The program comes out of American Family Insurance’s Multicultural Marketing Division.  “American Family Insurance is thrilled to offer such as robust program like the Business Accelerator to small businesses at no cost,” says Dan Guzman, Multicultural Marketing, American Family Insurance.  “Thousands of business owners from around the nation have leveraged this small business educational series to help them increase their sales and improve the management of their business, and we’re proud to be able to offer it with the help of Brillante.”

Of course the Director of Multicultural Programming will tout the program.  But as a past participant, I can vouch for the depth of meaningful connection the program makes for small business owners, and in particular businesses owned by women and people or color. (Shelia C. Hill Morgan, President & CEO of the Chicago Minoirty Supplier Development Council, Inc., was the opening speaker at the Chicago Symposium to launch the third year of the program.)   The company can say that it supports community and diversity in the workplace, but this program puts that message into action, by growing and supporting new entrepreneurs, and also mentoring and supporting the small business owners/agents who represent American Family Insurance.

Still Time to Sign Up

The Business Accelerator Program, managed by Brillante Multiculatural Marketing Group, is a complimentary small business educational series delivering free business coaching all year long.  It features a series on business growth strategies and related tools, taught by expert business coaches: Bob Wright of the Wright Business Institute, Michelle Lanter Smith of Hi-Impact Marketing & Sales Solutions, and Rich Lyons of Lyons Consulting Group and Adjunct Professor at the Wright Business Institute. The program concentrates on assisting small business owners in sharpening their focus, increasing their effectiveness, and growing their incomes.

The completely updated Business Accelerator website contains an online forum—a place participants and visitors can visit from time to time to see what other community members are learning and chatting about.  It will also host the Business Accelerator Video Series, featuring small business expert, Barbara Weltman, and a complete set of white papers, articles, and helpful links to answer the many difficult questions a small business owner might have.

The program also features the Step-It-Up contest where three winners will be selected from a pool of active Business Accelerator participants.  Winners will receive an extensive prize package including: a $500 gift card from Staples, advanced sales training from the Wright Business Institute, marketing strategy planning from Hi-Impact, and small business social media education from Forward Progress,.

Participants will learn to generate more business, increase profitability and effectively manage their businesses–for today and for the future.   To register for FREE or for more information visit www.AmFamBusinessAccelerator.com or call 1-888-297-3248.

Not growing up black but growing up overweight and with hair that frizzed into a wild puff as soon as I stepped out into the St. Louis summer humidity no matter how long I spent blow-drying and ironing it, the first thing I noticed when I saw the “Before” and “After” images in this ad for Dove Visiblecare Crème Body Wash, is that it went from fat to thin, from kinky hair to straight hair. 

But the ad is about skin.  The copy clearly states: “You’ll see visibly more beautiful skin in just one week;” from “Before to After;” from “Bad to Good.”  

And, if you match the copy with the visual image of the ad (which is generally the intent with an ad), from African-American, to presumably Hispanic, to Caucasian.  From “Black to White.”

It doesn’t surprise me that Donna Stringer, Ph.D. Founder Emeritus of Executive Diversity Services, and the person who sent me the ad (I saw it firsthand in People Magazine this week as well) would be magnanimous, drawing on a top rule of the engagement and inclusion curricula she developed:  Assume Positive Intent.  But that rule is followed by another tenet:  Intent does not equal impact.

“While I doubt this was intentional (or even conscious), I find the implicit racism of perfection going from dark to light skin highly offensive.”

Giving the benefit of the doubt, it probably was unconscious.  But that’s some pretty potent unconscious bias.  And therein lies the problem with unconscious bias.  It’s a natural phenomenon.  That’s why having a diverse team to begin with makes the difference.

Is the Doctor old and White, the patient female or a person of color?  Is the teacher the white man, helping the students of color?  Who is the Janitor?  Which student is characterized with the learning disability? 

The thing with multicultural marketing is that you can’t just check off race, ethnicity or cultural markers and assume you’ve done the ad well.  You have to look at what the people are doing in the ads—the roles they are playing and how people are placed in relation to one another…that’s where the unconscious bias can creep (or explode) in.

P.S.  Donna does invite all who were equally offended to send a personal note, you can find the address at the bottom of this page, and send something like:

I was recently sent a copy of a Dove Visible care ad from a magazine with before and after pictures:  the before is a black woman with a wall-sized picture of cracked skin behind her; the after is a white woman with a wall-sized screen of clear skin behind her.  While I suspect there was no ill-intent, the subtle message that perfect (white) skin is the ultimate goal of using Dove offends me.  This message is inconsistent with your stated goals regarding self esteem.  I will not be using Dove until I know you have recalled this ad and will ask my friends to take the same action.  Thank you for any information you can provide me about the development, distribution, and recall of this ad.

When I saw the Cricket transit ad, “Todo el Poder de Android a una Fraccion del Precio,” I knew it said “all the power of Android, at a fraction of the cost.”  But as I looked around me—on a busy corner of downtown Chicago during the after-work rush—I wondered how many others did.  And if they didn’t know what it said, wasn’t that a waste of good advertising dollars?  Placing an ad in Spanish in the middle of downtown Chicago, what I would think of as general market?

First, a note on my underlying assumption here about the number of Spanish speakers in Chicago (I assumed low, hence not a worthwhile expense).  As it turns out, the number of Spanish speakers in Cook County matches the number of English only speakers:  each represents one third of the total population.  That said, just because one can speak Spanish, doesn’t mean one does.  The 2000 Census showed that while one in ten households spoke a language other than English at home in IL, half of those also identified as speaking English—meaning that only 5% of the total population actually didn’t speak English (with Polish and Spanish being the top alternatives).

Second, a note about research:  you get what you ask for.  What started as a curiosity about effective multicultural marketing turned into a question posed on Facebook:  “If you don’t speak Spanish, how do you feel if you see a Spanish only ad in general market (e.g. during prime time TV or on a bus billboard.) If you do speak Spanish, how do you feel?  Asking for feelings, the conversation that ensued reflected positions on the essence of USAmerican values:  immigration and assimilation vs. free market capitalism.

Ken said seeing an ad in Spanish might dissuade him from buying that product. “…It comes down to the strong belief that if a person immigrates to a new country, they should be fully assimilated by striving to learn the language and culture.” He adds that “If we provide information and advertisements in a different language, then what is the incentive to be part of the USA culture?”

Michael countered, however, that “Business has to do what it must to reach its market.”  Jennie agrees.  “Ads in Spanish are capitalism in action…and ain’t that America?” 

On the topic of pure capitalism, Verizon cites the powerful market potential in diversity:  “The estimated purchasing power of African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics, gays and lesbians, and people with disabilities will be more than $ 2.5 trillion by 2010.”

Why refer to Verizon?  Well, that brings us back to the original question as to whether the Cricket Ad in Spanish on a bus in downtown Chicago was actually effective or a good use of dollars to reach the Hispanic market there.  In moderating the conversation on Facebook, I shared, from memory, that the question was inspired by a Verizon cell phone ad. 

I remembered it was a cell phone ad.  The ad was in Spanish.  Therefore it must have been Verizon, right?  That’s because in my mind, Verizon “owns” the Hispanic market in Chicago.  “We speak customers’ languages and participate in the celebration of their lifestyles’ cultures,” says Verizon.  And, indeed, you will see Verizon as a sponsor at the International Latino Film Festival in Chicago, you can make free international phone calls from their booths at Chicago festivals, and meet their leadership on boards of Hispanic and Latino related organizations. 

In a world where one can be friends with their Mayonnaise on Facebook if they want to, Cricket’s fly-by-night ad, while in Spanish, does not go the extra step to actually engage with the target market where they are.  Ultimately, this Spanish language ad in general market ends up speaking to neither:  it misses the connection to the former, while potentially alienating the latter.

My son enjoyed watching this “multicultural” advertisement for the msi notebook x-series when this post first published in 2009.  Out of the blue today he asked to see it again, by name, apparently not because he suddenly took an interest in multicultural marketing, but he remembered there was something about butts (note to self for future topics when marketing to 9 year olds).

But it begs the question–what makes an ad multicultural?  Is it multicultural simply because there are white people and people of color in the ad?  Or does there need to be a deeper connection to context to make it multicultural?  Or is is based on the targeted audience for the ad?  (In which case this ad is probably perfectly skewed to young, college aged kids, making parents all around cringe as they think of how their children are using the new computers just sent off with their children to college).

But back to the ad…

In this case, the players seem to be equals and all are ‘representing themselves.’  There is no outside writer dictating that they act/behave in a certain way.   (Although I do wonder if I would have felt the same if it was the African-American young man who was playing the catcher…essentially the “butt” of the joke.)  They presumably are three crazy friends who really like each other, and who are trying to win a free trip to the Great Barrier Reef, by creating an “extreme crazy video with msi-notebook.”

Multicultural marketing consciously includes people of all backgrounds to appeal to a broader market, but often fails by relying on stereotype or setting up prejudicial hierarchies in the interactions among the players.

Perhaps marketers/copywriters could benefit from a lesson in anthropology—a little ethnography to better observe how people of different backgrounds really interact in the real world.  Would real life support or defy the stereotypes?

I had three different signs I’m getting older this week.

1.  Got helped walking across the ice.  Not because someone was flirting and wanted to hold my hand, but because they really thought I was going to fall;

2. I fell asleep at 8:30 last night.  After one glass of wine;  and

3. I don’t get this ad.

Actually, let me rephrase this.  The ad is to the point, but, as soon as I spied it I heard my dad’s voice in my head, “is this what passes for wit and talent these days?’ And then, “maybe it’s me…is this what appeals to the younger generation?”  Or, “is this what old people thought the first time the word ‘groovy’ was used in advertising?”

It did not  make the Advertising Slogan Hall of Fame, and on second glance, it’s for condos costing $150,000 to $340,000.  Doesn’t strike me as (if I were going to create a stereotype of a younger person, to defend my age) being targeted to a “man this sucks” kind of purchaser.

Oh, wait, maybe it’s just a bad ad.

When I first saw the Duncan Hines Hip Hop Cup Cake ad last month, I first wondered why advertisers would make food geared to kids so creepy (a la the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cannibal ads); and that the icing would never work…the microwave would make it too gooey or too hot to be practical.

As Ken Wheaton over at Adage  points out in his great article last month entitled “Duncan Hines ‘Hip-Hop Cupcakes’ Shows Necessity of Diverse Work Force (you can view the ad embedded in the article):

“Some folks will look at that and simply see harmless cupcakes. Others will look at it and wonder, “How is that hip-hop?” And many others, including Source.com and many, many other sites, will look at it and see cupcakes in black face.

It is amazing that with such a strong reaction, no-one, from conception to execution to release, ever stopped and said “do you think anyone might think this is offensive?”  And that’s why it’s critical

1. To have diverse teams and multiple perspectives in the workforce,
2. There’s an environment where people feel comfortable opening conversations involving race (Was there not even a “Do you think they look black?” with the last word whispered and furtive glances all around) and
3. People work on their own comfort level and vocabulary about talking about race.

As I took five weeks from the time of seeing the ad to actually “fess-up” to not seeing the initial racial images (people would think me racist if I admitted that, right?), I’m reminded of a post I ran almost at the outset of Intercultural Talk.

Almost three years later, looks like my love of lifelong learning is rewarded…there’s still lots to learn! (the original post is below)

Family Values:  Identifying Racial Stereotypes in the Media

ScienceDaily.com reported on April 2 that “Fear of Messing Up May Undermine Interracial Contact.” The report was about “a provocative new study from Northwestern University,” which “suggests that whites who are particularly worried about appearing racist seem to suffer from anxiety that instinctively may cause them to avoid interaction with blacks in the first place. Study participants indicated that they worry about inadvertently getting in trouble for somehow seeming biased.”

But I would argue that we all invariably are influenced by biases that are created by images we receive in the media everyday, and that confronting, defining and overcoming those stereotypes is essential in moving toward being more bias-free.

For example, unrealistic images of women in media have been discussed and challenged so often that intellectually we know all women are not that skinny and blemish-free. Some advertisers, such as Dove, have used that to their advantage by using ‘real’ women to promote their products.

How does this relate to representations in the media of race, ethnicity and culture? Let’s take a look at this monumental event:

One day I got out of my car and walked into a building, passing a man and a woman holding hands with a small child between them on the way.

As my little sister would say “that was a really good story.” But it was.

Because in that flash of a moment, as I defined and categorized what I saw, as we all do to unconsciously absorb and understand our world, my mind said “mom, child…who’s he?” Boyfriend? Uncle? Friend? Not “I see a mom and a dad with their child.” And I knew in that moment that if that couple had been white, I would have assumed that they were the married parents of that child, but because they were black I didn’t.

Am I afraid to tell that story because I might seem prejudiced? Maybe, but more because of the reaction to the story, not because I believe it makes me prejudiced. In fact, in that moment’s epiphany I realized that something that I had unconsciously been taught by the media and perhaps even my own upbringing to be universally true, was indeed stereotype and prejudice. It was only in that realization and the telling of it, that I grow.

(this post originally ran 5/4/10, but I always thought the re-imaged photo at the end was under-appreciated.  Hope you enjoy it)

So from this ad am I to understand that if I chew Trident Wite I’m 35% more likely to get out of a speeding ticket?

Is that only true for beautiful white women?  What if I’m a black man?

Actually, according to KJ Novak in his article “Disparity and Racial Profiling in Traffic Enforcement,” “Minorities are significantly less likely to receive formal sanction than majorities, suggesting officers are using traffic violations for pretextual stops.”  In other words, blacks may be less likely to get a ticket if pulled over, but that’s because statistics show that so many more blacks than whites are pulled over due to racial profiling.  (Hence the phrase DWB…Driving While Black.”)

I will not deny getting out of a few tickets in my day, but this ad seems poorly thought out–ultimately aimed at a narrow, privileged few, while potentially alienating many.

Am I wrong?  Would the ad below work too?

The photo above is from a 2006 article from the London Evening Standard about an black man, Edmond Taylor, who was convicted for a traffic incident, even though the white culprit was caught on video.  Taylor was eventually cleared.  Maybe it would have been quicker if he was chewing Trident White?

What do you think?

On the way to dropping my son at school this morning we heard an ad for a fast-food restaurant that was boasting “hand-mashed” guacamole.

“That’s sounds kind of gross,” I said.

“Especially if it’s mashed by dirty hands,” my son added.

“Ewww” we both shouted.

Why would the advertiser think that was a desirable trait?  It reminded me of the same discussion of Grandma’s mashed potatoes from last week, and the underlying values we assign in society.

Values in any society are the central “shoulds” and “oughts.” Values are deeply embedded and consciously or unconsciously control our behaviors on a daily basis. Values vary from culture to culture; how values are expressed vary from culture to culture, and the same action in two different cultures might not trace back to the same value.

One culture may value individualism and competition (for example USAmerican Culture).  Another culture may value group and collaboration (for example, Japanese culture).  Individuals from both cultures may work equally hard (the action) but for one it’s for personal gain, for the other it may be so the group succeeds–the underlying value is different.

On the flip side, two individuals may intend to show deep respect for another person.  In one culture deep respect is demonstrated by direct, steady eye contact; in another culture, the ultimate show of respect is avoiding eye contact.  You can imagine the misunderstandings or tension that might underlie an exchange between people of these different backgrounds.

But back to my guacamole.  The underlying value here and with the potatoes is that something made by hand, as opposed to a machine, is better.  It hearkens back to a day when automated assistance (aka kitchen gadgets) weren’t as readily available, restaurants and convenience foods weren’t an option, and “home made” was often the only option.

And my question is…does that value still hold true in USAmerican Society?  We like fresh, we like healthy, but we like convenience.  We want it now.  We like time spent with our mom, not time she spends hidden in a kitchen.

Marketers spend oodles of time thinking about marketing to international cultures.  But maybe it’s time to reevaluate the changing values of society, and how we are marketing to consumers here at home.

For me, I’d be more tempted by the potatoes from the Chef at Mon Ami Gabi, and I’d rather not think too deeply how you made my guacamole.  What about you?

Photo Credit:  Whatscookingamerica.net