Ethnic marketing in Britain
Why invest in a multicultural campaign?
Does your brand want to sell products or services to an ethnically diverse market? Ethnic (a.k.a. multicultural) marketing is the absolute basis for effectively reaching customers. The multicultural nature of the population is growing in many European countries, as well as in the United States – up to 40% of the US population is made up of people from cultural minorities.
The UK is also home to many representatives of other nationalities. More than 5% of the population is Pakistani, and many Chinese, Bengalis, Italians, Germans and Poles are also starting a new life in Britain. Each of these groups requires a different marketing approach. The multicultural marketing process in the UK presents a major opportunity for brands looking for effective ways to reach a new customer base.
You will fill the gaps and make inclusive groups feel seen
As an agency specialising in developing multicultural strategies for the UK, US or German markets, we notice how many gaps in the market are still untapped. Few brands understand the needs of particular ethnic minorities and therefore fail to see the buying potential that lies within them. For example, we often find that no brand in a particular industry in the UK market offers a product that meets the needs of Poles living there. Filling such a gap with a tailored product (with an effective multicultural advertising campaign in the UK) leaves you with absolutely no competition.
You increase brand loyalty across different ethnicities
Creating a multicultural marketing plan that relates to a specific culture or nationality and uses appropriate outreach methods not only increases brand awareness. It is also a phenomenal way to increase consumer identification with the brand.
You scrutinise the market more effectively
As a multicultural marketing agency in the UK, we always start every collaboration with clients with detailed market research. This enables us to better understand the needs, problems and buying habits of an ethnic or cultural group. We are able to clearly explain to the client the mistakes that have been made so far, as well as which sectors are worth investing in and which are not.
You reduce marketing efforts and costs
Standardised marketing targeting a mass audience works well in two cases: a highly recognisable brand or a market with little ethnic diversity. Advertising messages targeted at narrow groups reduce the number of audiences, but their precision and tailoring to the target make for a much higher conversion rate. This makes more efficient use of the marketing budget.
Appropriate message is the key to success in ethnic marketing
The most important role of ethnic marketing is to reach recipients of a specific nationality or ethnicity, who live in a country other than their native country. Therefore, we use unique marketing techniques – created in their mother tongue, and that contain elements of their culture.
Brands who want to run multicultural marketing campaigns have to take into account many important factors. Intuition will not be enough here. We know how to research the needs and wants of your target audience, and what marketing techniques to implement to reach Poles, no matter where they live. We can develop and implement measurable campaigns that not only build brand awareness in new markets, reach your audience that you want to target, position you as an expert or market leader, but also drive sales.
Every ethnic group is different
More than one million Poles live in Britain with over £300 billion worth of disposable income. How to successfully reach them? By utilising Polish multicultural marketing. We know how to create an appropriate message, what media to choose, and how to plan the entire campaign to reach Poles. We provide engaging comms campaigns, targeting Poles from all over the world.
Due to our unique links, experience and expertise, we can also prepare and execute campaigns for Romanian, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Albanian and Czech communities in Britain. Our multicultural marketing campaigns have proved to be very effective also in countries such as Poland, Germany, France, Norway, and Ireland too.
Multicultural marketing strategy
People who identify with a particular cultural identity share the same values and views that influence their purchasing processes. That is why it is so difficult for foreign brands to build appropriate communication, aimed at communities with different consumer behaviour than their existing customers. When creating a marketing plan, we take into account, customers’ unique experiences – because they have an impact on the criteria for choosing products or services and the way content is consumed.
When building an impactful communication plan for a given country or ethnic group, we examine their habits, language, lifestyle, culture, experiences, communication patterns with brands and beliefs about them. Multicultural consumers often adopt behaviours typical of several cultures at the same time – it is impossible to confine them to a uniform framework. We will analyse your target group’s needs and create communication appealing to them.
Multicultural marketing – we make strategies that work
Which marketing tools are most cost-effective in multicultural marketing? From the perspective of an ethnic marketing agency in the UK, we can identify several areas worth investing in:
Digital marketing
- Social media
Social media communication aimed directly at the different ethnicities and cultures is an effective and low-cost method of reaching them. However, a number of factors need to be taken into account here that influence the effectiveness of the measures: linguistic correctness, cultural knowledge and the general characteristics of the target group in question (cultural identity, habits, character, shopping habits, online behaviour, etc.).
- Internet advertisements
These are mainly ads in the Google ecosystem (e.g. search engine ads, banner ads on minority-dedicated websites, ads on YouTube) and precisely targeted advertising in social media, especially in the Meta ecosystem (i.e. Facebook, Instagram and Messenger). The key to successful advertising, however, is not only choosing the right target group, but also an advertising message that catches the eye of the audience and makes them see themselves reflected in the brand’s content.
- Content marketing
From the experience of multicultural and inclusive marketing experts, we know how content marketing works in many industries. This applies mainly to the service sector (e.g. insurance or advice: accounting, financial, tax, medical, etc.). Both interesting content on social media, guest posts on blogs popular with minorities and sponsored articles published on selected portals, work fantastically here.
Offline multicultural marketing
- Traditional media
There is a major pitfall for brands that want to start implementing ethnic marketing activities. The key to success is not the national media – most ethnic minorities (especially in the UK or the US) do not use them. Instead, they choose their own media. Advertising on TV, in the print press or on minority-specific radio (that resonates with minorities) is capable of producing spectacular results.
- Outdoor advertising and distribution of printed material
Billboards, posters, leaflets, advertisements on buses, taxis or bus stops and other forms of street advertising are, in our opinion, the most effective tools for reaching ethnic minorities. However, it is important to remember that the location of the advertisement or where the printed material is distributed is key. Usually, when working with brands, we opt for areas around airports and train stations, or parts of the city inhabited by expats.
- Sponsorship of events targeted multicultural communities
Most often, we coordinate the sponsorship of local events organised for given cultural minorities, or general events for expats. We help our clients choose the form of cooperation, contact the organiser of the event, take care of securing the appropriate contract, and keep an eye on brand exposure during the event. The sponsorship of local sports teams also yields great results.
Multicultural marketing to Poles
We are an agency with a Polish pedigree and specialise in multicultural marketing to Poles living in the UK. The Polish community in the UK has a population of around 700,000 people who support various areas of the UK economy (mainly hospitality, catering, retail, construction, as well as the B2C service sector).
The Polish customer is not a trusting type of consumer and is very different from the British customer. They are more tempted by all kinds of promotions, samples, free goodies or discounts. As research shows, Poles are mainly guided by the price of the product when making purchasing decisions. However, the Polish population is not a homogeneous group, and successive generations living in the UK are becoming more and more like Western customers. The most visible change is affecting younger customers (millennials and Generation Z). This is why we start every collaboration on multicultural marketing to Poles with a detailed study of our client’s target group.
How do we do it?
As one of the most experienced marketing agencies for multicultural audiences, we have had the opportunity to work with brands from many different sectors:
- cosmetics
- clothing
- food
- tourism and telecommunications
- legal, tax and financial
- publishing
- new technologies
- B2B marketing targeting minority-owned businesses
- and others
The effectiveness of a campaign targeting an ethnic minority is the result of an inclusive approach, market research, strategy and appropriate outreach methods selected for the narrow customer group. As a specialised PR agency, our marketers identify ethnic groups and handle the entire marketing and advertising process from A to Z:
- We study the market potential and demographics precisely.
- We segment the audience into specific ethnic or cultural groups and subgroups.
- We create a consumer base.
- We learn about the problems they face, purchasing needs, buying power, and other nuances of potential minority customers.
- We analyse the activities of the brand’s competitors.
- We select communication tools and media to distribute the advertising message that resonates with the audience.
- We build the entire marketing mix and implement it.
- We create a multicultural marketing strategy – short-term and long-term.
- We analyse and report the results.
Let us reach your Polish customers
With extended cultural background and well-prepared research, we are able to provide an effective communication plan and bring creative solutions that meet your clients’ needs. We specialise in cross-cultural dialogue that builds bridges between people from different backgrounds and cultures. We believe that knowledge of cultural differences is the first step to understanding your clients. By using the power of ethnic marketing, we help you to successively and authentically communicate with multicultural communities in their own language. If you are ready to engage your audience from new markets, contact us today. Let’s celebrate diversity!