Walmart embraces diversity

As the biggest retailer in Canada (according to the Toronto Star), it’s inevitable that Walmart would notice demographic changes and reciprocate with strategic actions. Known for its everyday low pricing, Walmart now offers everyday low pricing for the Asian market as well. With ongoing demographic changes, Walmart had already stepped into the ethnic markets before by providing a small selection in their stores. Starting with the Steeles Ave. and Markham Rd. store however, where there’s a strong presence of Asian consumers, they’ve continued to expand their selection now more than ever. Just in time to celebrate the Chinese New Year, the Scarborough location at Steeles Ave. and Markham Rd. were the first to launch the plan.

“Earlier this month — and gearing up for Chinese New Year — the sprawling supercentre became the first Walmart in Canada to house an Asian bakery, fish market and butcher, catering to a large Asian population that comprises 40 per cent of the outlet’s clientele.” - Jayme Poisson of the Star

With the large Asian community surrounding the store and visiting the store, it does make sense for Walmart to initiate their ethnic-focused plan here. I’m actually interested to find out how much revenue they will generate from this new addition to the store.

Mass merchandisers, with Walmart as an example, are slowly moving in on specialty stores. With that I mean, these mass merchandisers are trying to attract the target market of specialty ethnic stores. From the article however, one customer quotes, “It could use a little more variety. It’s not 100 per cent what I want.” Although there may not be a variety (just yet!), Walmart has definitely added some more competition to its roster.

Adding to its strategy of everyday low pricing, it’s clear to see that Walmart is focusing their efforts on a one-stop-shop for ethnic consumers… but will it be a success? What do YOU think?

Reference: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1120080--walmart-celebrates-chinese-new-year-by-catering-to-the-neighbourhood

What does it mean to be Chinese in Canada?

Started my morning off with my usual routine, scanning Marketing Mag, Adage and Strategy Online (and if I have the occasional extra time, the Globe & Mail). Came across a column article by Pepper Miller, who founded an agency focused on the African-American market "To Know Market Segments, Know the Many Shades of Black Identity". I really enjoyed this article for its blunt, candid, grassroots and yet professional perspective of what it means to be black in America.

It prodded me to validate Sensu's reason of existence in the Canadian market. (I often like to tell others that we "sell people...Chinese people to be exact". Quite frankly, that's exactly what it is - we are selling an audience and along with it, their lifestyles, habits, attitudes, values and behaviours.)

You can easily apply Pepper Miller's article into the context of being Chinese in Canada. I think that our "shades" become much more complex: we have the fobs, the cbc's, the hongkongers, the mainlanders and even amongst the mainlanders, it breaks down further by region - GZ group is different than those from Shanghai and then different from those in Beijing. Fujian is another story altogether. Infuse the Canadian layer on top of all that...boy must I tell you, mainstream marketers have a LOT to learn and understand about Chinese consumers in Canada.

But I absolutely love the beauty of this complexity, because that is what gives Sensu our real value proposition, that is how we help our clients best. Pepper mentions that "Improving one's African-American cultural IQ is critical to understanding the differences among segments." In parallel, improving one's Chinese-Canadian cultural IQ is critical to understand not only the differences but also similarities, among Chinese segments. Trick is, you cannot really articulate a culture unless you are IN it. Culture is dynamic in nature, it is an experience not a theory, not a rationale.
 
Many clients hold back from committing to multicultural marketing, most of them mention issues with scalability and market size - it's about the bottomline. But they seem to be missing the key point - the nucleus of multicultural marketing that drives cultural activity and growth - is to pay attention to all the subtle differences between and within ethnic segments. To impact the bottomline is to not only recognize that there are subtle differences but also to show your customers that you care and you want to make a connection - an authentic one.

Scalability should not be a barrier to strategy nor creativity. Neither should it come at the sacrifice of authenticity. 

Sensu Adds One More!

It is with pleasure that I officially announce the newest addition to our agency team - Ms. Dolly Shao

Dolly is a Partner Consultant here with us at Sensu Communications and we are very happy and fortunate to have her on board with us. Bringing over 10 years of marketing and strategic planning experience from Shanghai, China, Dolly is a strategic individual with an abundance of both industry AND cultural expertise. Canada is now home to Dolly, having been here for about 2 years, she has successfully completed her MBA program at the Schulich School of Business @ York University.

We are very happy to have Dolly join Sensu and did I mention...SUPERR excited for all the innovative work that we are going to bring to the multicultural marketing space as an agency! Dolly be also be a regular contributor to the Sensu blog, so follow closely to see what she has to say about multicultural marketing!

A better social media strategy or website?

The question rings like the bell of the all-time favourite question, what comes first, the chicken or the egg? It’s almost impossible to imagine the marketplace now without the Internet or popular social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter. Both have grown to become crucial marketing elements. However, Ed Strapagiel of KubasPrimedia, reminds us that there is yet any “objective, hard number evidence of what this actually does [for brands].”

But really, I don’t think we need objective, hard evidence to prove that social media actually works. Tools such as Facebook and Twitter - whose reach surpasses 750 million people - connect companies and customers. They have improved communication, brand awareness, and program effectiveness. However, I agree that social media tools will always remain supplementary to a company website and furthermore, its necessity will increase as the physical marketing space becomes more cluttered. Social media is not so much “a loop”, as discussed in the article, but more of an information highway. It delivers high level information but it’s real destination is the company website to generate sales.

Without a road (social media network), it’s more difficult to get people to where you want them to go (your website). Without an impressionable destination, there’s no point in building a smooth road. Therefore, the coexistence of both tools seems necessary. However, I reckon that the website should be the primary objective as it is the space where consumers generally make, confirm, and/or execute their purchase decision.

There’s been little research to show that online usage behaviours between groups of the same demographic and geographic area of varying ethnicities and from personal recall, there aren’t any significant differences that come to mind. Thus, companies targeting ethnic minorities may have to tailor their messages to more effectively communicate but the road map to reaching them via the Internet seems to be the same.

So, what do you think? What’s more important – social media or company website in multicultural marketing?

References:

http://www.marketingmag.ca/news/marketer-news/get-off-facebook-and-pay-attention-to-your-website-report-31337