But, consistently working to deliver social impact among minority communities comes with certain challenges.
Brands and agencies have traditionally looked to hire staff from different races, ethnicities, genders and cultures to achieve multicultural expertise. But, multicultural marketing needs to go beyond maintaining diversity in the organisation, especially as communities of colour will soon become significant consumers as well as talent bases for brands and agencies.
To create a social impact, brands must ensure these communities of colour are educated, healthy, productive and financially stable. Additionally, global advertising festivals should also take note of and reward campaigns that try to make a difference in society. These campaigns should also beyond one-off efforts.
As multicultural marketing efforts often face obstacles like campaigns being politicised for the choice of issues, brands and agencies must pick their issues cautiously. They should also note that work revolving around social impact does not deliver immediate ROI. In fact, it might take a generation to witness the results of a deliberate financial literacy campaign for Black and Hispanic children. Brands should think of the long-term while creating campaigns with the aim to create a social impact.
[5 minute read]
