The Road to #ANAMulti: Prudential’s Mammen Verghis

By Crystal Albanese, senior manager of committees and conferences at ANA

With only twenty days left until the ANA Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference, presented by Time Inc., excitement is starting to build. In anticipation of the event, we checked in with Mammen Verghis (pictured), vice president of multicultural marketing at Prudential Financial. A featured speaker at the conference, Mammen’s presentation will share more about Prudential’s “Total Market” method, which is designed to include all diverse markets. Read on to learn more about his presentation at the event, his take on the importance of multicultural marketing in today’s marketplace, and what he sees as the future of multicultural marketing.

What are you speaking about at the 2016 ANA Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference?

I will be speaking about how Prudential addresses the financial security needs of all communities with our total market approach. In particular, I will be sharing our successes within the African-American community and discussing why tapping into this market segment required building relationships to win its members’ loyalty. This was just one method we used to attain referrals and business. Prudential’s total market approach means that we consider our target audience to be all diverse markets, facilitating our ability to engage cross-culturally, while also embracing the nuances of individual markets.

In today’s marketplace, why is multicultural marketing so important?

Prudential is a purpose driven company that was founded on the belief that financial security should be within reach for everyone. So as we look to the future we see that our society is getting more diverse in multiple ways, including ethnicity, culture, generations, and life experiences. It is very important for us to understand consumers so that we can address their needs in a meaningful way. That is why multicultural marketing is important — it allows us to incorporate consumer insights in to all facets of our business model. We uncover new opportunities and better ways to engage with all consumers through our research and our role in communities across the U.S.

What do you see in the future for multicultural marketing?

All the empirical data show that business growth for most industries, including financial services, will come from diverse consumer segments. Prudential will continue to uphold our longstanding commitment of empowering all consumers to build wealth, achieve financial prosperity and create legacies for future generations. We are always broadening our efforts to provide more programs and initiatives to fulfill this promise. So the future is now. Multicultural marketing is consumer marketing.

To hear more from Mammen Verghis, join us at the 2016 ANA Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference, October 9-11, at the JW Marriott L.A. Live in Los Angeles, CA. He’ll be joined by CMOs and top marketers from Clorox, Intel, Wells Fargo, Target, Nestlé, Lane Bryant, Pernod Ricard USA, and more. Plus, find out who will be grand prize winners in the ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards!