Falling Behind the Trends?
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A September 19 council examines how to learn from brand-building multicultural men.
If you’ve heard about edgy footwear from Greedy Genius, credit the multicultural men who discovered the pace-setting brand first. “Multicultural men, more than any other group, are spontaneous, confident experience-seekers and creators, who find new products, services and trends that compliment their lives,” notes Emanuel L. Basnight, Jr., account planner at Burrell Communications Group. “Their strong sense of individuality combined with diverse interests and high sense of uniqueness allow them to steer culture.”
But with young multicultural young men underrepresented in research samples, the advertising industry didn’t anticipate this trend, among others, says Emanuel, a colleague of ARF multicultural advertising council co-chair and Burrell vice president Kevin Brockinbrough. The ARF’s upcoming Multicultural Advertising Council offers ideas on how the industry can catch up in “Marketing to Multicultural Men – How They Differ and How to Reach Them.” The council takes place at the ARF’s New York City headquarters on Sept. 19, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. EST. ESPN’s James Ebron discusses research on how to tap into African American men’s emotional connection to sports to reach them. GlobalHue’s J.P. James presents new findings from the study, “The Psyche of the African American Male, with Marketing Implications.”
“When doing research, we need to look at all sides of the story,” notes council co-chair David Burgos, vice president of multicultural practices at Millward Brown. “Mainstream samples are not really mainstream. They are primarily Caucasian samples. There are several factors that contribute to this lower representation of ethnic groups in research samples. One important for Hispanics, for example, is that mainstream studies generally do not offer Spanish as a language of choice to respondents.”
Researchers also need to recognize the extent to which multicultural men interact with mass culture and with each other, notes David. “We know that Hispanics and African Americans are different from the mainstream and different from each other,” he notes. “However, they do not live in silos. They do interact among each other in many aspects and moments of their daily lives – especially the younger/urban population.”
To tap into those on the leading edge of trends, David recommends interviews with individuals and small groups who have been pre-identified as trendsetters and early adopters. “Another method that is very useful, especially at an exploratory phase, is 'observation',” he notes. “I think that the internet has made this much easier. You can learn a lot just by looking at what people are talking about online in blogs, groups, etc. We have a division, Precis, that specializes in this type of research specifically.”
The business rewards of learning more about multicultural men can be significant. This population is often the leader of trends in sports, cars, electronics, music and other key areas of the consumer marketplace, notes Emanuel. “Their credibility is built on the foundation of cool – self-confidence, effortless individuality, fun, freedom and rule breaking and self-expression – which is closely linked to the type of authenticity that brands need.”
Registration
Note: Council registration is now via My ARF. Simply log into your account, or create a new account if you don't already have one. If you have any questions, please contact Zena Pagan at councils@thearf.org.