Marketing etnico

We are facing today a new era with its difficulties, problems and questions. Immigration and integration are of the most importance. United States and most of the European countries have become “hybrid” countries, due to the huge amount of immigrants and , on the other hand to the development of the so called "world culture" that makes us discover , appreciate , and adopt different cultures , different styles , fashions and cuisines.

Analysing the growing trends of certain groups of populations, we realize that the historical concept of family- a white couple and 2 white children - is no longer valid and therefore we see today a new concept that is reflecting the modem society and includes "other" consumers.

It is clear that it is now the high time to pay attention to the enormous potential of these other consumers and this thesis is trying to present an overview of the actual status: what has been done and what is yet to be done in the field

The first chapter is presenting the birth , evolution and actual status of this new subject.
In 2005 l American out of 3 is non white and according to the forecasts, the afroamerican, hispanic and asian population are the ones to develop faster than the white one .These numbers have been an excellent booster of Ethnic marketing and in the last 20 years all the big companies and not only have started to pay special attention to immigrants and create dedicated products. The second and third chapter are illustrating the European situation. In Europe ethnic marketing has made its appearance first in France , although slower and with more difficulties that USA, due mainly to the problems that France was facing regarding immigration.

Nevertheless in the last years companies have started to understand the potential of the teenagers in the suburbs and therefore have started to appeal the " Black" and "beur" , that is the Maghrebian and African youngs. Ralph Lauren, Versace, Tommy Hilfinger and others have launched special campaigns that called these consumers.

The third chapter is trying to present what has been done in Italy so far and what is yet to be done. Since 1970 Italy has been facing big changes regarding immigration and emigration and has become one of the main countries to reflect what is happening at European level. In Italy, just like in Europe, immigrants amount to 5% of the population, but not only .With 3.035.000 at the end of 2005 the immigrants nowadays are almost equal to emigrants.

In 2006 Censis and Eurisko have each run an immigration research. These analysis have provided a very clear picture that allows to define the "immigrant " target. The 2 bodies have published 2 complete studies of the immigrant consumer and its behaviour.

In Italy ethnic marketing is only at its beginnings The most successful cases are the companies of money transfer, among which the leader that understood and exploited most the importance of the immigrant consumer. In 2004 Western Union changed its communication and from "the fastest way to send money " became "I 'm sending so much more than money" (each time in the respective languages), it is obvious that other become the values in this case: emotion, distance from family. Apart Western Union . there are also other few examples of companied addressing immigrants directly.

The “Welcome Marketing” project was born in 2003 with the purpose of supporting the banking integration of immigrants and involve immigrants in the process Following the project a conference was held, " Migrant banking" where the same issues were treated and the final conclusions have showed a clear picture of the situation : nowadays the banking system is changing. If in the last 90's immigrants were a serious problem for the Italian banking system, today the situation is changing and not only in banking.In fact some banks have already started to offer dedicated products , we have a dedicated advertising agency -Etnocommunication, 21 newspapers in 15 languages , 46 radios in 17 languages.

In conclusion , not only these few examples, but all companies have to understand the big potential of ethnic minorities. But without studying" understanding, promoting and respecting these different cultures, nothing can be done. The globalization process, and the global culture must help these minorities preserve their identity and values and , at the same time, integrate.