Why Automotive Companies Should Focus on Diverse Car Buyers

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A trait of a good businessman or a marketer is always the ability to adapt and overcome. We saw the importance of this through the current coronavirus pandemic. Businesses needed to find new ways to market, come up with new business models over the night and only the best were capable of doing so. This is especially important for businesses in the automotive sector. It is also important for automotive brands to recognize future buyers and other areas with market potential. However, if we set the pandemic to the side for a moment and think about the people that form our communities throughout the USA, there is one thing clearly obvious. We are a nation of great diversity. And such diversity has to be researched and implemented into our approach to the market. Diversity should be celebrated and our duty as marketers and advertisers is to get to know each group of consumers and approach them in an effective manner. Today, more than ever should automotive brands take diverse ethnic groups into account when planning their product lineup and advertising campaigns. Here is how and why.

Getting to know your diverse consumer base

The multicultural landscape of the USA consists of several diverse groups, with the largest ones being: African Americans, Hispanics, Asians. In order to approach these consumers in a way that is effective and respectable, we have to learn their habits, their culture and the problems they are facing in their day-to-day life.

The most important thing is to know where to find them with your advertising and marketing campaigns. Some groups tend to spend more time watching regular television, while others are more prone to getting their information on their phones and the internet. Learning the specific habits of each ethnic group is vital for the conversion of offers.

Once we know where our consumers spend their time, we have to adjust our marketing efforts in a way that is relatable to them. This includes a deep understanding of their culture, way of life and daily struggles. You can do this “in-house” and spend a lot of time and resources or hire a specialty company that knows the right approach and the best converting channels for a certain minority.

Approaching multicultural car buyers = getting to know them!

Whether you should be approaching minorities with your automotive marketing campaigns should not even be debated in 2020. The fact is that many of the so-called minorities form a big part of the US population. And contrary to the popular belief, ethnic groups like Hispanics or Arab Americans are among the most hard-working and the biggest future spenders. Each of the minorities has certain specifics which we will briefly cover below.

    • Hispanics
      More and more of them are new homeowners and earn above the national average. They are craving digital content and get their information through their mobile phone. They have a strong sense of their culture and traditions and like to see it represented in advertising. Their population peaked in 2019, with 61 million Hispanics residing in the US. They represent a big market potential that companies like Pepsi are relying on in 2020 and in the future. 
    • African Americans
      African Americans are the typical omnichannel consumer. According to a 2019 Nielsen report, they spend 11 more hours watching TV than the average American and they dominate radio and music listening statistics as well. They are very prone to using high-tech products and love apps. If you want to sell something environmentally friendly, African Americans are very prone to supporting local, healthy and earth-friendly products.

       

    • Arab Americans
      The key characteristic of Arab Americans is their religious diversity. Remember, not all of them are Muslim. Arab Americans are above-average earners and good scholars (17% of them have a post-graduate education, which is nearly double the national average). One important metric to take into account when marketing to this non-official minority is the fact that 90% of them live in urban areas and 33% of them are in California.
    • Asian Americans
      Asian Americans boast the highest incomes of any racial or ethnic group in the US. Their buying power has increased by 68% since 2010 and is expected to increase in the future. Asian Americans are fully embracing the digital transformation we saw in the last decade. The way to reach Asian Americans is through digital channels. Due to their tight family-orientated values, 71% of Asians tend to recommend the products they like to their friends and family.
    • Indigenous/Native Americans
      Like many other ethnic groups, Native Americans had a grim past that needs to be taken into account when trying to reach them with our marketing efforts. Especially for governments, the outreach to these communities is crucial. The approach has to take into account their culture and their daily struggles. Native Americans represent 2.1% of the total US population but they are an important part of any multicultural marketing campaign.

How to use this information in automotive marketing

Cars and motorbikes in general are luxury goods. This is one of the main reasons why automotive advertising and marketing campaigns mainly feature the biggest ethnic groups in a targeted area or country. But is that really the right approach in an ethnically diverse environment? We think not, and we got reasons to prove it.

Let’s say you are trying to sell a luxury saloon like the Mercedes-Benz E-class in the US. If we do not point our attention towards the growing Hispanic population alone, we are missing out on a big group of potential consumers. If we know that the Hispanic population earns a higher income than an average American we just confirm our theory further. The fact of the matter is that minorities have a big desire to be recognized and to feel that a brand recognizes their hard work. If you want to sell someone a product, make them feel worthy and let them know you recognize them as a potential customer. And the only way to do that is to know your customer and include them in your campaign.

This customer is just a glimpse into the complex world of multicultural marketing in the automotive sector. There is much more data to be analyzed and upon gaining those insights, you can make better decisions and a better marketing plan that will convert into revenue.

 

Who is doing it and why should you

Multicultural marketing is becoming increasingly more demanded in the last decade. The past few years have really shown the steps big companies like Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, and automotive brands like Toyota are taking to reach minorities and ethnic groups. In 2018, Chief Brand Officer of P&G Marc S. Pritchard voiced his opinion on multicultural marketing, his words were as follows: “The days of general audience and general marketing are gone and that is a good thing. People want to see themselves, and to see brands with points of view – that is what is going to connect with people. If you are not doing multicultural marketing, particularly in a place like America, you’re not doing marketing.”

If a high ranking official from a corporation like P&G believes in it and realizes its importance, you should too. Apart from reaching new consumers and bringing your brand closer to ethnic groups, your general audience will also appreciate your company making a step towards inclusion and recognition of those in fewer numbers.

Let us help you

Getting to know your multicultural audiences and where they are present is not an easy task to take on by yourself. While you focus on your products and your vision, let us help you with reaching multicultural audiences in a simple and effective manner. Our cross-platform advertising solutions reach Hispanic, Black, Asian, Arab, Indigenous, and other communities in the USA, Canada and across borders of North America. Click here to learn more.

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