Ethnic Marketing in the United States

Conclusion

T

he advent of ethnic marketing in the 21^st century shows the importance of the ethnic markets in the United States and becomes compulsory for every company who wants to make business and succeed. From 2050, the ethnic groups will overhaul the white population. A company that doesn't find any point in reaching them is bound to fail. Yesterday it was interesting to target them but today it is crucial. Ethnic groups are large enough to whet any marketer's appetite. However, business remains the main motivation and consumers are far from being equal for marketers as the more you are rich, the more you will interest them. The example of John Johnson magnate in the world of advertising for black people is a good illustration: no discrimination when there are potential profits. There exist agencies for Asians, Hispanics but not for Indians for example because they are judged too poor and they represent a small group in the total population.

I have studied throughout this memoire the different marketing strategies in order to reach these minorities ignored during a long time but it is still a real challenge for big American companies because they have to develop their means to speak to them and avoid hurting their sensitiveness by being awkward in their advertisings.

The ethnic diversity is very important in the United States, indeed there are many ethnic groups like Indians, Israelites, Polishes, Iranians...but I focused on the three main groups. Companies must increasingly appeal to minority groups and reflect their cultural preferences to succeed. To remain successful marketers have to create advertising that reflects the way America look today, not yesterday. Even sexuality is taken into account as the marketers focus also on the gay market.

What explains the success of ethnic marketing in the United States is the fact that the ethnic minorities integrate less and less without conflict. The founding fathers of America made their best to avoid importing in America ethnic conflicts. In order to reach this goal, their main obsession was to earn money. The British writer Samuel Johnson declared that humans are never more harmless than when they are busy in earning money.

The case of France is very interesting because as the United States, France counts a great number of immigrants but isn't ready to adopt ethnic marketing and doesn't find a point in wooing the ethnic groups despite the small efforts.

In this era of the browning of America 30(*), at a time where a black might become the President of the United States during the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama might be more representative, thanks to his Caucasian and Afro American origins, of the multicultural society that makes today's United States.

Bibliography

BOOKS

· CAPPARELL, Stephanie, The real Pepsi Challenge: The inspirational story of breaking the color barrier in American business, free press, 2007

· SCHREIBER, Alfred L, Multicultural Marketing: selling to the new America, McGraw Hill, 2000

· SENGES, Anne, Ethnik ! Le Matketing de la différence, Autrement, 2003

· TREGUER Jean-Paul, SEGATI, Jean-Marc, Les nouveaux marketings , edition Dunod, 2003

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

· CARR, David, The New York Times, On Covers of Many Magazines, A Full Racial Palette Is Still Rare, 18/11/2002

· WEN, Patricia, The Boston Globe, Three faces of Barbie a snub to Asians, 27/05/2000

INTERNET ARTICLES

· Commentary: Minorities: An Almost-Invisible $1 Trillion Market, http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_24/b3736121.htm,11/06/2001

* 30 Richard Rodriguez is a Mexican writer.