AIMM is the Alliance for Multicultural Marketing in the United States. It is a division of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). AIMM worked with its membership – which includes the leading brands in the United States – to analyze and place into a database thousands of ads. Their goal was to create a Cultural Insights Impact Measure (CIIM) which would be capable of measuring the impact of culture in ads. Their research was definitive. Those who invest in inclusive, insightful messaging will steadily outperform those who don’t.
The charts highlight the value of investing in cultural advertising:
AIMM FOR GREATER SALES:
LEARN HOW YOU CAN LIFT PURCHASE INTENT BY THE POWER OF THREE
The results speak directly to the value of investing in cultural advertising. If consumers perceive ads as culturally relevant, they are 1.5 times more likely to learn additional information about the brand; 2.7 times more likely to buy a brand for the first time; 50% more likely to repurchase the brand; 2.8 times more likely to recommend the brand; 2 times more likely to find the brand relevant; and 3 times more likely to find the ad relevant.
At the end of the day, it’s all about sales, and the report also found that ads perceived to have high cultural relevance are:
- • Twice as likely to enhance brand perception;
- • Three times more likely to be effective as compared to brands with low cultural relevance;
- • Three times more likely to lift purchase intent.
Information about the study was released last week in a report entitled “Reset: The Power of Modern Reset”. The report states that “The present is cultural.” It suggests that disruption is often seen as a key to innovation. AIMM see 2020’s unexpected events – having put that theory to the test. We’ve all seen how it has heightened racial and cultural disparity. The report challenges the concept of “Total Market” (the misguided assumption that you can reach out to cultural communities as part of mainstream advertising) and the over-reliance on big data. The report suggests that marketers were led to believe that they could trade off cultural specifics for perceived efficiencies. The report laments the fact that culturally targeted strategies, media plans, and production, were often diluted or replaced altogether. The report concluded at the end that none of this worked and the report provides definitive proof as to why marketers need to hit the reset button.
By Howard Lichtman – Partner, Ethnicity Matters
Canada’s Leading Multicultural Strategy & Marketing Agency