GroupM Coalition Will Help Brands Adapt to Diverse U.S.

GroupM, the world’s largest advertising media company, announced the formation of a coalition aimed at developing tools and solutions that will help brands better adapt to changing U.S. demographics.

The New Majority Ready Coalition, led by GroupM, includes Disney, Google, iHeartMedia, Meredith Corporation, NBCUniversal, Twitter, Univision, and Viacom. New Majority Ready, LLC, a minority-owned marketing and content consultancy founded by Oswald Méndez and Jacqueline Hernández, will act as “coalition consultant” and assist with development efforts.

The announcement comes in the wake of a recent ANA study which revealed that multicultural media investments make up only 5.2% of total advertising and marketing spending, despite the fact that the last census projections estimate the U.S. population will become majority-minority by 2045. The evidence is clear that America’s multicultural population is increasingly fueling the economy, but most brands thus far have failed to develop media strategies that engage multicultural audiences.

“Multicultural media is an important concept for brands to embrace if they want to increase market share,” said Patrick Quinn, CEO of PQ Media, which conducted the study on behalf of the ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing. “Multicultural customers...are the fastest growing demographic, but they are underrepresented in media buying.”

GroupM’s new initiative is a promising step in the right direction toward helping brands engage authentically with diverse audiences. The coalition will collaborate on the development of new tools and solutions, including a benchmark tool that will evaluate how “ready” a brand is for the imminent demographic shift, and cross-platform content solutions.

It will be interesting to see what tools the coalition develops and how brands will implement them. While it’s important for brands to invest in multicultural media, it’s just as important to invest in a diverse workforce. If organizations truly wish to engage authentically with multicultural consumers, they must step up their diversity and inclusion efforts. Whether or not the coalition will address this remains to be seen.

Regardless, the era of digital transformation is making it easier than ever for brands to create personalized, hyper-targeted marketing and advertising experiences. In fact, consumers now expect it: 72% of consumers in 2019 only engage with marketing messages that are customized to their specific interests. I predict personalization will play a major role in multicultural marketing strategies in the coming year.