Got Cultural Intelligence?

You’ve probably heard of an IQ, which scores one’s general intelligence and intellectual competence. But have you heard of CQ? CQ is cultural intelligence, your IQ when it comes to culture.

Cultural competence is crucial when it comes to multicultural marketing.

One common mistake marketers make when it comes to multicultural marketing is thinking it’s all about language. Yes, language is a part of culture, but it’snot the only thing.

All over social media, there are brands in trouble for how they’re handling their mainstream efforts. Upping their CQ could save themselves a lot of trouble.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

According to the U.S. Census, by 2044, the minority population is expected to become the majority. The United States is a melting pot of cultures, and a one-size-fits-all marketing approach is no longer effective.

If you’re not covering your bases and tapping into multicultural demographics, you’re missing the mark. According to the recent CMC study Digital Lives 2018,  which dives into digital habits and cultural insights from various demographics, Hispanic adults are involved in more digital activities than other people. Over 85% of Hispanic adults do 14 different digital activities every month, compared to the seven digital activities of non-Hispanic whites (NHW) and the six digital activities that non-Hispanic African-Americans (NHAA) do each month.

Diverse ads that “do it right” had engagement power among Hispanic and NHAA Digital Lives 2018 respondents. 39% of Hispanics ages 13-17 and 40% of NHAA in the same age group said that real-life diversity in ads is appreciated. The same sentiment translated over to 18- to 34-year-old respondents, with 51% of Hispanics and 46% of NHAA responding positively to such diversity. For 35- to 49-year-olds, 40% of both Hispanics and NHAA said they appreciated diverse marketing.

And this statement isn’t exclusive to multicultural respondents. While the majority of Non-Hispanic White (NHW) respondents said authentic diverse ads had no impact, one in four NHW Millennials were “more engaged” by diverse ads.

Implementing a Multicultural Approach

As marketers, we need to tap into our cultural audiences and understand which platforms they’re on, what their interests are and how they communicate. A multicultural marketing approach isn’t only about including diversity in advertising and marketing materials, but it also means hanging out in areas where multicultural audiences are. According to Digital Lives 2018, ads placed in “culture club” places have more power across ages and languages.

 “Culture club” refers to digital platforms with in-culture content. Respondents were more likely to pay more attention, trust the brand more, and buy from a brand if their ads were placed in culture club communities.

Now that you understand the importance of multicultural marketing initiatives, it’s time to strategize and implement! You could hire a multicultural marketing specialist, tap into his or her expertise, and network with other multicultural marketers through webinars and events.

by Nancy Tellet
Courtesy of mediapost