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‘Multicultural is the new digital’, says MultiConnexions CEO

Targeting multicultural ‘new’ audiences has become the new digital, Sheba Nandkeolyar, the CEO and co-founder of Multiconnexions has said.

Speaking at Mumbrella’s CommsCon yesterday at the session ‘Speaking to ‘New audiences’: Personalising Messages for Multicultural Australia’, Nandkeolyar said it was important brands adopt strategies to help them understand multicultural audiences in Australia.

Sheba Nandkeolyar speaks at Mumbrella’s CommsCon

“Multicultural is going to be the new digital,” she said.

“Either we are aware of it, understand it and adopt it and take steps to ensure we are targeting and speaking to these audiences or we lose out.

“It’s somewhere your company can actually gain massive dividends if we start looking at the multicultural and new audiences if we put some strategies or plans in place.”

The session pointed out the various ways brands can approach and understand multicultural audiences and looked at differences between Western and Asian values, after statistics from the 2011 Census and ABS’ current MSX Lifestyle and Survey Data indicated $27b of Australian spending comes from Chinese and south-east Asian audiences.

“The West is very task oriented, I can call somebody and say ‘Let’s do a coffee’ and we would actually being doing business,” Nandkeolyar explained.

“That won’t happen with Asian audiences.

“Relationship is really key. How do you build that relationship? How do you drive that and maintain that and make it work for your company?”

Commenting on different ways brands can understand their multicultural audiences, she warned of direct translations and offending ‘new’ audiences.

An example provided was Meat and Livestock Australia’s Lamb ad from January this year.

“It was a celebratory ad and it was all about a BBQ, migrants coming in and welcoming them.”

The MLA ad which celebrated diversity included a box of fireworks which, directly translated, offended Chinese audiences

“It was meant to be fireworks and celebrations. But the direct translations (on fireworks box) had implications of a bomb. And so many people from the Chinese community were outraged to see that.

“If you do it, do it thoroughly, do it properly.”

When asked whether brands are doing enough to target multicultural audiences, she said they had a “long way to go”.

“Almost 80-85% of the brands really need to connect and connect well.”

She added multicultural representation within organisations offered benefits to understanding ‘new audiences.’

“It’s always good to actually try and encourage a representation within your organisation of what your real world looks like. Having said that it doesn’t mean it has to be somebody from a multicultural or a new audience background who handles multiculturalism and new audiences.

“Cultures are different, there’s no good or bad, right or wrong, it’s just differences.

“Anyone can handle it if they have the cultural sensitivity.”

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