These 6 Ads Are the Most Effective Multicultural Marketing Messages in Recent Years – Adweek
Denny’s, Nationwide and Walmart are among a small group of companies with multicultural advertisements that performed highly with African American, Hispanic and LGBTQ+ audiences.
The cultural relevance of these analyzed ads, which were released over the past couple of years, were measured utilizing the ad metric CIIM™ (Cultural Insights Impact Measure), developed by The Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) in partnership with NBCUniversal and AIMM member companies.
The CIIM™ was developed as a tool to identify the effectiveness of cultural relevance to show how advertising inclusivity resonates with a diverse audience and gauge the impact it has on brand loyalty, purchase intent and sales.
During the list’s announcement at the ANA Multicultural Conference Marketing & Diversity Conference in San Diego Friday, ANA Chairman and Procter & Gamble’s Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard said that “effectively leveraging meaningful and relevant cultural insights should be table stakes for every organization.”
The thorough study surveyed more than 30,000 individuals across multiple demographics, including Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, LGBTQ+, the Disabled and Non-Hispanic Whites. Respondents were asked to score 150 ads from a range of zero to 200 in various creative categories.
“100 means consumers find the ad/show indifferent to their culture, 200 means they find it extremely culturally relevant and scores below 100 mean that the ad/show was not perceived as culturally relevant,” explained Carlos Santiago, Co-Founder of AIMM and President of Santiago Solutions Group.
Ads scoring in the top quartile (over 160) demonstrated a 50% higher purchase intent compared to those scoring in the bottom two quartiles. Santiago said the results of this study can optimize sales lift by letting marketers understand what is successfully seizing the “full potential of culture beyond mere inclusion,” and when it is time to head back to the drawing board.
The eight attributes identified as culturally relevant by the study were Inclusion, Respect, Cultural Values, Authentic Portrayals, Positive Reflections, Role Models, Celebration and Cultural Pride.
Further results are expected (such as how the CIIM™ ranked advertisements in the Asian American audience segment).
Here are six ads among those in the top quartile:
“Nothing Comes Easy” by Grey New York for Procter & Gamble
Audience segment: African Americans
“Love Has No Labels” by R / GA and Ad Council
Audience segment: LGBTQ+
“Building a Legacy” by Conill for Nationwide
Audience segment: Hispanic (English-Speaking)
“Enciende la Cocina – Summer Meals” by Lopez Negrete Communications for Walmart
Audience segment: Hispanic (Bilingual)
“Mother’s Day” by Lopez Negrete Communications for Walmart
Audience segment: Overall
Two of the ads ranked as top performers by the CIIM™ were produced by Lopez Negrete Communications. Agency co-founder Alex López Negrete said that whether “endemic or mass, imbuing cultural insights and elements into an ad or any piece of content is a subtle art-form with very powerful results.”
“Authenticity comes from articulating a shared perception and a willingness to be seen and recognized accordingly. It simply cannot be faked. Cultural representation and participation at inception is critical,” López Negrete continued.