There’s been a heavy emphasis on diversity in the last couple of years as more and more organizations embrace inclusivity and cross-cultural differences. However, it’s important to note that inclusive marketing is not the same as multicultural marketing. While the two overlap and are often used interchangeably, companies should know the subtle difference that sets them apart to incorporate the best marketing strategy.

Here’s a closer look at the two.

What Is Multicultural Marketing?

Multicultural marketing is a strategy that targets specific segments of the society based on specific differences, typically related to race, ethnicity, and culture. It’s an external effort corporations make to create customized campaigns that appeal to a specific audience. This is done to build deeper connections with that segment of audience and develop resonance using cultural references. Doing so allows brands to promote products and services designed especially for that group and use multicultural advertising to build a clientele.

On its own, multicultural is largely money driven. Corporations implement this form of marketing strategy to generate greater sales and make higher profits by targeting specific people for specific products. This doesn’t mean that the organizations using multicultural marketing aren’t inclusive or care about diversity. In fact, including an inclusive approach is instrumental for successful multicultural marketing.

What Is Inclusive Marketing?

This brings us to inclusive marketing. This is an approach adopted by marketers to connect with people from all backgrounds. While multicultural marketing dwells on specific differences, inclusive marketing embraces them all. It allows brands to connect with people with more diverse backgrounds instead of focusing on a particular difference in isolation.

Consider Target’s New Holiday campaign. The brand launched a size-inclusive swimsuit line campaign, featuring models with different abilities, body types, and racial backgrounds. Thus, it focused on more than just one cultural aspect and made its products appear more inclusive and accessible.

Using Multicultural & Inclusive Marketing Together

Sometimes, multicultural campaigns can produce one-dimensional narratives which may alienate certain members of the intended audience. For instance, Target’s swimsuit campaign wouldn’t have been as impactful if it had only focused on Hispanic women without considering aspects like disabilities and body sizes. It may have seemed to promote diversity at first glance, but wouldn’t have been as inclusive as it is.

Incorporating inclusive marketing into multicultural marketing helps brands understand how race and cultural identities intersect. It allows them to build more inclusive narratives for their target audience without alienating them.

Hire a Multicultural Marketing Firm in New York for Your Campaign

Ethnotics is an experienced multicultural marketing research agency that incorporates an inclusive approach in market research and analysis. With over a decade of experience in analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, the multicultural marketing research firm helps businesses effectively design and implement inclusive and impactful campaigns.

Reach out to the team today to get started.