Multicultural Marketing Is Not a Department. It’s a Responsibility.
by Martin Serra
Multicultural marketing represents a horizontal rather than vertical approach. Multicultural marketing requires more than a simple checkmark or temporary designation or general market content translation into Spanish. It’s a responsibility. A creative, strategic, and cultural one.
Too many agencies along with brands maintain their approach toward multicultural marketing as an afterthought. Yet here we are in 2024, and too many agencies and brands still treat it like an afterthought—delegated to "those folks over there" who specialize in a niche audience. As if culture exists in a separate universe, when, in fact, it’s the world we all live in. It’s time we stop calling multicultural marketing “multicultural marketing” and start calling it what it really is: marketing that reflects reality.
You should examine your typical creative brief document. The "target audience" section within most creative briefs contains demographic information along with psychographic details and sporadic cultural insights. But where’s the cultural context? The nuance? The lived experiences driving behavior? The brief becomes stereotyping instead of marketing when you create content for Latinos using only "Spanish-speaking Millennials" as the description while featuring a mariachi band on the mood board. We’re not a genre. The generational power of these demographics transforms various business sectors including fashion and finance.
All audiences including Black people Asian communities and LGBTQ+ individuals and Indigenous people require equal consideration. Culture doesn’t sit on the sidelines. It moves the mainstream. Too often agencies present cultural considerations as add-on features that clients can add only after their ideas are already completed. That’s backwards.
Agencies claim to prioritize culture through "culture-first creative" yet culture disappears from decision-making processes and briefing development as well as team recruitment. Your team needs cultural diversity because you can't lead with culture-first without reflecting the culture you serve. Inclusive work requires more than consultant perspectives because decision-making authority should belong to diverse team members. The truth stands that genuine authenticity remains impossible to fabricate. Not with hashtags, influencers, or AI prompts.
Creative teams must mirror the consumers they develop content for. That’s not a trend. It’s table stakes. The present method of thinking functions improperly because it has existed this way for an extended period. Culture isn’t a specialty. All brands compete on this platform. It’s not something to add later or translate after the fact. It’s the starting point. When we treat it like an optional layer, we miss the opportunity to connect, to matter, and to lead.
Audiences detect the artificial nature of separate multicultural streams and limited heritage month promotions that brands use to demonstrate their commitment. A concept fails to stand independently from a Spanish voice indicates it lacked original value at the start. The mistake is to believe that cultural representation consists solely of diverse actors or language translation while missing the deeper cultural understanding. Inclusion isn’t about swapping faces or translating taglines—it’s about perspective.
When creating work for specific audiences ensure it draws from the authentic life experiences of those individuals. The process requires equal input from diverse voices who participate directly in the room during creative work and decision-making at the same level. Agencies claim to lead multicultural approaches but evaluate their teams first before their pitches. Check the authorship list for that commercial. What role does authentic leadership truly hold in the production of this work? Who’s shaping the story? Authenticity cannot be purchased from external sources. The work will fail to connect with audiences when you try to assign authenticity to a single person or department.
Modern marketing requires your agency to view multicultural strategies as core principles instead of simple checklist items. You’re just catching up. To ensure your agency remains relevant in the future avoid playing it safe.
Culture should be viewed as the essential foundation for all brand expression rather than a campaign-specific feature. When the work feels real, it is real. Real elements represent the key factor that leads to success. The absence of demanding profound insights alongside truthful representation with intelligent storytelling makes us mere managers instead of leaders. We’re managing. The industry has an abundance of managers who already exist. The standards of creative excellence reach their highest point in history. Originality alone does not define the minimum requirement.
It’s about relevance. Emotional truth. Cultural fluency.
And that’s not a burden. That’s the opportunity.