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Diversity
Marketing
By Jen DeTracey
How to Build Lasting Relationships in New Markets
ast December, I dropped by an RBC
Royal Bank location here in Vancouver
to speak to a teller about a financial
matter and discovered they were giving out
free 2012 calendars to their patrons. When I
asked for one, my teller handed it to me and
told me I was lucky because it was the last
one. This was confusing for me because I saw
other patrons approaching the information
desk to receive a calendar as I was leaving
the branch. I asked the woman at the desk if
there were more and she told me that those
calendars were the Chinese version.
I was impressed to see that this RBC branch
was catering to its local community by offering calendars in both Chinese and English.
Many financial institutions and corporations
in Canada and around the continent have
committed to investing marketing time and
money into attracting diverse “new markets”
of customers. These “new markets” include
people from specific ethnic backgrounds,
new immigrants, employees, and the LGBT
(lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender) community.
Diversity marketing is not a quick fix to
growing a brand’s customer base. It’s a longterm proposition with benchmarks that are
more difficult to clearly define than running
a coupon promotion and being able to monitor your franchisees’ return on investment
as an instant and measurable outcome. It’s a
marketing strategy that can be likened to
building a long-term relationship with a loved
L
one; in this case, the loved one is a community of people.
So, with all these unknown variables, why
do corporations make this commitment? I believe the driving factors are opportunity and
corporate responsibility.
Ethnic Communications, a Toronto-based
consulting agency that works with clients in
ethnic marketing, reports the following data
as crucial information to consider when exploring the opportunities and benefits of
diversity marketing:
- In the next decade, 70% of retail sales
growth in Canada will likely come from
visible minorities (Toronto Star, Sept. 14,
2010).
- At least half of Vancouver’s and Toronto’s
population will be made up of visible minorities by 2017, of which Chinese and
South Asian will represent the two largest
single groups (Statistics Canada).
- Diversity Marketing Services Inc. states
that their DMS Media Partner network can
As seen in TheFranchiseVoice | FALL 2012 | www.cfa.ca
reach more than 4.5 million households in
more than 17 target market segments in
more than 60 languages. The largest multicultural populations in Canada includes
Chinese, South Asian, Black, Arab, Filipino, Latin American, South Asian and
South East Asian.
Statistics on the population of the LGBT community in Canada are more difficult to determine, but there is speculative data available.
According to The International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce’s LGBT Market
Overview report, more than two million people out of a total population of 33.4 million in
Canada are members of the LGBT community.
This statistical data presents a very strong
incentive for corporations to consider focusing on market segmentation aimed at the
diversifying range of Canada’s growing population.
The other hook in diversity marketing is
Diversity marketing is not
a quick fix to growing a
brand’s customer base
© 2012, Canadian Franchise Association. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not
be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the publisher.
Diversity marketing needs to
be looked at in a holistic
fashion in the communities a
brand wants to reach
corporate responsibility. About seven years
ago, TD Bank Group realized that their LGBT
employees were not as comfortable as they
wanted to be in their work environment.
Once these issues were uncovered, the TD
Bank Group strove to create an environment
of inclusiveness and drafted policies to support this process.
Hilary Woods, Senior Manager of Marketing
Planning for TD Bank Group, explains the importance of moving in this direction.
“Reaching out to diverse communities is a
journey,” she says. “Before you ask for the
business, ask yourself these vital questions:
Is my house in order? Are my policies and
culture in the workplace inclusive? Do my
employees feel comfortable being themselves at work? Would the community and
our employees recognize and appreciate
your sustained commitment and investment?
“Once you are satisfied with the answers to
these questions, you’ll know that you are
driving to the goal of earning the right to
ask for the business. You can’t jump any of
these steps.”
Woods adds: “TD strives to be the better
bank through long-term commitments and
strategies. Diversity is not a passing fancy or
fad. It is core to our mission and values. It is
this ‘stick-to-it-iveness’ that has earned us
the trust required to be a leader in financial
services and diversity.”
TD Bank Group leverages their strong relationships with their employees to ask for business in the communities they identify with.
This has been an effective approach for them.
Syed Raza, Director of Media Strategy for
Ethnic Communications, calls attention to
the growing diversity in new immigrants to
Canada and the opportunities that presents
to corporations.
“Canada is a mosaic for culture. People are
coming from different parts of the world,”
said Raza. “Immigrants new to Canada are
looking to buy businesses. Many are very interested in opening a franchise. This is where
being visible is important. Most prefer to find
out about business opportunities in their
own language first.”
Raza adds: “Reaching out to ethnic communities through mainstream media is not
effective. Decisions, although made by individuals, are highly influenced by the joint
family system. This starts by being visible in
community publications or media.”
Raza also encourages businesses to build
their brand by integrating specifically into
the desired market segment. Cultural festivals are an excellent way to give the brand a
strong presence in a local community.
Diversity marketing needs to be looked at
in a holistic fashion in the communities a
brand wants to reach. I recommend looking
at where your franchisee locations are most
predominant in Canada. From there, explore
which market segments seem the most feasible. A good starting point will be to learn
what specific culture or community lifestyle
the employees in specific regions are rooted
in and go from there.
Once the market segments are identified
and staff from these communities are fully
represented in the areas where marketing
will take place, then a healthy mix of exposure and engagement is important.
Acknowledgement and celebration of specific ethnic groups or the LGBT community
can start with posters or banners for special
events such as the Chinese New Year or
Pride Parade. Involving staff in attending special events with their community on behalf
of the brand can be effective. When running
ads with chosen media outlets, displaying
these ads at predetermined locations to reinforce the message can also deliver a strong
message.
For instance, Figure 1 is TD Bank Group’s ad
targeting the South Asian market.
As seen in TheFranchiseVoice | FALL 2012 | www.cfa.ca
Figure 1
Telecom company TELUS is also striving to
lead the way in terms of ethnic and LGBT
community marketing.
Kenn Hamlin, Director of Special Projects
and Community Investment at TELUS, said:
“TELUS has a long-standing commitment to
inclusion and diversity in the workplace and
local community. Since 2000, TELUS and its
employees have donated more than $1 million to LGBTQ organizations across Canada
through a variety of programs.”
TELUS has even created an offshoot of
stores, starting in Vancouver, focusing on
lifestyle-oriented consumers.
“Caya is a sophisticated new brand of boutiques powered by TELUS,” said Hamlin.
“Caya boutiques appeal to progressive,
trend-setting urbanites. Caya encourages you
to ‘Come As You Are’.”
At the Vancouver Queer Film Festival, Vancouver’s second-largest film festival, Caya
gave out promotional buttons (Figure 2). One
had an image of two females and the other
with two males.
Figure 2
TELUS has been involved in ethnic marketing
since the late 1990s, and this gives TELUS an
advantage, explains Jagjot Singh, Manager of
Multicultural Marketing at TELUS.
© 2012, Canadian Franchise Association. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not
be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the publisher.
to help with this process;
4. Having a good mix of brand exposure and
engagement;
5. Looking at this process as a long-term relationship.
Following these simple steps – and adhering to them – will boost the effectiveness of
your company’s strategy of marketing to specific cultural groups, and seeing a positive
impact on the bottom line.
“Investing in ethnic marketing allows TELUS
to reach customers who may not consume
mass media and those who may have unique
product or service needs compared to those
of an average mainstream customer, like international long distance plans,” said Singh.
“These products would generally not be advertised to the masses because of relevancy.”
Based on the examples of large Canadian
corporations in this article, it is clear how
integrating diversity marketing into your
franchise system – if you have not done so
already – requires you to commit to:
1. Having your own house in order first;
2. Knowing what segments to focus on;
3. Hiring an agency with specific expertise
As seen in TheFranchiseVoice | FALL 2012 | www.cfa.ca
About the Author:
Jen DeTracey is a strategic alchemist and one
of Canada’s top marketing experts. Lift
Strategies helps franchisors put effective marketing systems in place so that their franchisees
have the best tools to succeed. DeTracey’s
proven 5-Step Strategic Marketing Process, the
LIFFT® Process, has helped thousands of businesses. Jen delivers these tools through her Lift
Strategies book, consulting, training programs
and keynote speaking at conferences and conventions. You can reach Jen at 1-877-255-2098
or at [email protected].
MEMBER SINCE: 2012
© 2012, Canadian Franchise Association. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not
be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the publisher.