first find if your agency or company even has a true crisis. Some people and watchdog groups like to create controversy and it can be dangerous to get involved with them. Then, the author suggests if you have to “jump ship,” or suspend your campaign, do it gracefully. A simple “I’m sorry” can work for most problems and is important for many people to hear. The book offers some final advice to avoid creating any mistakes in the first place. The author’s best advice is to do thorough research and really understand the audience. He also suggests a diverse staff can open up doors to new ideas and understanding, and can make or break a campaign.

African American Audiences      

The African American audience is a complex one to understand. There are many different facets of understanding that go into creating campaigns and messages targeting African Americans and a professional must be careful they are doing it correctly and sensitively. First, it’s important to understand all African Americans have experienced racism and inequality in their lifetime. Though many of them have different views of inequality because of generational gaps, it is still something that spans all ages. When it comes to advertising and appealing to African Americans, a professional should avoid stereotypes and typically depictions of African Americans. Blacks are acutely sensitive to how they are portrayed in media and perceive the world through a lens of past experiences of discrimination. It is also critical for a professional to use places in African American communities that are important to them, such as churches, beauty salons, barbershops, and basketball courts. Finally, African Americans just want to be acknowledged, represented, and respected. They want the media to attempt to understand them and to be authentic when creating advertisements or campaigns targeting them. African Americans are trendsetters and influencers. Culturally relevant messages are important to them and will reach them the best.

The United Way of Great Milwaukee If Truth Be Told Initiative

An example of the eight make or break rules related to an African American audience is the United Way of Greater Milwaukee If Truth Be Told initiative. The city had a profound public health crisis caused by teen pregnancy and something had to be done. More than 2,000 Milwaukee teens had babies each year, ranking the city second highest in the nation in 2006. To address the problem, shocking tactics were put in place to stop people in their tracks. Some advertisements showed cell phones wrapped in condoms or infants posing as alarm clocks. Other tactics fooled teenagers into engaging with the campaign by calling a number that promised extra cash. Instead of a job, the teenagers received a message of a baby crying and a voice telling them how having a baby makes their lives a lot harder and doesn’t leave a lot of “extra cash.” This campaign was honest and open about sensitive topics, but created success and positive results.

The campaign’s main audiences were African American teenagers and young male adults. These audiences were targeted because teen births were high and sexual relationships between teens and adults were often considered acceptable in their communities. The first step in the campaign’s process to resolve their problem was to conduct research, which is also one of the eight rules for communications professionals. The United Way of Greater Milwaukee (UWGM) conducted two phases of research. First, they conducted studies to understand how teen pregnancy escalated to and remained at a crisis-level for so long. Listening sessions were held to gather views from parents, citizens, and youth. Researchers went beyond statistics and what’s already known about this audience in order to understand them better. They focused on the needs of this specific African American community and did not assume all African Americans were the same in their problems and needs. The second round of research involved testing creative concepts with target audiences. More than 30 focus groups and listening sessions were held to find what best culturally connects with African American teens and young male adults.

The professionals involved with this campaign also followed the rule to “divide and conquer.” They segmented the African American population by age, gender and geographical location. They looked at their education levels and health statistics in Milwaukee to find where the problem originated and how to help this community. They also saw that the problem went beyond teenagers and that adult men also needed to be targeted. Some PSAs for the UWGM directly spoke to these men and said that a sexual relationship with a young girl is rape. The advertisements were shocking, but worked with the audience. Finally, the UWGM sought not to offend any groups while building this campaign. They partnered with community leaders and focused on what the community wanted, not what was assumed about African Americans. Their ads used culturally relevant tactics, like graffiti phone numbers and hard-hitting television ads, without stereotyping African Americans.

From the eight rules by Morse, what is known about African American audiences and the UWGM If Truth be Told initiative, lessons can be learned about public relations and communications. First, it is not enough to assume all African American audiences, or any audiences, across the United States are the same. The needs and concerns are different for every city, every gender and every age. As in the If Truth be Told campaign, focus groups and listening sessions need to be held to discover what these problems are and the best way to solve them. Another lesson learned was that a campaign focused on African Americans does not need to involve stereotypes or typically “black” elements. No groups were offended in the process of this campaign and all tactics used were culturally relevant and authentic to the African American community. These lessons are not exclusive to this particular audience or problem. These lessons can span gender, location and race, and are important for anyone looking to create a campaign in this diverse and rapidly changing world.

One thought on “The 8 Make or Break Rules of Multicultural Marketing

  1. This is such a great case study. I think it should be required for all PR students. Diversity communication is often missing in PR textbooks. You’ll be ready to effectively target any racial/ethnic audiences using Morse’s rules. Good job.

Leave a Reply