Understanding the Mutli-Cultural Market

Understanding the Multi-Cultural Market:The MCC Insight Study 2007



Multi-Cultural Communications (MCC)

MCC is a specialist multi-cultural communications practice within leading globalpublic relations firm, Weber Shandwick. With unmatched relationships in the media,political and commercial world, MCC enhances brand visibility and enforces positivecompany reputations amongst diverse audiences in the UK via media and PRstrategies. Clients include: Transport for London, Roche, SABMiller plc, Orangeand the Department for International Development.

Multi-Cultural Insight Study, 2007

MCC commissioned national research to demonstrate the differences in brandpreferences of prominent ethnic minority groups and to gain a closer understandingof attitudes towards mainstream representation. An online survey of over 1000 whiteand ethnic minority consumers (aged 18-35 yrs) was implemented. The aim was tocompare marketing perceptions and explore brand preferences in the followingsectors: cosmetics, fashion, beverages, supermarkets, automobiles, financialservices, celebrities and media.

The findings highlighted marked differences between ethnic minority groupscompared to the mass, white population in the UK. They were also indicative of someof the key challenges and obstacles brands and companies will continue to faceif steps are not taken to effectively communicate with Britain’s ethnic minorities.

Rakhee Vithlani, Head of Multi-Cultural Communications at Weber Shandwickstates: “As the UK becomes increasingly diverse, companies are steadily realisingthe opportunities of communicating to the multi-cultural market, but it is apparentthat many still do not fully understand how to effectively tune in”.

Our study shows that:

• At least one in two of all ethnic groups, including half of the white population, believe that consumer brands often use ethnic faces in advertising as a token gesture.

• At least three-quarters of Asian (77%) and Black (78%) people and half (51%) of Chinese people in the UK are worried that marketing by mainstream brands has little or no relevance to them.

• 75% of Black, 63% of Asian and 54% of Chinese people believe that consumer brands are not aware of how to market to individuals from ethnically diverse backgrounds, compared to 31% of white people.

Ethnic minorities in the UK are growing in population at a phenomenal rate andsome already have an incredibly high spending power. It’s time for thecommunications industry to take this opportunity very seriously before it istoo late”.

This document summarises the key findings from the MCC Insight Study, 2007together with demographic and national economic data. It also indicates mediapenetration levels per ethnic group.

For further information and contact details please refer to the back of this document.

Methodology

�• The Multi-Cultural Insight Study, conducted by KRC Research Methodology and sample size:

1.1044 online interviews with adults (48% aged 18-24 and 52% aged 25-35)

2. Male respondents totalled 44% and female respondents totalled 56%

�• The ethnic backgrounds were proled in accordance with The National Census 2001, the breakdown was as follows:

1. White - 509

2. Non-White - 535: �• Chinese - 90, �• Black - 177; Black African - 89, Black Caribbean - 88,�• Asian - 268; Indian - 94, Pakistani - 90, Bangladeshi - 84

MCC


1. National Census, April 2001 2. Data Management and Analysis Group, Greater London Authority, Nov 20063. Incomes Data Services (www.incomesdata.co.uk/studies/racequal.htm) 4. MCC Insight Summary, 20075. Business & IPA 6. FT, 2007

The Facts

• In 2001 non-White ethnic minorities comprised 8.1% of the total UK population or 4.6 million people. Since 1991 ethnic communities have increased by 53% (from just over 3 million or roughly 5.5%). They are projected to represent 12% of the UK population by 2011.1

Figure 1Regional distribution of the minority ethnic population1

(*Other: regions <3% (North East, South West, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland)

• The ethnic minority population is largely concentrated in metropolitan centres with nearly half (45%) living in the London region.

Figure 2Projected total population of ethnic minority groups in London, 2001-2026 2

• In 2026 the total population of London is projected to increase by 789,000 to 8.3 million, an increase of 10.5 per cent. By this year 38.5 per cent of London’s population is also projected to be from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic group.

Spending Power

• Ethnic minority consumers have significant disposable incomes and recent figures indicate that by 2011 that total will be as much as £300 billion.3 In certain sectors ethnic minority consumers tend to spend more per head than the national average, for example, Black and Asian consumers spend 44% more on clothing per month than White consumers.4

• Black and Asian consumers are also estimated to earn up to £156billion after tax income, with young men being the bigger consumers and spending £32billion every year.5

• Although not captured in the last National Census, it is worth noting that the ‘Polish Pound’ (the disposable income of the more than 600,000 immigrants from Poland living in the UK) is estimated to be worth as much as £4billion a year.6

The Facts


Brand Choice

The MCC Insight Study 2007 unveiled which brands are prevalent amongst eachethnic minority group compared to the White population. The findings are insightful.

Firstly, mainstream brands which are actively applying communications strategies toreach diverse audiences are clearly reaping the benefits, as demonstrated by Tescoand HSBC, both companies of which are highly active in this space.

Secondly, niche and specialist products which are tailored to meet specific needs arealso doing well as can be seen here through brands such as Dark & Lovely, a haircare product designed specifically for the UK’s Black community.

Thirdly, a sector which will continue to see major growth is the cosmetics industry, asboth products and communications strategies are designed specifically with ethnicconsumers in mind.

Finally, celebrity-driven campaigns are often an effective method of marketing totarget audiences. However, choosing the right celebrity needs careful consideration,especially with campaigns aimed at specific ethnic minority groups. For example,when Black respondents were asked who they most admire, Black celebritiesclaimed the top three spots in every single category.

A list of all the top brands and celebrities per group can be seen here, to the right.

Figure 3aMulti-Cultural Insight Study: Top brands for each group

Figure 3bMulti-Cultural Insight Study: Top brands for each group

The Power


Figure 4Ethnic Minority Britain at a glance


7. The YouGov/ITV survey, 2006 8. The Guardian Newspaper research, 2005

Mainstream Media Choice

According to the MCC Insight Study, 2007, the internet is extremely popularamongst ethnic minority groups, and it is the preferred medium for news,fashion and lifestyle information for those aged 18-35.

Figure 5Results when respondents were asked: Which two of the followingdo you most turn to for information such as news, fashion and style?

Television:• When thinking about television news, the top channels’ news programmes normally watched at least once a week by Asian, Black and Chinese are BBC1 (first), ITV and Channel 4 (joint second).7

• When asked to choose which television news programme is most effective at covering ethnic minority issues, Asian, Black and Chinese respondents stated Channel 4 News (first), BBC1 News (second) and BBC2 Newsnight (third).7

Newspapers:• Ethnic minority readership of quality newspapers is also varied: Independent on Sunday: 19%, Financial Times: 15%, Times: 10%, Independent: 9%, Guardian: 9%, Sunday Times: 8%, Observer: 8%, Sunday Telegraph: 6%.8

However, a high percentage of ethnic minority groups still feel that they are notalways accurately represented in the mainstream media:

Figure 6Percentage of respondents that agree that mainstream TV programmes,such as soap operas often do not accurately represent their ethnic group

Many companies believe that to reach ethnic minority audiences, advertising in oneor two specific ethnic minority medium is sufficient. Although this goes some way,indications clearly show that the influence of media to ethnic minority groups stemsacross national to niche, and across newspapers to internet. MCC advises clients onhow to reach groups by first identifying the audience needs, cultures and influencesand then focusing on the a tailor made solution to reach them.

Media


Contact details: For further information about any of the findings in this documentor for PR and media relations’ support enquiries, please email the MCC team on:

[email protected] or call 0207 067 0000.

Alternatively, visit our site: www.webershandwick.co.uk

Understanding the Mutli-Cultural Market

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