Page 28 - Going for Growth: Targeting Today's Diverse Consumers

GOING FOR GROWTH: TARGETING TODAY’S DIVERSE CONSUMER 27

D. What if the business opportunity, consumer insights, and creative idea all align across
segments?

In some cases, brands have had success with campaigns driven by a universal truth — an
insight that is relevant and resonates with all segments. The possibility for mass market
and segment executions to mirror one another defi nitely exists. Take, for example, Back
to School (BTS) messaging for major retailers. All segments place great value in the
BTS experience for their children; this is a shared reality. Modern marketers, however,
will break with tradition and center Multicultural consumers in their creative narratives,
allowing segments other than White Non-Hispanic to be more dominant in messaging that
will ultimately appeal to all.

Having segment experts and/or specialized agencies involved throughout the creative
process from initial strategy, to creative development, to execution helps ensure
results that are inclusive and culturally appropriate, avoiding cultural missteps that
would alienate any or all segments. Between strategy and execution, there are many
opportunities to increase or decrease relevance and resonance to key consumer
segments.

There is no one right way to approach creative development. In fact, many marketers
use more than one approach companywide, depending on the product or the competitive
situation. In the case of a brand or specifi c product offering, an integrated approach across
all target segments might be the right decision. In other cases, a differentiated campaign for
a particular segment or segments might yield important results. Regardless of the creative
path taken, it’s always important to use culturally attuned research to calibrate campaign
elements, tracking relevant metrics pre, during, and post campaign.

“Regardless of the creative path taken, it’s always
important to use culturally attuned research to calibrate

campaign elements...”