Generate & Improve w/Online Video

Ask most major marketers what their primary concerns are today, and you’ll inevitably get back responses such as digital, cause marketing and multicultural marketing. But those three areas are far from mutually exclusive as the world becomes increasingly blended.

“Within the next three decades, Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians and other minorities, as well as young consumers, will become the country’s new majority,” Jeff Bewkes, Time Warner’s chairman-CEO, recently said in an internal memo calling for a company-wide revamp of multicultural initiatives under the heading, “The Multicultural Key to Our Growth.”

But beyond the sheer numbers — there are 103 million Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans that currently make up one-third of the U.S. population, and are projected by 2042 to become the majority of the nation’s population — this new majority will be a young, diverse group that consumes media very differently.

Their preferences, tastes and ways are influencing what is now known as the “general market.” And it is with this “new majority” in mind that some of the nation’s largest marketers are shifting the way they speak to multicultural audiences, shaping their messages to address a group that is increasingly complex and diverse.

That fact that African-Americans and Hispanics are two of the largest consumer groups in the small-car segment and also heavy users of social media like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube hasn’t been lost on Ford Motor Co. This year it rolled out “Ready Pa’ Tu Mundo” (“Ready for Your World”), a social-media, digital and web platform for the 2011 Ford Fiesta that focuses on young, bilingual Hispanics between ages 18 and 34. Unlike some previous efforts, “Ready Pa’ Tu Mundo” understands that young Latinos move comfortably in both languages, are heavy users of social media, and might be watching Univision or CNN, and they download — and upload — videos on YouTube.

“We understood through research that the bilingual, younger target represented a huge opportunity to position the Fiesta as something very relevant to them,” said David Rodriguez, Ford’s multicultural-marketing manager. The Ford Fiesta lets young drivers operate digital devices such as MP3 players or Bluetooth-enabled cellphones from one location via voice commands. It also offers hands-free control of applications such as internet radio and an app for Twitter on their smartphones.

“We needed to pitch the car features, of course, but mostly we wanted to put [our consumers] in charge,” Mr. Rodriguez said.

Visitors to readypatumundo.com are so much in charge that a patented “slider” lets them control how words appear, ranging widely from Spanish-based, English-based, Spanglish and everything in between. Once there, users interact with three young artists — Xavi, Alex and Ellie — who take them to a world of music, filmmaking and visual arts in their preferred mix of language.

General Mills’ approach
Targeting Hispanics and African-Americans is also an imperative at General Mills. In May, the company relaunched its Spanish-language effort “Que Rica Vida” (“What a Rich Life”) to include a more robust web presence and more content to help young Hispanic women better navigate their life in the U.S. In addition to QueRicaVida.com, General Mills is revamping its social-media push for “Feeding Dreams,” a community-driven effort targeting African-American families, which Rudy Rodriguez, General Mills multicultural-marketing director, says has already delivered double-digit sales growth for General Mills products in the African-American community.

Branded entertainment is also playing a role in multicultural marketing. One of the most innovative Hispanic marketers has been State Farm, whose efforts have included a project with their Hispanic shop Alma DDB and Fire Advertainment that created a real band of Mexican musicians to show how the insurance company helps immigrants realize their American dreams.

“We know the face of America is changing, and we want our marketing communications to mirror what’s going on in this country,” said Pamela El, VP-marketing at State Farm. “It’s very deliberate.”

“Ethnic segments are leading lifestyle trends,” McDonald’s USA Chief Marketing Officer Neil Golden said in a speech at last year’s ANA conference, adding that 40% of McDonald’s U.S. business comes from the Hispanic, Asian and African-American markets.

“Ultimately, what’s happening here is that multicultural audiences are no longer a separate market … they are the general market,” said Guy García, author of “The New Mainstream” and founder and CEO of Mentametrix.

Or, as Mr. Bewkes, of Time Warner, concluded in his internal memo: “It is more important than ever for us to get this right, because the future is coming faster every day.”

• Asian American population = 15+ million (Census est. 2009)
• Strong immigration (highest among Asian Indians, Chinese, and Filipinos)
• Growing # of descendants
• Relatively young, median age is 34

Buying power remains strong; median household income (08) at:

• $67K (versus US total population: $52K) // Chinese=$68K // Asian Indian=$90K // Filipinos=$80K // Korean=$54K // Vietnamese=$55K
• Annual buying power = ~$427+ billion (estimated to reach $670 billion by 2012)

Geographically, CA & NY are the best states to target mass Asians.

• Concentrated pop. #s
• Strong buying power
• Strong media presence

The CA Asian American Youth and Young Adult market is particularly important to watch

• 50% of students at 6 University of CA schools are Asian/Asian-American
• Above average income levels –> early adopters of technology; digitally

Cultural insights.

• Family: The majority of Asian Americans are either primed for parenthood, or their households include more than 3 (family values still important to most Asian-Americans)
• Education: 43% of Asian Americans hold a college degree (compared to 27.7% of total US population)
• Heritage: 1.5 and 2nd Generation Asian Americans still embrace traditions to stay connected to their roots (celebrate Lunar New Year; revisit/return to their ancestral ‘homeland’ – rise in “hai gui”

Asian-Americans, like other multicultural segments, are highly tech adoptive and responsive.

• The population of early adopting Asian Americans is growing – while the older generations of the segment are becoming more accustomed to new technologies.
• 76% of Asian Americans vs. 67.8% of non-Asians are regular users of the Internet
• Asian Americans over index in PC and smartphone ownership. As of Feb 2010, 95% of Asian Americans own PCs (as compared to 83% of the overall population.)
• Asian Americans (as well as Hispanics) are more likely to be influenced by a blogger recommendation to purchase a product or service than their non-Hispanic white counterparts

• ”Online video will die.” Director of Product Management Hunter Walk. he doesn’t mean this in the literal sense. He doesn’t mean that there will no longer be any video online, but rather that online video will become so much mainstream and that there will be such an increase in the quality of online video that there will no longer be a distinction between online video and offline video. http://ow.ly/1T8P9

• StreamingMedia East, Video Commerce: The Quiet Revolution in Online Video, was designed to eliminate some the confusion by highlighting not only real-life examples and results, also illustrating the progression of video as it evolves from early-stage ‘vision’ to becoming a core driver of successful multi-channel retail strategies. http://ow.ly/1T8UX

• U.S. Internet users watched 30.3 billion videos in April 2010. http://ow.ly/1Tekt

ETHNIC

• Indonesian is the top Asian language used on Facebook and the fifth most popular in the world. http://ow.ly/1SNCJ

• Hispanic consumers are projected to wield $1.33 trillion in spending power in 2014, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia. And this market actually increased its spending by 6.4% between 2005 and 2008, according to the Latinum Network.

BROADBAND

• The number of global mobile voice-over internet protocol (VoIP) users will reach 107 million by 2012. http://ow.ly/1SNEl

• 25% of US consumers accessed the internet via mobile phone at least once per day in February 2010. 40% of both men and consumers younger than 40 performed daily internet access with a mobile phone. http://ow.ly/1SNHF

• 1 of every 4 American homes (24.5%) had only wireless telephones during the last half of 2009-an increase of 1.8% points since the first half of 2009. In addition, one of every seven American homes (14.9%) had a landline yet received all or almost all calls on wireless telephones. http://ow.ly/1SO2C

AD SPENDING

• Ad expenditures rose 5.1% in Q1 2010 from a year ago, to $31.3 billion.

• Total B2B marketing and advertising spending will reach $129 billion this year, up just 0.8% from 2009. http://ow.ly/1T8r6

GENDER

• Women are clearly more involved in clipping coupons, surpassing males in just about all coupon sources except mobile phones. http://ow.ly/1SO0l

YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW

• Web. It’s for Entertainment.  http://ow.ly/1SNNN

• Top 1000 sites. http://ow.ly/1SNYm

• The latest estimates of telephone coverage, released last week by the National Center for Health Statistics, found that 25% of households (and 23% of adults) in the second half of 2009 had no landline service and only cell phone service (just 2% of households had no telephone service of any type). For certain subgroups in the population, the numbers are considerably higher: 30% of Hispanics are cell-only, as are 49% of adults ages 25-29. http://ow.ly/1SO5w

• That Pesky DVR Is Now Killing Off Bigger Pieces Of The TV Industry.  http://ow.ly/1SO96

• 10.8% growth in 2010 US Internet ad spending. http://ow.ly/1M9VW

• US spending on online advertisements will reach $25.1 billion, up from $22.7 billion. 5.5% growth. http://ow.ly/1M9VW

• U.S. Online Video Advertising Revenue Will Exceed $1.3 Billion in 2010. http://ow.ly/1PJft

GENDER SPECIFIC

• The “female economy” will drive $5 trillion in incremental global spending during the next several years, according to Boston Consulting Group. http://ow.ly/1M9Uz

ETHNIC GROUPS

• Latinos. A driving online force. http://ow.ly/1PHA3

• African Americans and Gen-Xers are significantly more likely to consider online health communities and Google search as a reliable source of information. http://ow.ly/1PI6U

• Great Chart. Click for full post. http://ow.ly/1PK0V

US Hispanic Internet Users and Penetration

• More than 180 million US net users watched 31.2 billion videos in March 2010.

• Online video views: 130.1 million in March 2009. 131.7 million in March 2010. 1.3% increase year-over-year. Solid numbers.

• African Americans spend more time online, 18 hours a week, than watching television (15 hours). http://ow.ly/1KK2Z

• African Americans spend 31 percent of their discretionary income, roughly $39 billion , on computers, cell phones, and other electronics. http://ow.ly/1KK2Z

• 93% of African Americans go online via their computers while 76% use their cell phone to access the internet. About 60% of African Americans have downloaded music, a television show, a movie, or a ringtone in the last month while 50% regularly check and update a social networking account. http://ow.ly/1KK2Z

• Nearly two-thirds (63%) of online Hispanics use the Internet for information for the final brand decision. http://ow.ly/1KKbJ

• Hispanics represent 9% of all U.S. buying power, according to the Selig Center. The $978 billion figure is expected to increase by 36% over the next five years, faster than the predicted 22% jump for the general population. http://ow.ly/1KKf2

• In 2008, 59.7% of the U.S. Internet population watched online video.  Just five years later, in 2014, it is expected that 77.0% of the U.S. Internet population will watch online video. http://ow.ly/1KKk3

Believe it or not, the 1st time out, was a ton of fun. Yeah…yeah. To an outsider, it’s showing up to a gun fight with a spork. But for me, “If I can hit that m’fing gunman in the head with a rock, me and Betsy(spork) would have the serious advantage.”  Okay, it’s a really HUGE IF.  But take note: between every huge obstacle, shines a ray of light – an opportunity. Plus, it’s insanely difficult to account for an unpredictable mind-set with a side of crazy enthusiasm. Bruuhhaahaaa.

The 2nd time around, started with a curious question “WHY DO I ONLY SEE PEOPLE LIKE ME FOR TWO YEARS OUT OF EVERY DECADE?” A little insight, I’m black. So let’s repeat, “WHY DO I ONLY SEE PEOPLE LIKE ME FOR ONLY TWO YEARS OUT OF EVERY DECADE?” Depending on who you chop-it-up with in conversation, the answer can either be complicated, way the frack-out there, who cares, or swept under the carpet as “it is what it is.” Bump that. It’s was time to evict the “Once In A  Blue Moon” with Gas Face top honors.

The seed was planted to climb mount awesome. Ascend to the highest peaks and plant the flag of truth. Slay the miserable “Once In A Blue Moon” dragon. I was straight up hyped and swoll to the umpth degree. So jumping right in was the thing to do? Whoa, whoa. Pump those brakes cowboy. Be smart. Be wise. Turn that spork into actionable knowledge. Understand the terrain. Study the history. Define the market. Know the audience. Document trends. Discover how and why others are doing it.

Got a great idea. The timing was mentally right. What next? Asking Mom and Dad for cash, out. Family members, out. Just chillin’, letting things work out, nope. Recreating the wheel, not even. Say it again. Not even an option/thought/mention when you don’t have deep pockets. So, high-ho. High-ho. Back to basics I go. Creating a business plan was the key option. Note: business plans & industry specific research = deep knowledge. Resulting in the ability to quickly, articulate data supported responses during intensive Q&A.

There were times, I wanted too throw in the towel. Let go the pipe dream. And just give into my thoughts “Who are you to put us through this? You for real. Not like you hit the lottery or something. Listen. Shelve that bull and get a real job.” And then I was like, “hold up.” It wasn’t my mind turning on me. It was conversations I had with others. See their fears were an obstacle for my reality. That couldn’t happen. Oh no. Digging-in was the new reality. Building on this idea to do away with “Once In A Blue Moon,” was the marching order.

Four and half years later, and we’re off to see the wizard. Let me tell you from first hand experience, the wizard isn’t always friendly. Tell you more later.

Until then. We’ve got some great diverse webseries, just waiting for you to watch @ rowdyorbit.com. Discover a favorite. Tell some friends. We’d appreciate it.

Gotta plug the site every chance we get.

Who’s online? The internet age groups:

-93% Teens 12 -17
-93% Young Adults 18 -29
-81% Adults 31 – 49
-70% Adults 50 – 64
-38% Adults 65+

Adult & Wireless Internet:

-Half of all African Americans adults (48%) have used their cell phone to access the internet, compared with 40% of Hispanic adults & 31% of white adults.
-African American adults are the most active users of mobile internet.
-African American mobile interent use is growing at a faster rate than non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics.

% of teens who own a cell phone, by family income:

-59%:  < $30K
-76%:  $30K – $50K
-73%:  $50K – $75K
-87%:  $75K+

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• Ad recall increased more than two times combined with video interstitials
• 48% increased in box brand associations
• Aided brand recall increased four times over
• Recommendation potential increased by 12%

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