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ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 13

3. INTEGRATED STRUCTURE:

Places Multicultural marketing responsibilities inside an overall brand structure and
often relies upon having diverse hires/specialists integrated across the organization.

An integrated structure is often associated with the belief that, when it comes to Multicultural
marketing, “everyone is responsible.” As brands strive to ensure their teams are diverse
and culturally competent, they often turn to an integrated model as a statement of cultural
commitment. Caution should be taken, however, to ensure this well-intended model isn’t
implemented prematurely, before teams exhibit verifi able cultural competence. Without
attention to roles and accountability, everyone being responsible can easily result in no one
being accountable. It can also result in costly marketing missteps as inexperienced team
members are put in a position to navigate complex cultural issues. Such missteps have been
known to cause irrevocable damage to a brand. If marketers are expected to manage Inclusive
and Multicultural initiatives, they need cultural fl uency and signifi cant training on how to
target very diverse segments. Lack of knowledge across an integrated team structure can also
lead to a lack of effort or investment, minimizing the opportunity and deprioritizing a target
that has the potential to maximize corporate growth.

One example of a company that deploys an integrated structure throughout the organization is
Kaiser Permanente. Because diversity is core to the roots and mission of this almost 75-year-
old health care company, the integrated model aligns with established values and vision. “A
few subject matter experts serve as consultants across all marketing functions,” explained
Rojas. “They are included at the inception of campaigns, participating in strategy and
throughout creative development. Campaign insights and reports are broken out by key target
segments, and each campaign owner is accountable for overall results.” Kaiser’s external
agency teams also work using an integrated model.