What happens in branding when the world backs away from what brand marketers once embraced (or claimed to embrace) almost as a given: the inclusion of and appeal to multiple ethnicities, lifestyles, and nationalities? Specifically, what is happening now, given the Western world’s political and societal retreat from multiculturalism to “me-first-ism” (witness Brexit, the Trump Era, et al)? In short, does multiculturalism still matter in branding and marketing?
To at least begin a discussion of this in the pages of Brandingmag, we reached out to three brand and marketing leaders well-invested in multiculturalism:
Luciana Cani, SVP, Executive Creative Director at LAPIZ, part of the Leo Burnett Group
Ced Funches, Executive Design Director, Brand Identity at Vox Media, Inc.
Pepper Miller, President of the Hunter-Miller Group, and author of the book, Black Still Matters in Marketing
Download the full eBook to read their discussion of:
- Today’s definition of multicultural marketing
- Whether multiculturalism will mean a greater blending or segmentation of cultures
- The pitfalls of cultural appropriation
- The impact of rising nationalism and populism on multiculturalism
- The biggest challenges, and opportunities, in pursuing a multicultural approach to the marketplace
- Which brands are currently doing well with marketing beyond what was once upon a time known as the mainstream
We hope you’ll read the entire roundtable and then return to this article to add your insights in the comments section below.
Download the Branding Roundtable now >
Moderator’s note: While this roundtable was originally intended as an international discussion, due to the unexpected late withdrawal of some participants, it is now focused on multiculturalism in the United States.