1. Multicultural consumers lead the way in effective years of buying power.  Translation: because the median age of multicultural consumers is younger, they have more years to buy stuff.

2. The veil of the Total Market charade has been pierced. Marc Pritchard, in his powerful presentation, outlined the four myths driving marketing to communities of color today:

• Multicultural marketing is the job of a separate, specialized group or person
• Our brand’s general advertising campaign is broadly appealing to every ethnic group
• We’ll reach them anyway with our general market media buy.
•  Our agencies know how to market to multicultural consumers

P&G’s antidote to reclaim their consumers and their business: doubling down on targeted media and the agencies that specialize in multicultural consumers.

3. It’s not either/or. It’s and; The success is in the “and”. “Better serving our multicultural customers, better serves all of our customers.” Tony Rogers, SVP Chief Marketing Officer of Fortune #1 company Walmart. All of Walmart’s growth is coming from multicultural consumers. Tony Rogers also suggested that it’s not about the total market, but understanding and leveraging what he calls cultural fluency.

4. The path forward to intentionally creating a diverse workforce and inclusive environment, the client and agency have to be all in.

Roger Adams, CMO USAA & Renetta McCann, Chief Talent Officer, Leo Burnettexcellently presented their real-time case study outlining the 4-point comprehensive approach of education, recruitment, on-boarding, growth & retention and celebration. They also shared the outstanding YTD results of their efforts and are now entering the retention phase.

It was a critical business imperative for USAA because at least 1/3 of their customer base, which are members of the US military, is multicultural. The necessity of building diverse agency teams and an inclusive environment was also echoed by Tony Rogers, CMO of Walmart and Diego Scotti, EVP & CMO Verizon.

Offering the excuse “we couldn’t find anyone” is unacceptable today. (Actually, it’s quite lame for a host of reasons.)

5. Companies that are risk averse are leaving tomorrow’s profit on the table.   Stan Little, SVP SunTrust Bank shared the perspective of a conservative company in a highly regulated industry recognizing and embracing the business opportunity among multicultural consumers and communities. Sun Trust’s most profitable clientele are middle aged white men who are now retiring and drawing on the assets they were once depositing.  SunTrust’s aha! moment: recognizing that consumers of color are the key to the bank’s future profitability.

There is an urgent need to “commit to multicultural communities by aligning relevant business engagement; activate 3 distinct and important entry points: Where consumers Live, Work and play. But first commit to “Do No Harm”. Do well by doing good.

6. Through whose eyes are you viewing the world? Change your rule book. Take the time and make the commitment to understand your customer’s world. Surround yourself with people of different points of view, different cultural experiences and lifestyles. Great common-sense advice from both Manoj Raghunandanan, J&J VP Marketing of US OTC and Philip Polk, VP of Multicultural Strategies at Hallmark.  

7.  African American millennials set the trends of pop culture, but they are not as mainstream as data suggests. Pepper Miller, of the Hunter-Miller Group, multicultural market research expert in her presentation “Hiding in Plain Sight”, informed the audience of marketers and agencies of this important distinction. Also, marketers need to get permission before appropriating this consumer’s culture and influence. As Stan Little of SunTrust would comment two days later in his presentation, “you better ask somebody”.

8. Music is key for connecting with multicultural consumers. It is not uncommon for Black and Latino audiences to identify an artist and create the surge that eventually catapults them to trend worthy hash tags and mainstream popularity. Nidia Serrano, Senior Manager of Pandora highlighted this for the pre-conference audience.

9. The Total Market approach to advertising and marketing has been “misinterpreted and misunderstood”. It was also noted that it had a high propensity for failure.  That revelation was shared by marketers at Clorox and Coca Cola. They have intentionally been left anonymous.

10. The industry seems to still have difficulty grasping that multicultural consumer segments include Asian, African American and Latino. All three of these segments represent the margin of difference to a brand’s future viability and profitability.

It was particularly interesting to hear clients call for diverse staffing at agencies. That has certainly been a long time coming. It remains to be seen whether agencies heed the seriousness of this or if there will be any consequences if they don’t.

There was also a recurring complaint that there were no metrics or ability to measure success among multicultural consumers. Big data cannot help here. The power and opportunity in multicultural segments is in the nuances and cultural experiences, the very data points big data anonymizes. However, with the exception of the Asian consumer segment, there is quite a bit of data on what multicultural consumers watch and buy. At the end of the day, you have to know who is purchasing and using your products and services. If you don’t, consider that you may need to get hyper-local and meet your customers where they work, live and play in order to better understand and service them.

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Studying the industry you work in or are interested in is not difficult. A combination of search engines along with other online resources (see the resource section at the end of the book) will provide you with enough information to get started.

Literally, type the industry into the search engine and see what pops up. From there you will be able to find a wide range of information including:

• Leading companies in the industry
• Industry leaders and hopefully a link to their LinkedIn profile
• Industry trends and forecasts
• Competitive pressures and threats

How best to put this information to good use? Here are a few helpful tips.

Leading companies in the industry:

What makes the leading companies in the industry, leaders? It can be any or all of the following:

• Technology
• Innovation
• Reputation
• Culture
• Talent

If the companies are publicly traded, meaning they have stockholders, get a copy of their annual report. The report or a link to the report may be housed on the corporate website.

What you want to learn is the overarching philosophy of the company and how their business strategies deliver on that philosophy.

Included in the company overview will be the company’s perspective and policy on diversity, the environment, and how the company actively demonstrates its corporate citizenship, three very important issues that define the character and culture of a company.

Industry Leaders

Become familiar with the names of the people who are considered industry leaders in your field in general and the company you work for in particular.

• Who are the forward thinkers?
• What points of view do they hold?
• Upon what do they base their conclusions, opinions and theories?
• Why are they highly regarded?

Where do you begin to identify such people?

The trade organizations and publications for the industry. Almost every industry has a trade organization and /or a trade publication. Identify both for your field and related fields as well and read them regularly.

Deborah Gray‑Young is a former advertising agency executive who now serves as a trusted advisor to senior executives and SMB CEOs. Known for distilling complexity, challenging assumptions, and clarifying high‑stakes situations, she brings candor, strategic insight, and grounded perspective to leaders seeking clarity and impact.

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1. Figure out what is causing your frustration. It will generally fall within these

categories:

• Learning curve
• Workload
• Lack of direction from supervisor or manager
• Lack of cooperation from co-workers
• Processes and procedures not clear
• Systems too complicated or don’t work
• Personal situation is overwhelming

2. Ask for assistance or guidance.

Understanding the source of your frustration will go a long way towards helping you get your challenges resolved.

Asking for help shows professional maturity. Venting without having taken the time to understand the source of your frustration or having asked for help will make you look like a whiner who can’t handle pressure or function in the real world.

Having said that, to whom should you vent?

Generally, it is probably a good idea to either vent up or to a peer. But tread carefully here, especially if you are new to the company or in a junior or entry level position. Venting can be risky to your reputation and how you are perceived within your department or the company.

If the company you work for has an “Open Door Policy” or you have a great relationship with your boss, then occasionally sharing challenges and frustrations may be appropriate.

However, consistently using your manager as an outlet to express aggravations only adds to your boss’s problems. They may start to view you as not being able to effectively handle challenges in your role and it could potentially affect how you are evaluated in your performance reviews.

If you are in a supervisory role, make it a point to vent up or to a peer, not to a subordinate. The key is knowing when you have a problem that needs solving or do you just want to vent. Ask yourself is this something my boss needs to be involved in, or is it something I can handle on my own?

Most bosses would welcome not being involved in every challenge and gladly allow their employees to resolve their own issues.

One way to gauge whether it is something to take to your boss is whether the situation will effect your boss’s boss. If it will, it is definitely not something you should handle yourself.

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Secondly, you will quickly develop the label as a drama queen or king.

Having family problems or relationship issues? Everyone has them, but they are not the reason you were hired and not what you get paid to do all day long. Park your drama at the door.

If you find that your personal situation is too overwhelming for you to function at work, talk to your HR department to learn what resources might be available to help you cope. An EAP (Employee Assistance Program) may be available to you.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, keep your family business away from the office. While it may not be fair that people judge others and form opinions of people based on what they see and hear about their personal lives, it happens never-the-less. Thirty years ago, a multi-billion dollar industry sprang up around gossip and peering into people’s lives.

No one will admit to being a gossiper, but a lot of people are and your personal business is rich fodder. Keep it to yourself and out of the office discussion pool. It could also have a quirky way of coming back to haunt you.

Minimize personal phone calls on company time. This is especially important if you have friends or family with too much time on their hands. Ask them politely, if you can call them back when you are on your own time. Of course, these days, it’s not phone calls, but hanging out on social media or texting or instant messaging. It cannot be stressed enough how much of a no-no it is hanging out on social media while at work.

Unless you work in social media, i.e. manage social media channels or campaigns and conversations for your company, the likelihood of your being on social media channels for work is highly unlikely and highly inappropriate.

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The ability to manage up – manage your supervisor and manager is an invaluable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Learn it quickly and master it.

What does managing up entail?

Learning the work styles and communication preferences of those you work with and report to. And it’s the very first thing you should set out to learn.

Learn quickly what is important to your immediate supervisor. If you are responsible for taking messages or keeping track of appointments, make sure to pay attention to details and deliver information and changes immediately and accurately.
No matter what role you play in an organization, you are there to be of service. Reminding your supervisor and your team of critical dates for deliverables that are approaching is one of the most important ways you can be of service.

If you are working on a project and are in need of information or approvals, it is your responsibility to make sure you get what you need to complete your work accurately and on time. Very often people will use the excuse that their manager didn’t get back to them, or didn’t provide some critical piece of information.

It is quite okay to ask or remind team members of what you need, whether it is your manager or a peer. You don’t have to be a pest about it, but gentle reminders are always appreciated. People get busy and for any number of reasons, it may not be top of mind for them. Your job is to put it back at the top of the list.

The flip side is if you don’t take the initiative with making sure the assignment is completed on time, neither you nor your boss will look good. By reminding him or her, you both look good and it will instill confidence in your manager that you are diligent and reliable.

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