PR Perspective: PR Moves for the "Multicultural Economy"-Seven Steps For Entry

by Rupa Ranganathan, ,

Ethnic Strategist and Senior Vice President

Strategic Research Institute

Rranganathan@srinstitute.com

Whether your client is the Las Vegas Tourism Board or the Southwest Voter Registration Project, or the likes of Kraft Foods, Ford Motor Company or Bill Gates, opportunities abound for Public Relations to tap into the growing "Multicultural Economy". The Selig Center for Economic Growth in its report titled "The Multicultural Economy 1990-2009" emphasizes the robust growth population as well as in buying power of Hispanics, African Americans, Asian-Americans and Native Americans. By 2009, one in every four Americans will be from some race other than white. Also, the purchasing power of this market will cross $1.5 Trillion and represent 14.1% of the nation's total buying power. Where and how do PR folks seize growth opportunities in Multicultural America? Here is a short checklist to run through with your team to explore new vistas for business development, just in case you are not already carving a niche for yourself in this area.

1. Have you included Ethnic Media Outlets to your Media Invitation List?
Mirroring the growth of ethnic and multicultural populations across the country, there has been a prolific growth of ethnic media outlets including print, cable, television, radio, and the Internet. Has your PR team built a relationship with an ethnic PR agency or one that is familiar with these influential ethnic media outlets which may be low on circulation, but high on impact with their niche population groups? Find an interesting angle relating to how your announcement ties in with an ethnic media outlet. Check to see if you have included ethnic newswires or media to your general announcement. Even if your client has not yet started a comprehensive advertising campaign to Latinos, PR announcements can often lead this initiative. Even if your client does not have a multicultural campaign ready, it can help to proactively pitch a target list of ethnic media to cultivate given the changing demographics. PRNewswire serves a comprehensive body of ethnic media outlets.

2. When did you last have a Senior Latina or Asian American Executive on your Client's Sales Team interviewed on air?
Make sure that your team is looking out for opportunities to open the dialogue between your client's senior team members with diverse groups through their niche outlets. If your client happens to have a lot of African Americans or Asian Americans working in a certain capacity, or has a very capable Latina executive in charge of corporate affairs, an interview on a local channel or with other business and/ethnic media will act as a percolator for your client's interest or support to diversity. Get these senior executives out to speak at important forums and business meetings to increase the ripple effect of your PR efforts. This could even open up a whole new opportunity to be on your client's diversity initiative even without your actually pitching for it directly.

3. Are you Evaluating the Opportunity to Initiate a Multicultural Association for the Category with led by your Client?
Check out the viability and relevance of a multicultural alliance or association to serve the growing "multicultural" interests of your client's category. By getting your client to initiate or lead the formation of such an association, your team can get into the larger scope and zone of your category and the opportunity to increase your client's visibility and influence in this space. The Multicultural Foods and Hospitality Alliance based out of Rhode Island has brought together several industry giants engaged in diversity and also serves as a podium for excellent networking. Clearly such an avenue can not only increase your business opportunities, but can also position your work uniquely within a whole category. Alternatively, find out suitable members from your team to be on the Multicultural committees of national and international professional groups.

4. How are you helping your Client Build Multicultural Market Awareness?
General market clients are increasingly looking at multicultural or niche markets to build growth for their brands and are attending or speaking at several "Ethnic marketing or Diversity" conferences. By attending these meetings, and meeting with senior decision-makers you will come closer to the burning issues and possible PR glitches many clients or categories are facing. This can help you identify gaps that you can fill in with your existing or cultivated expertise. By discussing competitive intelligence on multicultural market development seriously with your clients (often even without being commissioned to do so), you may open up new avenues demanding multicultural PR or multicultural grassroots campaigns that bring in revenues to your team.

5. Which Multicultural Health or Education Issue can your Client Engage In Immediately?
While it is true that the automotives, luxury liners, packaged foods, financial services and other categories are wooing the "multicultural dollar", health disparities and educational chasms in many areas continue to exist. When a client or corporation serves as a bridge to provide health literacy or serve as a valuable educational link to ethnic communities through a strategic grassroots PR initiative, there is tremendous headway made for the brand in that particular community. For example, a financial institution in the area can work in partnership with a major diabetes drug manufacturer to provide in-language expertise on diabetes management, possibly in cooperation with a retailer or ethnic publication. With so many new immigrants looking for new cars and homes, financial institutions could impart workshops to ethnic communities on mortgage rates, implications of refinancing or leasing alternatives for automotives. With innovation, such grassroots programs can become important community outreach channels and deliver measurable ROI for clients. This is still the most untapped area in multicultural marketing and communications, and PR wizards can look at new ways to build multicultural health or education to boost their client's value.

6. Has your team built close relationships with Multicultural thought-leaders and Influencer Groups?
Even as your team is preparing to build your multicultural market expertise and is teaming up with numerous ethnic media outlets look at thought-leaders who can help shape your ethnic PR strategies. There are a variety of organizations ranging from those that serve the interests of Latino Engineers, Builders to those that serve the needs of African-American or Black Tourism industry. Again, the South Asians have strong networks of Physician or Hotel & Motel Owners associations that can play an important role in your client's PR strategy. Relationships with such organizations can be valuable to many clients who want to position themselves strongly to the members of these groups.

7. What have you done lately to showcase your insights into the "Multicultural Economy"?
By now, your team should definitely have a multicultural partner if not a division. And this can be instrumental in generating new business in Multicultural PR. Have you looked at Mother's Day, or The Feast of Guadalupe, Three Kings Day, Lunar New Year, August Moon Festival, Diwali or Calle Ocho as gateways to ethnic consumers? Has your team developed a White paper, a blog highlighting some important multicultural events calendar appropriate for your clients? Can you create a unique poster or greeting card based on some multicultural holiday or celebration that your client can send to multicultural business owners or dealers or franchisees that strengthens the bonding between the corporation and its multicultural stakeholders?

The art and science of multicultural PR, communications has rapidly evolved and those who still shrug it off as merely minority activity have everything to lose. America's new demographics are calling for a whole new skill set from PR practitioners. The sooner multicultural communications is wedged within the larger scope of PR in this country, the stronger it will become. And whether the client is the Centers for Disease Control seeking increased awareness of heart health issues or Samsung looking for new customers, multicultural PR is here to stay.