Media Consumption Habits of South Asian-Canadians – Part II

Media consumed by South Asians living in Greater Toronto & Vancouver areas.

Media Consumption Among Canadians of South Asian Origin – Part I

OPAL researched media consumption of South Asian-Canadians. The data was collected online in the Greater Toronto and Vancouver areas. Television, Radio, Print and digital media were studied. Media consumption by age, gender, city, time in Canada, HH income and education were reported.

We are sharing top-line insights of this study via a series of blog posts here. So stay tuned and visit us regularly.

• Internet and TV are the most widely consumed media, as 91% South Asians (SA) use Internet & 89% watch TV at least a few hours in a week.
• 75% South Asians read newspapers / magazines and 63% listen to the radio. However, engagement, time spent with these two media, is low.
• South Asians engage more with new media, as 70% use Internet for more than six hours a week, including 25% SA, who use for more than twenty hours a week.
• TV viewership is similar among SA in the Greater Vancouver Area (GVA) at 91% & the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) at 89%. Though TV engagement (time spent watching TV) is higher in the GVA.

• Radio listenership & Newspaper readership are higher in the GTA versus the GVA, as 64% SA in the GTA listen to radio versus 54% in the GVA and 77% read newspapers versus 70% in the GVA.

• Internet usage is also reported higher in the GTA, as nearly one out of four SA use Internet for more than 20 hours a week in the GTA versus one out of five in the GVA.
• TV watching “Most-often watched TV channel” is largely fragmented with no channel scoring more than 10%

• About half of the SA listen to both English and in-language radio programs

Please comment and let me know if the above insights are in line with your observations or findings, thanks.

Marketing for Financial Services

I have been invited to speak in a conference on Marketing for Financial Services by The Canadian Institute. The conference is being held on November 29th and 30th, 2012 at One King West Hotel, Toronto. The Canadian Institute operates as a think tank, monitoring trends and developments in all major industry sectors with a view to providing information on the leading edge.

I will speak on Integrated Marketing for Ethnic Markets and will use research and case studies to present effective ways for reaching and connecting with target markets. Check out the details on the conference, fees and registration by clicking here or at the link below for the information brochure.

Marketing for Financial Services

Register for this epic event to raise your game in the highly competitive financial services market. See you there.

The AMA Roundtable on the Emerging Ethnic Markets in Canada

It was good to see a full-house in the AMA round-table discussion on The Emerging Ethnic Markets in Canada: The Pioneers of Multicultural Marketing held in Toronto last week. It highlighted the interest in the multicultural and new-Canadians markets.

The panellists for the discussion were from the CPG, Market Research, Telecommunications and Banking sectors. Panellists shared their multicultural marketing approach that differed from each other based on the industry / category they represent. Rubicon Foods primarily focuses on other drivers than ethnicity to expand in Canadian market. Rogers caters to all major ethnic segments with cable TV as TV watching differs across cultures. The RBC engages new-Canadians and also promotes multiculturalism within for continued customer satisfaction and engagement.

There was also discussion on how marketers are still trying to get the multicultural marketing on the map. I think “multicultural marketing not on the map” is an effect and feel that it would be useful discussing the cause to this effect. Why the multicultural marketing has not received the recognition yet? Is it because,

My Popular Marketing & Business Articles

So far I have written more than 80 articles and posts on this and the CMA blog. A visitor to this blog asked which ones were the most visited / viewed. Following are the top five articles by number of visits. Click on the titles to read and do let me know what do you think about the ideas discussed in these articles by providing your comments here.

• Putting Multicultural Marketing On The Fast Track
• Highly Effective Communication Model
• SACHIN- A market to grow with
• Workplace Dynamics
• Designing Better Ads

Happy Reading and cheers,

Thank You & Happy New Year

Thank you for visiting and re-visiting this blog.

Happy New Year

The number of visits were much more last year compared to 2010, though due to my preoccupation with a new business venture, I wrote fewer articles and posts in 2011. I will recap with the top five posts on this blog next. So stay tuned.

Thanks, once again, and do keep coming back and provide with your viewpoint on the topics discussed here by commenting on the posts.

Wishing you and your loved ones the best of health, happiness and prosperity in 2012.

Fourth Anniversary of Marketing Mirror

Last month marked completion of four years for the Marketing Mirror. It also marked four years of self-expression and my two-cents’ worth on an area that I like to add value via big ideas and better practices. During this period I wrote 72 posts and articles for this blog (contributed few for the CMA blog and other publications as well) and received 122 comments. Several readers subscribed to Marketing Mirror during last few months.

Hats off to you, who visit this blog and provide comments on my articles. Imagine if you wouldn’t have provided comments and feedback, would I still be writing? Perhaps I would be :), but surely I would not be one happy camper.

Media Habits & Attitude Study Among South Asian-Canadians

Are You Effectively Reaching & Connecting With Your Customers?

Find out by knowing recent insights on Media-consumption Habits & Attitude Among South Asian-Canadians:

• The Media South Asian-Canadians most-often engage with
• Popular TV and Radio Programs, Publications and Websites
• Best Times to Advertise and Print Sections to be in
• Media Ratings
• Media consumption by sub-segments; Age, Gender, Income, City, Ethnicity & Time in Canada

The study was conducted in August 2011 and includes men and women of South Asian origin, 18 years and older, residing in the GTA and the GVA.  This research helps in market and media segmentation for effectively targeting, reaching and connecting with your market. It will facilitate in achieving higher ROMI and satisfied customers / clients.

Please click here to visit us

Hyper-segmentation – a Caveat

We know from Marketing 101 that Marketing and market segmentation go hand-in-hand. Marketers start by segmenting the market to reach and connect with the customers with relevant products, communication, messages and media mix.  However, if the market segment is too broad, you lose the focus and relevance of the brand. If you cut it too tight, you lose the opportunity, economies of scale and profitability. Thus market segments should be balanced to be relevant and profitable.

Market segmentation is of jugular importance in multicultural marketing and there are 101 ways to segment multicultural markets. Few of these are: culture, language, religion, ethnicity, time in country, country of origin and more, and then sub-segmentation on the basis of age, gender, income, family size and education so on and so forth. This at times lends to hyper-segmentation, which I believe is expensive, time-consuming, prone to pitfalls and ineffective.

Most South Asian-Canadians Shop at No Frills

We conducted a market research in May 2011 on Grocery Shopping Habits of South Asian-Canadians. It was done through an online survey for a CPG brand. Composition of the target groups mirrored 2006 Census data on key demographics; gender, ethnicity and place of residence.  Target respondents were Canadians of South Asian origin, age 21 and older, principal grocery shoppers, living in the GTA. 289 responses were collected.

I share few non-proprietary top-line findings and insights below.

Grocery Shopping:  57% South Asians usually buy groceries at No Frills and 36% at Food Basics, based on the responses we received for this survey. Wal-Mart is a close third at 33% and Freshco fourth at 24%. Wal-Mart improved its ranking, as only 27%  respondents mentioned that they shop for groceries at Wal-Mart in a similar survey done earlier. Please see the table for data on other grocery stores in the GTA.

Take a short survey – You may win a $100 Gift Card.

We are conducting an online survey on media preferences and usage by South Asian-Canadians. If you are a Canadian of South Asian origin, 18 years or older, living in the GTA or the GVA, please click at the link below to take part in the survey. Your opinion will help in bringing relevant product and service information to you.

http://opal.checkboxonline.com/SA%20media%20monitor.aspx

Enter code # 608.

All completed responses will be entered in a draw for $100 gift cards. Also, we would share top line findings with you, upon request.

This Survey has ended!

Putting Multicultural Marketing On The Fast Track

Though Multicultural Marketing a.k.a. Ethnic Marketing is in vogue for years, its potential hasn’t been harnessed yet. Primarily due to short-term approach, heavy focus on paid-for advertising and lack of measurement. I wrote on putting multicultural marketing on the fast track for the Canadian Marketing Association blog. You can click here or on the CMA icon to learn more.

Please let me know what do you think by providing your comments.

Poll

Retailers should do more to court ethnic consumers – a Toronto Star report

I read a report on ethnic consumers and the comments on it published by Toronto Star. The report stated the obvious, I had touched upon it earlier, Grocery stores Eye South Asian market segment, however, the comments were very interesting. Most of the comments were against the idea of courting ethnic consumers. Following are being quoted from these comments,

– ethnic consumers are “minority”  and should be treated like a minority. Any efforts to please them will alienate the majority

– The writer is pro-foreigner anti Canadian…

– ethnic stores – that’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

– retailers should not change, stop enforcing your Homeland beliefs on us…

Many comments were on a tangent to the purpose of the report. I consider it a business report written by an analyst at the CIBC, stating the ground realities. Whether to court or not to court ethnic consumer is a business decision and will remain a business decision. It is unfair to expect ethnic immigrants to instantly drop their habits, cultural, likes and dislikes upon arriving in Canada. They will assimilate in due course, as the ones who immigrated before them have. Meanwhile, ethnic consumers have unmet needs that businesses try to meet for mutual benefits. It is a simple market-driven demand and supply equation.

Advertising Gone Wasted

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half – this is a 100 years old quote that stands true for many ad campaigns even today. I saw few ads where 100% money was wasted and I think the advertisers have no clue.

The following ad appeared in a Georgetown, Ontario newspaper trying to reach South Asians with a divine public service message. Besides the models standing on the wrong sides of the flags, the ad targeted a geographical area where hardly any South Asian live. Can you guess how many South Asian families live in Georgetown? According to my findings, THREE, yes THREE.
The above advertisement ran several times in a wrong medium spending $1,000+ per household, basically putting thousands of $$$ down the drain and it was public money intended for a good cause 😦