The new America Shopper is beyond White, Black, Latino, and Asian and requires a new approach—a Total Market Approach.
A Total Market Approach is a marketing strategy that is culturally inclusive and fully integrated, from insight to execution. It improves the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing efforts in a Polycultural world. It allows for multicultural executions and programs, but leans toward an inclusive, universal process and work.
Why the shift to a Total Market Approach? Because what used to be a very fragmented mainstream America is fast becoming a true Polycultural nation. This is mainly due to the rise of the Millennial and iGeneration. But demographics have become just a minimal factor because the real change is happening in human sociographic and psychographic behavior; two generations that are telling us that we are moving from the right to be the same to the freedom to be different and where differences are celebrated rather than submerged.
Polyculturalism is Multicultural-influencing Anglos; Anglos influencing multicultural thus becoming a Color Brave Society/Culture. Bi-Cultural is no longer an immigrant acculturating with Mainstream America. It’s Mainstream America becoming a melting pot.
A Total Market Approach is not abandoning Multicultural Marketing… it is maintaining while evolving. But, how will this evolution change the way brands and retailers address this market development? Based on Nielsen’s “Following Multicultural Shoppers along their Path to Purchase,” there are several key differences and commonalities along the shopper journey that will we will need to take into consideration as the market changes in order to obtain long term success.
For example Multicultural consumers shop less in traditional Grocery/Supercenter and prefer major brands to store brands. Once we start analyzing these factors how do we evolve from the one-size-fits-all merchandising and marketing to satisfy a more sophisticated shopper?
A key opportunity is not only embracing and understanding their similarities and differences but also making sure that we address them when and where it matters the most. We need to start analyzing the shopper journey from a macro view to find the commonalities (thus a national approach) and then dig on the key cultural distinctions to better engage and satisfy at a regional and/or cultural level.
We marketers, retailers and agencies also need to work closer and share more of the knowledge because delivering the shopper satisfaction in a Polycultural nation is today’s and tomorrow’s reality. Because delivering the shopper satisfaction in a Polycultural nation is in everybody’s best interest.
Contributed by: Pablo Muniz, Integer Denver
Photo Source: Huffington Post
