IN THE NEWS + PRESS RELEASES
Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fryer
Source: OMMA by Jessica Tsai
July 2008
"McDonald's has crossed oceans and braved language barriers to come to a location near everyone. While Mickey D's can rake in the euros and the yen, the success of its multicultural campaigns in the States remains questionable. Its latest tagline, "I'm lovin' it," is translated into multiple languages on your super-size drink, but it doesn't stop there. The fast food giant owns three Web site domains targeting major minority groups - 365black.com, i-am-asian.com and meencanta.com. The sites feature interactive activities, even scholarships and career opportunities meant to elicit pride within each community - we think. Take i-am-asian.com: You can learn Asian phrases and "shock your friends" (uh, who's the target again?), or see how to enjoy a chicken sandwich with the help of pictorial instructions that verge on the sexual.
"This domain-name grabbing thing seems to be a bit colonialistic," says Valerie Romley, chief research officer and founder of consultancy Moving Target Research Group. "A superficial attempt at 'promoting an understanding' of different cultures and an opportunistic attempt at co-opting or hijacking identity for profit." Others say the sites aren't exactly offensive, but still. "The only way this would be effective as it is now is if it created some sort of media controversy," says Tom Anderson, founder of consultancy Anderson Analytics. "Any PR is good PR - well, not always, but often."
The Markets Within the Masses
When marketers try to reach a particular demographic, the successes -- and failures -- reflect on all of us.
Source: CRM Magazine By Jessica Tsai
Mar 1, 2008
"[The general market] has been segmented to the nth degree," says Valerie Romley, author and chief research officer at San Francisco-based Moving Target Research Group. "Why marketers don't feel the value in doing that in the multicultural population, which is even more fragmented and diverse, I'm not sure." At the heart of the matter, the issues go beyond marketing -- they require a societal shift. For the most part, the heart of the advertising industry resides on the two coasts, "but 'the flyover space' is a rough-and-tumble area," Romley says, referring to the heartland in between. She suspects that the majority "is probably moving at the most it can handle." Continue reading
Make Ready for the 'Transcultural' Consumer
Source: Strumpette.com
By Amanda Chapel
Friday, October 5, 2007
Si te crees inteligente, trabajas en marketing y quieres que tu negocio exista en cinco anos, !Apúrate y compra este libro! Translation: "If you're smart and a marketer and want to have a business in five years... buy this book. Hurry!"
Did you know that today's multicultural consumer represents more than 100 million or one out of three people living in the US? THAT'S HUGE! The projections have most marketers waking up and smelling dinero. BUT, THERE'S A CATCH. While marketers from all backgrounds are delving into multicultural marketing, brand marketing does little to connect with the ever-evolving faces of the 'transcultural' consumer. Ellos no son mi familia.
This'll help: There's a new book out by Valerie Romley of Moving Target Research Group. Aptly titled "BEYOND TRANSLATION, The Marketer's Field Guide to Understanding Today's Transcultural Consumer," it delivers insight and strategy for marketers looking to connect with consumers of the top three emerging majorities in the US, i.e. Hispanic/Latino, Pacific-Asian and Asian-Indian. It's a quick guide designed to answer the "who, what, how and why" when considering multicultural strategies.
But Romley doesn't stop there. She then takes it a major step further. In her words: "Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Indian Americans are blurring the traditional symbols of ethnicity based on race, language, country-of-origin and culture. They are rapidly evolving and challenging the definition of 'ethnic' or 'multicultural' marketing. We need to go beyond the language of debate, beyond 'in-culture marketing,' beyond the re-purposed marketing cliches. We need to give marketers the tools necessary to understand the drivers behind behavior so they can develop relevant and effective connections that resonate with today's transcultural consumer."
Romley adds: "No tenemos que ser parte de una cultura distinta a la nuestra para comprender las diferencias entre nosotros. Pero si debemos manténar y estar orgullosos de nuestra identidad, y al mismo tiempo respetar la identidad de otros. Los que dejaran su marca en un futuro, son aquellos que ven mas aya de una raza o color de piel, y traen valores a si mismos y a los clientes con los cuales trabajan.”
The field guide is available October 29 for purchase on Amazon.com and retails for $24.95. Go grab a copy!
Insights And Observations On The Transcultural Consumer
Source: Hispanic Market Weekly
October 01, 2007
Valerie Romley of San Francisco-based Moving Target Research Group, knows a little bit about the "transcultural" consumer - defined as a foreign-born U.S. resident who has selected bits and pieces of American culture while steadfastly maintaining traits of their home culture.
"I moved to the U.S. from Spain at age 8," says Romley. "I'm a transcultural consumer myself, and sensed the challenge of having brands not relating to me or having brands speak to me."
Today, Romley notes, "We live in an era of cultural diversity and pride, and no longer in a world where it was 'adapt or move on.' You had to leave all of your values behind and find the New American Identity in order to survive.
" Now, in an effort to help brands cross what she calls a cultural divide by better understanding the dimensions of today's consumer, Romley has penned a "field guide" that includes insight and strategy for connecting to not only Latinos, but also Asian-Americans and immigrants from the subcontinent - including Indians and Pakistanis.
"There are many people who are stuck in the cultural middle - living in the U.S. but bringing values from their home country," Romley says. "But this is more readily accepted today. They are adopting, and adapting, to what they like. Thus, they are creating a new identity that crosses borders and language."
For marketers and advertisers, this means conducting the right research and properly interpreting the results. The first task, says Romley, in getting the message out the right way is understanding who the target is.
"By that, we don't mean, 'Go into the Latino marketplace and talk to Latino consumers'," Romley explains. "This involves more than using macro segmentation models and acculturation levels. Asking a person what in-language programming they watch doesn't really say anything about their aspirations, or their social environment at home and at work."
On that subject, Romley adds of the transcultural Hispanic, "Identity changes according to context. Are they aware of your product? Do they understand the benefits? We take down the funnel and drill down to who they are looking for."
But micro segmenting the U.S. Latino marketplace may be too much, and targeting Hispanics differently in one metropolitan area compared to another is not what Romley is suggesting.
"There are commonalities in the non-Latino market as well as differences, and the same goes for the Hispanic market," she says. "It's also the same for Asians. What language are they using? How do we reach them?"
Romley points to Conill's "Camryality" television campaign from fall 2006 (HMW Archives 10/11/2006. Hot Spots
"Part of its success was the whole hidden camera and reality TV concept," she notes. "But it really goes beyond that by showing Latinos in real situations and showing them in a car - making fun of some features while also saying what they think is cool. The spots gave the message to Latinos that 'Toyota understands me'."
The commercials real success? "It portrayed Latinos as themselves, not this vision of what Madison Avenue thinks Hispanics are today," Romley says.
In her book, "Beyond Translation: The Marketer's Field Guide to Understanding Today's Transcultural Consumer," Romley's aim is to enlighten brand marketers, CHMOs and CEOs and get them to understand that the U.S. Hispanic market "is a fluid and an evolving market."
A "first edition," the book will be available starting October 29th on Amazon.com. A second edition, due in 2008, will include results from an in-person research study of the multicultural consumer in the U.S.
September 21, 2007 (San Francisco)
Source: PRNewswire
Valerie Romley of Moving Target Research Group, a market research consultancy, which helps brands cross the cultural divide by better understanding the dimensions of today’s consumer, is set to launch her new book, "Beyond Translation; The Marketer's Field Guide to Understanding Today's Transcultural Consumer", on October 29th.
BEYOND TRANSLATION delivers insight and strategy into connecting with the consumers of the top three emerging majorities in the US: the Hispanic/Latino, Pacific-Asian and Asian-Indian markets; and, is designed as a guide for marketers to quickly understand who, what, how and why consumers respond to marketing strategies.
Many of the insights focus on the key dimensions of culture and context that simultaneously drive conflicting behavior and prevent effective communication across cultures. “Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Indian Americans are blurring the traditional symbols of ethnicity based on race, language, country-of-origin and culture,” explains Valerie Romley, Chief Research Officer, Moving Target Research Group.
“They are rapidly evolving and challenging the definition of ‘ethnic’ or ‘multicultural’ marketing.” Today's multicultural consumers represent more than 100 million or one out of three people living in the US. The explosive growth of the multicultural community in the US has marketers abuzz on how to connect with this ever changing and increasingly powerful demographic. “The book goes beyond the language of debate, beyond ‘in-culture marketing,’ beyond the repurposed marketing clichés and gives marketers the tools necessary to understand the drivers behind behavior, so that they can develop relevant and effective connections that resonate with the core of today’s transcultural consumer,” added Romley.
BEYOND TRANSLATION illustrates some key failures that marketers most often commit and the resulting communication breakdowns. The field guide offers seven steps for cracking the multicultural code and connecting with today’s transcultural consumer. “When these steps are taken into consideration and properly executed, these insights can help marketers humanize and actually understand the consumer and the many dimensions that drive what can at times seem to be perplexing behavior,” notes Romley.