New York — One-third of food retailers have beefed up their ethnic-marketing initiatives, according to an SN survey.
When asked which types of consumer promotions they're using more than before, 33% said ethnic marketing, compared with 21% who said integrated marketing and 17% who said experiential marketing, according to a proprietary email survey SN conducted in July and August. Of 242 respondents, 32% were manufacturers, while 22% were retailers. Others included wholesalers and sales agents.
When asked to describe their ethnic marketing:
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33% of retailers said their companies have developed separate consumer-marketing initiatives targeting ethnic shoppers, primarily Hispanics.
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17% said their companies have developed new ethnic foods and beverages.
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17% have begun using bilingual packaging.
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17% said their companies have begun to use people of multiple countries of origin in advertising.
Respondents also said they're meeting the needs of ethnic shoppers by hiring Spanish-speaking employees and using culturally relevant signage.
“Our hiring is focused on bilingual [employees],” one retailer respondent wrote. “We're also using a lot of bilingual signs.”
Food manufacturers are also increasingly supportive of multicultural marketing:
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28% said they have developed new ethnic foods and beverages.
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26% said their companies have created separate consumer-marketing initiatives targeting ethnic shoppers.
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20% have begun using bilingual packaging.
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20% have begun to use people of multiple countries of origin in advertising.
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18% have created a dedicated ethnic marketing group.
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26% said they're strengthening their ethnic marketing programs.
