Think Multicultural

A few months ago I posted some interesting data on the commercial potential of the disabled market in the U.S. I think the next 2-3 years will bring a lot of change and attention to this market and the broader importance of other related segments as 3 major trends come together:

1. Section 508 and Universal Design initiatives expand beyond the Federal government
2. Increasing numbers of aging Baby Boomers going online
3. The 2010 Census

Since 2005, pretty much every Federal agency and all of their departments have made their Web sites Section 508 compliant. In case you’re not up on Section 508 compliance, it basically means that a Web site is built in such a way that it can be used just as easily by someone who is disabled (and their assistance technology like screen readers for the blind) as someone who is not. However, more and more non-Federal entities are embracing the basic tenets of universal design embodied in Section 508 requirements. The ITTATC defines universal design as the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. I know we are seeing more and more clients request accessibility as a requirement during Web site redesign projects.

Another big trend that is increasing the market for accessible Web sites is the increase in the aging Baby Boomer population that is going online. In 2006, the leading edge of the Baby Boom generation turns 60. Moreover, 60 million U.S. baby boomers that will use the Internet this year (eMarketer “Baby Boomers and Silver Surfers: Two Generations Online,” Dec 2007) In fact, the over-60 online population will be a large and growing segment , going from 17.7 million Internet users in 2006 to 25.3 million in 2011. Considering that the 2000 U.S. Census found that 41.9% of adults 65 years and older identified themselves as having a disability, there is a growing mass market for accessible Web communications.

Finally, the 2010 Census will undoubtedly bring to the forefront fresh new data on both the disabled and aging populations, as well as their technology usage. What is now a niche area of communications and technology strategy will undoubtedly become a front-page story, with a mass of government and commercial organizations rushing to service this new “demographic” online.

These trends all point to need for organizations to take an integrated approach to their accessibility strategy now, that includes the disabled, the aging market, novice technology users and even non-English speaking audiences. Those organizations that start thinking and planning for this coming “wave” of information supporting the importance of universal design will be positioning to reap the benefits and expand their reach and/or customer-base.

To find out more about universal design and Section 508 compliance, check out a free Webinar by my agency making Web sites Accessible – http://webinar.sensisagency.com

Although the multicultural ad industry sometimes drags its feet getting into the digital age, the PR industry doesn’t seem to have that problem. Very early on, PR agencies and their clients realized the power of the Internet and of blogs in particular. The trouble that Wal-Mart and Edelman got into back in 2006 is a testament to this.

At ThinkMulticultural, we get outreach from time to time from PR agencies for companies like Wal-Mart and AT&T who want us to feature what great things their clients are doing in multicultural markets. This is done in hopes that something we write about those clients will reflect well upon them. That’s perfectly legitimate. Sometimes it is even interesting and we write about those things.

But there’s a downside to blog-outreach, and that’s the spam comment. Comments appear when someone writes in response to a post and it then appears below the post (see the “Submit Comment” box at the bottom of the page?). In contrast to real comments, spam comments are designed to look like real comments, but really are just links back to some other website, used to drive traffic and increase search rankings on Google.

We got a spam comment last week from a major multicultural media company. We were really surprised, because normally spam comments come from people selling Viagara and fake Rolex watches, not from large, legitimate companies.

We’re not going to name names this time, but you know who you are. And we know who you are. Do us all a favor - use legitimate PR and advertising. If you’re doing something interesting, we’ll write about it. Don’t drag down the conversation with cheap tricks like that.

Last week AdAge published an article basically stating that most marketers still do not understand multicultural markets. If you have a subscription to AdAge, you can read the article here.

The article only reinforces what I have already known about the decision-makers at large U.S. companies with significant ad budgets. Basically, they all know multicultural markets are a big opportunity and important for the success of their businesses, but the next tactical step is not so clear to them. This is evidenced by a statistic in the article that explains who these marketers typically reach out to for help. According to the Heidrick & Struggles / Brandiosity survey, of the 60 companies surveyed:
-58% use general market research firms
-51% use multicultural agencies
-42% use general market agencies
-35% multicultural research firms

While it makes sense to reach out to research firms first, the fact that GENERAL MARKET agencies are so often tapped for help decipher multicultural markets leads me to believe that there is a lot of confusion about multicultural specialists among marketers.

Are we not doing a good job of creating awareness of the 100+ Hispanic agencies, the dozens of African American and Asian agencies, or the countless specialist multicultural research and marketing firms out there? I wonder.