The Katalyst Group Releases First-Ever Platform To Drive Multicultural Marketing, newsletter 1,

The Katalyst Group is creating a first-ever experience that people won’t be able to stop talking about.

In pursuit of its mission, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based brand strategy and marketing firm has formally released its new inclusive marketing diagnostic tool, the Cultural Competency Monitor (CCM). The first-ever single platform assesses both brand team and agency readiness for multicultural marketing.

The Katalyst Group sees the biggest opportunity for market growth as the “multicultural market,” evidenced by the increase in buying power of multiracial and multiethnic consumers.

“Analytics show both that ethnic consumers represent 20-30% of new category growth across sectors and since 2020 over 70% expect a new level of authenticity from the brands they purchase,” according to a press release shared with BLACK ENTERPRISE.

“Additionally, achieving fair share among diverse consumers represents sales increases of $100 to $500 million for each the largest advertisers without creating a new product,” the press release read.

Katalyst aims to enable more brands to resonate with consumers at the point of engagement. In August, it introduced the inaugural platform to the 2023 Cannes Lions’ Cannes Can: Diversity Collective Inkwell event at Martha’s Vineyard.

“The multicultural market is highly nuanced and requires a thoughtful, effective approach the brands can apply. We developed the CCM to measure the efforts being made by brands in inclusive marketing and to assist companies with the enhancements that develop propositions that authentically connect and resonate with multicultural consumer cohorts,” said Sean Rugless, Katalyst group president.

What is the Cultural Competency Monitor?

According to Procter & Gamble, growing markets is the most important kind of growth. The CCM platform is geared to provide “insight into the level of multicultural proficiency found with brand teams and their agency partners to connect with.”

Marginalizing is a habit that needs to be broken to realize that multicultural marketing is, in fact, mainstream marketing. While working to avoid this disingenuous habit, the CCM also helps to connect brands with diverse consumer cohorts.

This comes with recognizing that advertisers seeking to unlock brand growth from multicultural consumers have made “missteps that erode brand reputation, conceded share to competitors, and reduced profitability,” according to the release. With that, “inaccurate portrayals of communities of color have been linked to negative social consequences experienced for this segment.”

Who uses this platform?

To drive brand and agency performance, Katalyst is building partnerships with brands, advertisers, and agencies in deploying the CCM. The components of the CCM in the form of work sessions and assessments have been utilized at companies such as Procter & Gamble, Publicis Groupe, Beam Suntory, and Kellogg’s North America.

For instance, P&G has been working to “convert more multicultural consumers to purchase through the habit of reaching each multicultural audience 80% to 90% with our advertising, 52 weeks a year,” according to a blog post.

Additionally, Kellogg’s was the first Consumer Packaged Goods company to adopt this platform. They have witnessed growth in annual brand performance across six brands and five agency partners. From increases in US Hispanic media spending and new investments in multicultural capabilities, the CCM has helped them hire diverse talent and introduce several new multicultural agencies to their marketing.

How does this tool help to close the brand market share gaps among multicultural consumers?

The CCM is instrumental in fostering new narratives and eliminating bias in the portrayals of communities of color. Inclusive marketing is the key.

Analyze brand development and creative development processes
Co-create action plans between brand teams and agencies
Integrating its measures into existing brand and agency performance reviews and metrics