Ethnic Marketing Best Practices
Retailers seeking to truly capitalize on the potential
sales boost of ethnic beverages can tap these
best practices honed by ethnic and mainstream
retailers alike:
1. Know and use demographics. Step one
to any ethnic marketing program is understanding
customers. Beyond gut feel, data can clarify
who is shopping in a trading area and how
a neighborhood is trending. Detail is essential;
knowing there are a high percentage of Asian
customers, for example, isn’t enough. Are they
primarily from China? Korea? Another key
is acculturation; first-generation immigrants
may have very different purchase patterns
than second or third.
For example, least acculturated Hispanics
prefer Modelo Especial, Carta Blanca and
Corona beer, according to ACNielsen, while
more acculturated prefer Sam Adams, Budweiser
and micro-brews.
Anheuser-Busch is addressing acculturation
by marketing to more Latinos in English in
2007, says Henry Dominguez, vice president
of Latino marketing, as well as creating advertising
aimed at the diverse countries of origin
in East coast urban areas. “Relevance is critical
as you get into different cultures and countries,” Dominguez notes. “You need to be respectful,” and make an emotional
and cultural connection.
Ongoing analysis is key to picking up on trends. For example, “many
areas in which African Americans live tend to be transitional,” with
growing Hispanic and Asian populations, says Sam Chisholm, veteran
marketer and president of Chisholm Consulting. Tastes change, too;
whereas once African Americans preferred sweeter, grape and red beverages,
“we’re tending to become closer in style to our mainstream
counterparts,” Chisholm says.
Syndicated data may not be enough, however; many ethnic markets
don’t participate, so results are skewed toward ethnic purchases in
mainstream stores. Another strategy is buying data about beverages in
customers’ countries of origin.
2. Observe. Ethnic market executives have their reasons for not sharing
this data; they thrive by understanding their customer and creating
an authentic experience, from the advertising to the in-store design
to the music to the assortments. Retailers need to shop ethnic markets
and urban, multicultural stores and note the beverage brands, presentation,
signage and in-store feel.
“There is a significant variety of canned and bottled juices made from
fruits one never sees in this country imported from Latin America or
manufactured in the U.S.,” says Soto. “You could fill up a 23-foot aisle,”
and ethnic markets often do. “Go to independent supermarkets, look at
the space that is dedicated to ethnic beverages, and you’ll quickly have
a sense of the potential volume movement these products have that
you’ll never see in the syndicated scanner data.”
Store visits can teach other lessons. For example, “often the shopper is
not who they expect,” says Chisholm. In African American communities,
for example, “It’s not necessarily the mother – it could be the daughter
or someone else doing the shopping,” whose brand and taste preferences
may be quite different.
Equally key is listening to customers and accommodating their
expressed needs, adds Poul Heilmann, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Planning for Minyard Food
Stores/Carnival Super Market.
3. Collaborate. The best ethnic marketing combines
the efforts of manufacturers and retailers
for better-funded, more impactful campaigns.
“We have a good pulse on what our customers
find exciting and interesting, and manufacturers
are interested in understanding and working
with us,” says Carnival’s Heilmann. “We work
with them under their objectives and our objectives,
and tailor programs to fit.” A campaign
with DelValle, for example, boosted the juice’s
sales among Latino and non-Latino consumers.
When retailers are more invested, “there’s still
an event, but you’ve also got the four weeks leading
up to it in the store, with TPRs [temporary
price reductions], displays. There is an authenticity
when it’s retailer driven,” says ViVA’s Castillo.
He urges retailers to create a playbook for
the year, creating in-store programs and sponsorships
around pertinent ethnic events.
Ethnic events successfully used by Tampico
include a mobile bus tour that visits retailer
lots, playing music and offering samples,
giveaways, and in-store displays and promotions.
Hispanic- or African-American “ambassadors”
and bilingual signage helped convey
the message, boosting Tampico sales. Multipacks
with bilingual coloring books and sales
contests have also worked, Ross adds.
Wholesalers and distributors can also recommend
shelf sets and facilitate events. UK
Imports, in Orlando, Fla., helps retailers shape
ethnic sections according to local demographics.
For example, the company has incorporated
mainstay Scottish soda Irn-Bru into ethnic
sets where there are ex-pats and high British tourism.
A recent tweaking moved Irn-Bru, famous
for its unique orange color, to the top shelf.
“It gets a little more attention for the product;
the light hits the bottle and it brings the item
out so customers notice it,” says Mike Darbyshire,
president.