There is increased ethnic diversity in Canada, especially in the GTA which will require a change in how we view this market. Visible minorities will be visible majorities in the next 20 years. Is your organization positioned for continued growth?

1. Marketing
“white bread” in a
12 grain world
Bhupesh Shah, B.Sc., MBA | ethnicomm inc.
October 17th, 2011

2. Agenda
What does diversity mean
right now?
A 12 grain world
Stuff that messes up the
traditional marketing approach.
Marketing Impact.
Marketers that get it.
Image: Rawich / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

3. 140+ languages and dialects
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/qmnonic/

4. 31% don’t speak English
or French @ home (City of Toronto)

5. Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/husseinabdallah/
(City of Toronto)

6. South Asians and Asians - the
most visible
of the visible minorities

7. In 5 years,50% of the
GTA will be comprised of
visible minorities

8. in 20 years
~25%
of the residents of the GTA will be South Asian,
exceeding all other minorities by far (StatsCan)
Photo courtesy: Shanu & Karim

9. in 20 years
~67%
of the region's population will be from a visible
minority community (StatsCan)
Photo courtesy: Shanu & Karim

10. Marketing “white bread” in a 12 grain world
will
leave out
over
2/3 of the
potential
market
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10413717@N08/

11. “70% of the retail
sales growth in Canada
over the next decade will
likely come from
visible
minority groups” (CIBC)
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasminepettersen/

12. Top 5 mother-tongue languages
Chinese (420,000)
Italian (195,000)
Punjabi (138,000)
Tagalog (114,000)
Portuguese (113,000)
Source: http://www.famouslogos.org

13. Top 5 visible minority groups in Toronto
(2006 - % of population)

14. Immigrants go from poverty to “near” Canadian
average income levels in about 4 years
larger households, more
dual-parent families and
more multiple-family
households
greater incidence of
homeownership
Source: http://www.freefullhdwallpapers.com

15. Education is a top priority!
(% with University Degree at Bachelor Or Above)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Filipino
Chinese
South Asian
Latin American
Canada
White
Southeast Asian
Black
Source: Statistics Canada

16. The idea of a visible minority is
going to have to shift or it's going to start
getting more and more ridiculous to talk
about a minority of people who in fact are
the majority…
Prof. Richard Day,
Department of Global
Development Studies -
Queen's University
Source: http://www.queensu.ca

17. Photo courtesy: Niki Pham; http://www.flickr.com/photos/laphamnikita/
High/low context cultures; family;
values; religion and other stuff is killing
our traditional approach.

18. The Harpers are on to something…
Source: http://www.ipolitics.ca - THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

19. The face of Canadians is changing
"Soon a larger share of this visible minority
population will be people actually born in
Canada…children of immigrants or
grandchildren of immigrants.” Laurent Martel
Source: mtvdesi.com Statistics Canada: Projections of the Diversity of the Canadian Population, Catalogue no. 91-551-X

20. Affluent minority “socialites” exist even if they’re
never shown in the National Post!
Photo courtesy: Shanu & Karim

21. High Context Cultures: ME, Asia, Africa
and Latin America, Mediterranean,
French-Speaking Canada
Non-verbal
A lot remains
communication
unsaid
/ cues important
Interpersonal
Trust before
relationships
transactions
important

22. Collectivist –
family/peer group
has influence on
purchasing decision
Intuition over facts
but still asks a lot of
questions
Feelings over rational

23. Flowery language; like stories
and storytelling
Indirect / Formal
Tradition/History important
Prefer f2f interactions

24. Indian
Standard Mañana
Time

25. Low Context Cultures: English Canada/USA, much
of Western Europe
Individualistic
Fact based decisions
over intuition
Action oriented
Precise, brief,
blunt, direct
Logical

26. Words speak for
themselves
f2f not as important as
getting everything
clear and documented
Time very important –
things measure by
time/productivity

27. Family Values
marriage
nuclear family or partially
extended family
“old-fashioned” economic
relationships
(wife @ home)
HH income pooling
male inheritance; parents
may stay with elder son
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org

28. Religion
Chinese New Year
Lohri (Buddhist /
Hindu / Sikh)
Easter
May 24 weekend
Ramadan
Eid-Al-Fitr
Diwali
Christmas

29. Finance
prefer to seek financial advice
from someone who
understands the cultural
nuances that may affect their
investment goals
“enduring loyalty and
word-of-mouth” can be had
saving for long-term goals is
ingrained into the culture –
no need to make that sales
pitch
Sources: http://www.flickr.com/photos/newtown_grafitti/; “A Self-Imposed Barrier for Advisors Serving South Asian Clients”, AdvisorOne Oct 9, 2011. Web

30. Time to broaden our palate
Photo courtesy of: Brown Man Clothing Co.
Image: Paul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net;

31. Best Buy doesn’t get it…
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVuS4jspUVU

32. Our traditional marketing messages –
headlines, copy, commercials…are FAST
messages
doesn’t work as well on high context “slow”
cultures
takes time to build
relationships but they are
generally deep-rooted/
longer lasting
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpoldmaisonblogspotcom/

33. Our traditional marketing messages –
headlines, copy, commercials…are FAST
messages
Trudeau effect
– Liberal party
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpoldmaisonblogspotcom/

34. How do
I do this
Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dreamsjung/

35. Targeting high context cultures online
low context: fast message culture,
flat structure is the norm; straight
text for navigation
Würtz, E. (2005). A cross-cultural analysis of websites from high-context cultures and low-context cultures. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(1), article 13.
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue1/wuertz.html

36. Targeting high context cultures online
pages should be
portray collectivist
diverse and
values
hierarchical
use of imagery vs.
straight text for
EN FR…now navigation
multicultural pages
- Chinese, Punjabi,
Tamil tabs focus of people
and product
together
Würtz, E. (2005). A cross-cultural analysis of websites from high-context cultures and low-context cultures. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(1), article 13.
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue1/wuertz.html

37. Source: http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/newtocanada/southasian/

38. Source: http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/newtocanada/chinese

39. Long-term perspective:
Lifetime value of a customer
retention
discounting is
not the only
way
repeat sales
upselling

40. Visible minorities are not all the same

41. Demographic segmentation

42. Psychographic segmentation
Savings/Investing mentality
Prestige conscious
“Succeeder” lifestyle
Higher education levels

43. Behaviour segmentation
lifestyle
purchasing patterns
where/how do they
spend their time?
condos and monster
homes

44. Benefit segmentation
How are your
products being used
or not used?
What does the
customer need or
desire?

45. How do you want to be perceived in the minds
of the visible minority target market?
Source: Philip Kotler, Marketing Management 13th edition

46. Why are minority smaller companies targeting
minorities this large market? Where are the big
brands?

47. Kraft Gets It
Source: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150562415355401

48. State Farm Insurance gets it
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd_4Mi25jNk&t=9s

49. Wal-Mart gets it
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ivNDf7sISY

50. Rogers gets it
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCmd6wfPWtg

51. Go 12 grain! It’s better for your
long-term health!
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/recyclethis/

52. Twitter: @ethnicomm
Facebook: ethnicomm
LinkedIn: bgshah
info@ethnicomm.com
416.720.1205 | 888.927.8881