The two were media savvy — Yap had even run her own advertising agency in Manila — but often the ads they saw, which relied on obscure cultural reference points and nuanced English expressions, went over their heads. At that moment on the subway, it dawned on the duo that they could launch a multicultural ad agency to cater to people like themselves.

Today, Yap and Maramba run AV Communications, a multicultural advertising and marketing agency based in downtown Toronto. The company has offices in Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg and has a roster of high-profile clients, such as Western Union, Money Mart and the Ontario government. They tap into the expertise of their eight employees — immigrants from Serbia, Latvia, Latin America and China — to reach out to ethnic markets.

It’s a far cry from the two women’s employment situation in 2003, when they first launched the agency. Yap and Maramba (who had worked previously as a designer of commercial spaces in the Philippines) were moonlighting with “survival jobs” to make ends meet. They worked together packing garlic in a factory, and later, they delivered the Toronto Star in the middle of the night.

With few contacts in Canada, the two women networked through the Filipino community to get their humble first gigs — making business cards and decorating the lobby of a bank branch. Eventually they met someone at Western Union who was looking to reach out to ethnic communities.

Yap and Maramba came up with a brochure with text in the Filipino language Tagalog and cartoons in Komiks style, a type a illustration popular in the Philippines. “Any Filipino would identify with the graphic style,” says Yap. The campaign was adopted by Western Union in the U.S., and helped boost the Philippines from Western Union Canada’s No. 23 destination country to No. 12 in just three months. Since 2006, the Philippines has been Western Union Canada’s No. 1 destination country.

Today, Yap and Maramba make a point of helping new immigrants who contact them, often hiring them on small projects to give them their first bit of “Canadian experience.” “I tell new immigrants to pursue their goals and not to overanalyze,” says Maramba. “There are always barriers, but they need to just go for it, and do what they’re doing well.”

 

In a way, the weather reminds me of some advertisers. Just when they are warming up to the idea of going into multicultural marketing, they suddenly get cold feet. Understandably, the path is still less trodden. Marketers may need to look beyond their existing partnerships to get into the game. And supposing the idea to get into it is entertained – where does one begin? Find a multicultural ad agency? Hire an assistant that speaks a popular ethnic language? Get a part time community consultant? NONE OF THE ABOVE.

My suggestion to a would be ethnic marketer, is to first look inside rather than outside. Getting into ethnic marketing is a marriage where divorce is not an option. The decision to woo ethnic communities needs the buy in of upper management. It is a corporate commitment. It cannot be a mere tactical effort, where one promotion is fed to the community and “see how that goes”. Remember, ethnic communities were also mainstream consumers in their home countries. They are sophisticated consumers and veteran media users too. They know when an advertiser is sincere in reaching out to them.

Just like any new target market demographic, results don’t come overnight. Communicating to communities does not need a big chunk of marketing dollars, but consistency is key. You also don’t need to communicate to all communities all at once. You can go after one community first, but remember to be a solicitous suitor. Take the time to get to know the community but most importantly, let them get to know you too. The worst thing that can happen is greet them prosperity and joy during an auspicious time in their culture, and then disappear. You also don’t necessarily need to go after the most popular girl in class. Many advertisers head for the communities with the biggest population as their main prospect. Sure there is buying power in numbers but you also need to compete for their attention since everyone is after them! We have seen advertisers who went for the smaller communities and have gotten better ROI’s.

If you think you are ready to tie the knot with ethnic communities, be sure you are committed to it. The easiest way to get dismal results in your multicultural marketing efforts is to go in half-hearted.