Can global tv networks such as Indian Zee TV, Turkish TRT or Brazilian SIC play a role in reaching your target audiences in culturally diverse Europe? Or are local networks better equipped to to the job?
Is brand awareness advertsing on mainstream television the best way to get your message across? Or are online games an effective tool to win the hearts and minds of your (potential) relations?
As a result of increasing competition on a global level, doordrops, outdoor, event communications, direct mail, direct email, and non-traditional styles of communications will become more important to ensure a maximum reach and maximum impact in your target group. For youngsters, new cross-cultural urban media are gaining a growing importance.
What’s your opinion?
In the Dutch city of Rotterdam, the local Leefbaar Rotterdam political party has experienced the negative effects of neglecting the growing force of Asian, African and South American voters. As a result, they have ‘encouraged’ this electorate to bring out their vote for the Leefbaar Rotterdam opponents.
The voter turnout among Asian, African and South American communities increased from approximately 35% in 2002 to approximately 50% in 2006. In comparison, the 2006 voter turnout of these communities in Amsterdam was only 31%. Leefbaar Rotterdam paid a heavy price for their negligence. On election night it received less than 1% of the Asian, African and South American vote, resulting in losing its position as the city’s largest single party in the local city council.
A lesson well learned for all commercial and governmental organisations. In the Europe of 2006, organisations cannot afford themselves to underestimate the power of this relatively new communities.
What’s your opinnion?
Some brands have a universal appeal. Others have not. Global brands like Nokia, Google and Nike are more likely to have a broader cross cultural appeal than local brands.
In many countries, advertisers use local values to promote their products and services. But do these traditional local values still do their job in a culturally diverse society? Do those values appeal to those with ‘foreign’ roots? In many cases, the answer is no. In the Netherlands in the early ninetees of the last century, the peanut butter brand Calvé used the pay off: ‘who has not grown up with Calvé?’ For millions of Dutch citizens with a non-Dutch ethnical background, it was easy to answer: ‘I didn’t grow up with Calvé!’. A few years later, the pay off was changed into ‘How big do you want to grow’? Without abandoning its brand value ‘energy to grow’, the brand suddenly extended its target audience to include the millions of ethnic communities who had not grown up with Calvé peanut buttter.
What’s your opinion?
Some believe marketers are far ahead of politicans when it comes to integrating migrant communities as an integral part of our European societies. What’s your view? Do you believe businesses are ahead of politicans?
With this website we intend to do more than just presenting TransCity and what we can do for you.
Through our Open Forum platform, we encourage you to share your views, questions and suggestions with all your colleagues in the marketing and communitions field and who are, just like you, confronted with ever changing challenges in our rapidly developing culturally diverse societies.
We encourage you to get the best out of this online platform… so please do not hesitate to make use of it!
Now join our Open Forum!
TransCity has recently welcomed Pia van Kleef in its network team.
Pia is an experienced market researcher and has been working with the Amsterdam based Motivaction Research for many years.
Pia is the co-author of two books on ethnic marketing. Pia will be involved in TransCity’s research proposals, field work, analysing results and subsequent recommendations.
Now go to the Network team page to read about our other team mates!