Does the emergence of a new mainstream in America reduce the need for

targeted ethnic marketing?

Some marketers would like to believe that in 2042, when current census projections predict the US will
become a majority-minority society, the promise of a new multicultural mainstream will be fully realized.
With Millennials leading the way, we will all speak, understand and appreciate the same lifestyle,
attitudinal and values language, the thinking goes. There will still be some ethnic and racial differences
among people, but our commonalities will far outnumber our points of difference, and marketers will be
able to reach everyone speaking with just one voice and using a single strategy based on the cultural
equivalent of Esperanto.

At The Futures Company, we believe that to assess a society’s degree of multiculturalism solely in terms
of demographic data is to overlook the attitudinal prerequisites of inter-cultural influence and thus of true
multiculturalism. Large population numbers only create more opportunities for interaction and influence;
they do not in themselves create a multicultural society. Inter-cultural and inter-ethnic influence grows from
the combination of increasing numbers and increasing cultural openness. In order to gauge accurately
how multicultural a society is, and therefore how far one can push an inclusive versus a targeted
marketing strategy and still effectively reach all of the racial and ethnic segments in a marketplace, you
need to measure and track cultural openness. This is as true today as it will be in 2042.

©2010 The Futures Company, Yankelovich MONITOR Minute, November 8, 2010

 The new mainstream and the need for targeted marketing
Cultural openness is the degree to which the historic boundaries between ethnic and racial groups are easily
crossed. Such porosity allows people to navigate without self-consciousness or social constraint across cultural
groups, absorbing elements that work within their preferred lifestyle but not necessarily at the cost of pride and
participation in their native culture. Within a culturally open society, cultural differences still exist, but they
represent a dimension of social richness and lifestyle choice rather than barriers to consumers manifesting a
common set of touchpoints and shared sensibilities.
Thus, a true multicultural society is one in which there is a high level of cultural openness and not just a large
11.08.10 number of consumers of different races and ethnicities living within the same borders. Within the context of full
cultural openness, targeted ethnic marketing strategies become largely obsolete as the correlation between
having a particular set of affinities or sensibilities and one’s ethnicity is generally low.
While some individuals in the US manifest a high degree of cultural openness, their numbers are not great
enough to herald the imminent arrival of a new multicultural mainstream and thus the end of days for targeted
ethnic marketing.
What the Data Say:
•  By 2042, 54%of the US population will be made up of Hispanics, African Americans and Asians.
•  While an appreciation of cultural differences and intercultural influences exists in the US, ethnic and racial identity is still a potent and emotionally laden dividing
line for many Americans.
What it Means in the Marketplace:
•  Beyond music, media, food and fashion choices (what we refer to as objective cultural elements), evidence of a deeper cross-pollination and influence at the
level of values, lifestyle preferences and shared sensibilities between ethnic and non-Hispanic White consumers is far less than the prevalence of intercultural
acceptance and appreciation would lead one to expect.
•  As the country continues to move towards ever greater levels of cultural openness, inclusive and inter-cultural marketing executions will continue to gain in
potential effectiveness. That said, it is premature to characterize the US as currently or imminently multicultural. For many people, multiculturalism, like beauty,
is only skin deep.
Monetizing the Insight:
•  Consumers with low levels of cultural openness are less likely to exhibit similarities in tastes and sensibilities across cultural and ethnic groups thereby
suggesting the advisability of a more targeted marketing strategy. In contrast, consumers with high levels of cultural openness are less likely to be put off by
marketing that is not designed with a particular ethnic sensibility in mind or that references cultural touch points that are not a part of their culture or ethnicity of
origin.
•  In general, as the country becomes more culturally open, a true multicultural society will develop and cultural relevance as we know it today will fade in
importance as a marketing imperative in favor of personal and lifestage relevance. In order to assess accurately the pace and current status of this movement
towards multiculturalism, marketers need to track cultural openness or run the risk of prematurely abandoning targeted ethnic outreach marketing strategies.
Want Some Help?
•  Do you want further detail on what cultural openness is, how to measure it, and what the cultural openness profile of your target consumers means for how
inclusive or targeted your marketing strategy should be? Call your MONITOR consulting team to discuss this critical concept in understanding the effect of the
increasing size of the African American, Hispanic, and Asian populations on the US marketplace.

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 Inter-cultural influence is valued
One of the best things about America is the
cultural diversity you find here *

84% 82% 78%

African Hispanics Non-Hispanic
Americans Whites

African Non-Hispanic
Americans Hispanics Whites

I appreciate the influence that other

cultures are having on the American 78% 77% 62%
way of life *

I have learned many new things from people

whose race or ethnicity differs from my own *
% %
* Source: Yankelovich MONITOR Multicultural Study 2010
82 77 69%
African Hispanics Non-Hispanic
Americans Whites
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 But true multiculturalism has yet to establish
itself fully
Discrimination is still a part of most Hispanics’/African Americans’
day-to-day lives *
% %
89 75
African Hispanics
Americans

I am often in situations where I feel I need to suppress how I

express my African American/Hispanic identity *
% %
42 38
African Hispanics
Americans
I feel closer to people who have the same nationality or
religious/ethnic background as my own **
Total Agree: 49%
I am uncomfortable with the changing ethnic
Source: makeup of this country **
* Yankelovich MONITOR Multicultural Study 2010
** Yankelovich MONITOR 2008; total population Total Agree: 45%
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slide within your organization. However, we request that you properly cite all information used with the following:
©2010 The Futures Company, Yankelovich MONITOR Minute, November 8, 2010
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