IPG’S MAGNA WELCOMES THE NEW MAINSTREAM IN STATE OF VIDEO REPORT

Author Charlene Weisler
Source: mediavillage.com, March 2019

This is the time to take an acculturation approach to multicultural marketing and measurement, believes Brian Hughes, Executive Vice President Audience Intelligence and Strategy, Magna (a division of IPG Mediabrands).  Hughes notes that we are on the way to a multicultural majority in America by 2060, with 2044/45 as the tipping point.  IPG’s just released “The State of Video Report” maps what Hughes calls, “the new mainstream” where multiculturalism is taken into account in creative messaging.  The plethora of datasets coming from various sources, the fragmentation of audiences and platforms and the ever-advancing technology that is changing media usage are all challenging the way marketers are shaping their business plans to reach the right audiences.  But there is also increasing pressure on the creative to break through viewer distraction, ad avoidance and blocking.  Hughes points out there are a growing number of digital and mobile opportunities for brands to connect with this multicultural population.

Findings from the Magna study upset many previous notions of how some ethnic groups respond to commercial messages and what languages most effectively connect advertising to content.  Hughes argues that marketers and agencies need more nuanced approaches to marketing investments, with the State of Video Report offering guidelines.

1. Spanish language programming does not necessarily reach a large percentage of young Hispanics.  There are great differences within the Hispanic population if we look at nativity, language used at home and out of the home and the number of years in the country, with the greatest behavioral differences occurring in nativity.
2. The majority of American Hispanics (65%) are born in the U.S., which has always been the case according to Dr. Jake Beniflah, Executive Director, Center for Multicultural Science, who conducted the study.  Most Latinos are young; 75% of those born in America are age 35 or under while foreign born are 66% Generation X and Boomers.  Each group has different language uses, preferences and habits … and will respond to advertising differently.
3. In the case of Spanish-language TV, there is a difference between native and foreign born.  Older viewers prefer Spanish language content on linear.  U.S.-born viewers view less in-language TV than foreign born.
4. It is acculturation rather than assimilation.  When it comes to creative, a general rule applies.  “[Consumers have] to see themselves in the ad,” stated, Leslie Wood, Chief Research Officer, Nielsen Catalina.  It has to make [them] feel good about themselves and be their best [selves].  “When that happens in an ad it resonates with consumers,” she said.
5. “Race matters in getting measurement right,” Wood noted.  When a product has a connection to culture and integrates that connection into the ad messaging, the response is tremendous.  When it comes to measurement, according to Hughes, Nielsen has existing data sets that “enable us to [capture insights on] a more nuanced set of multicultural audiences, but we are not using them today.”

The IPG study establishes that these nuances need to be addressed not only in the creative message but also in the media mix and platforms used. When a marketer applies nativity to campaign spend, there is an increase in ROI, according to Beniflah.

“We are stuck in same ways of doing things in general,” concluded Hughes.

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