Multicultural Marketing Communication
ADV 5416 – Online sections
Mode of Instruction: Online
School of Communication
Florida State University
Fall 2012
INSTRUCTOR: Holly McGavock, M.A.
EMAIL: hmm05c@fsu.edu
PHONE: (850) 339-9970
OFFICE HOURS: will be held online
INTRODUCTION: Welcome to Multicultural Marketing Communication. The intended participants for this
course are students interested in learning about the largest ethnic/cultural segments in the U.S. and how
to craft marketing and communication strategies for these audiences.
Why multicultural marketing?
Hispanics, African Americans and Asian Americans now comprise more than a third of the U.S. population.
By 2050, it’s estimated that these three groups will make up more than half of the U.S. population. This
shift in the ethnic and cultural makeup of the U.S. requires a shift in how marketing and communication
strategies are conceived and executed.
Multicultural Marketing is the practice of creating communication strategies which take into account the
unique characteristics and insights of a particular ethnic audience. As you will see throughout the course,
however, there are conflicting views on how to practice multicultural marketing, and whether it needs to
exist at all. This course will not provide all of the answers, but will help to provide the background
necessary to understand the various angles of the debate.
FORMAT: The course is designed for active participation. Each student is expected to participate in
meaningful discussions throughout the semester that indicate knowledge of the assigned material. In
addition, the course will consist of weekly readings, papers, projects, and/or discussion topics.
The “Library” on Blackboard will be used to make many class materials and examples available.
TEXTS:
The following texts are REQUIRED:
1. Communicating with the Multicultural Consumer, Barbara Mueller. Published by Peter Lang,
(2008).
2. Multicultural Intelligence: Eight Make-or-Break Rules for Marketing to Race, Ethnicity, and
Sexual Orientation, David R. Morse. Published by Paramount Market Publishing, (2009).
In addition, a list of recommended readings will be posted on the course website.
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the semester the student will be able to:
 Describe key demographic characteristics of Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans
 Uncover key insights for multicultural segments that can be leveraged in marketing efforts
 Articulate key marketing principles for multicultural target segments
 Produce an effective multicultural marketing campaign
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Describe the role of general market agencies and multicultural agencies in the advertising space
Design ethically responsible marketing campaigns
COURSE SCHEDULE AND TOPICS
WEEK
Week 1
August 27
Week 2
Sept 3
TOPICS
Introduction to the course
• Course organization
• Icebreakers/Introductions
 Syllabus Assignment
Topic: Overview of multicultural market demographics
Reading: Mueller, Chapter 1, Morse Chapter 1
Discussion board assignment: Respond to both questions by Thursday at midnight ET.
Respond to at least one other student post by Sunday at midnight ET.
 What is the difference between a melting pot and mosaic approach to
multiculturalism? What are the implications of each approach from a
marketing perspective?
 Which factors make multicultural segments attractive to marketers?
Week 3
Sept 10
Topic: Tailoring the marketing mix
Reading: Mueller Chapter 2
Assignment: Write a 2-3 page paper that discusses how product, place, price and
promotion can/should be tailored to multicultural segments. Provide examples
beyond the ones noted in the text, where possible. Please cite all sources properly.
Week 4
Sept 17
Topic: The concept of culture, how culture affects communication
Reading: Mueller Chapter 3
Discussion board assignment: Respond to both questions by Thursday at midnight ET.
Respond to at least one other student post by Sunday at midnight ET.
 What is culture? How does culture affect communication?
 What is the difference between assimilation and acculturation? Why is this
distinction important?
Week 5
Sept 24
Topic: Reaching Hispanic consumers
Reading: Mueller Chapter 4, Morse Chapter 2
Assignment: Using your course texts and the most recent Census, Pew Hispanic
Center, American Fact Finder, Selig Center, and Consumer Expenditure Survey data
available, create a graphic presentation that illustrates basic demographics for
Hispanics. You should include, at a minimum:
 Current population
 % of total U.S. population
 Projected population growth
 Geographic dispersion
 Household size
 Household income
 Age distribution
 Spending power
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 Country of origin
 Foreign born vs. U.S. born
Week 6
Oct 1
Reading: None
Discussion board assignment: Find an article from a reputable source that discusses
an issue in Hispanic marketing/advertising/communication. Post a link to the article,
along with your analysis of the article. Do you agree/disagree? Why? What are the
implications for marketers and advertisers? Post your article and analysis by Thursday
at midnight ET, and respond to at least one other student post by Sunday at midnight
ET.
Week 7
Oct 8
Topic: Reaching African American consumers
Reading: Mueller Chapter 5, Morse Chapter 3
Assignment: Final Project Topic submission (product or service you’re choosing along
with the proposed target segment and why) and citations for at least 5 sources you
will use for your project
Week 8
Oct 15
Reading: None
Discussion board assignment: Find an article from a reputable source that discusses
an issue in African-American marketing/advertising/communication. Post a link to the
article, along with your analysis of the article. Do you agree/disagree? Why? What
are the implications for marketers and advertisers? Post your article and analysis by
Thursday at midnight ET, and respond to at least one other student post by Sunday at
midnight ET.
Week 9
Oct 22
Topic: Reaching Asian American consumers
Reading: Mueller Chapter 6, Morse Chapter 4
Assignment: Using your course texts and the most recent Census, Pew Hispanic
Center, American Fact Finder, Selig Center, and Consumer Expenditure Survey data
available, create a graphic presentation that illustrates basic demographics for either
African Americans or Asian Americans. You should include, at a minimum:
 Current population
 % of total U.S. population
 Projected population growth
 Geographic dispersion
 Household size
 Household income
 Age distribution
 Spending power
 Country of origin (for Asian-Americans)
 Foreign born vs. U.S. born (for Asian-Americans)
Week 10
Oct 29
Reading: None
Discussion Board Assignment: Find an article from a reputable source that discusses
an issue in Asian-American marketing/advertising/communication. Post a link to the
article, along with your analysis of the article. Do you agree/disagree? Why? What
are the implications for marketers and advertisers? Post your article and analysis by
Thursday at midnight ET, and respond to at least one other student post by Sunday at
midnight ET.
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Week 11
Nov 5
Topic: Advertising agencies and multicultural consumers
Reading: Mueller Chapter 7, Morse Chapters 5,6
Assignment (final project check-in): Submit a draft of the first two sections of your
paper for review.

Definition of the problem including product and competitive environment

Statement of the marketing objectives
Week 12
Nov 12
Topic: Rules of multicultural marketing
Reading: Mueller Chapter 8, Morse Part Two (all)
Assignment: Using David Morse’s eight “make or break” rules for marketers, choose
two rules and find existing or recent advertising campaigns that you feel embody that
rule. Explain in 2-3 pages total how the campaigns embody the rule and what makes
these campaigns successful at reaching their target audience. Do not use the
examples from the text, though they can give you some direction for where to look.
Week 13
Nov 19
Thanksgiving Break – NO ASSIGNMENT
Week 14
Nov 26
Work week for Final Projects
Week 15
Dec 3
Final Projects Due on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7th by midnight EST. Late projects will
NOT be accepted.
Assignments: Each week, students will check the course website for the topic to be covered, the learning
objectives to be achieved, and the homework assignment along with instructors’ notes about the assigned
reading. Any assignments or questions that are part of an assignment will be posted on Monday by 5:00
p.m. E.T. All assignments are due on Sunday by midnight E.T. Written assignments and papers should be
submitted via the appropriate link on blackboard or discussion board thread and should NOT be sent to
the instructor as email attachments.
Assignments will usually take the form of short written papers or power point presentations. Each
assignment is worth 10 points.
Discussion Board Posts: A percentage of your grade is based on your posts on the Discussion Boards. If
you are required to post on the discussion board, it will be clearly indicated in that week's assignment.
You must post at least twice to each discussion board unless otherwise indicated in the assignment
description. One post should be your response to the questions posed in the discussion board. The other
post should be a thoughtful response to another student’s post.
In order to receive credit, you must post your response to the posted discussion board questions by
Thursday at midnight ET. In addition, you must post a response to another student’s post by Sunday at
midnight ET.
Your grade on the discussion board is based on participation. Each discussion board assignment is worth
10 points. However, in order to receive full credit for these posts, you must fulfill some basic
requirements:


Posts should be a minimum of 150 words
Posts should be relevant to the topic being discussed, but should also attempt to introduce a
new point of view or piece of information or otherwise further the discussion
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Posts should use correct grammar, punctuation and vocabulary appropriate for a university-level
course.
Misuse of the discussion boards will not be tolerated
Final Project: A strategy document on how to market a specific product to a specific target (either
Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans, or another segment as approved by the instructor). The
paper will include:
10 points for each of the following bullet points (points will be deducted for going far under the page
requirement, not backing up arguments with relevant research, etc.)
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Definition of the problem including product and competitive environment (2 pages)
Statement of the marketing objectives (1 page)
Target segment and its justification (1 – 2 pages)
Identification of media resources and strategy (2 – 3 pages)
Positioning and message strategy based on consumer insights, part of which could be from
personal interviews (2 – 3 pages)
POV on whether the insight(s) leveraged for this positioning and message strategy apply to other
multicultural groups and why/why not
Test of message and media approaches, which could be based on focus groups, personal
interviews, etc (2 – 3 pages)
Guidelines for implementation (1 – 2 pages)
Suggestions for the evaluation of effectiveness (1 – 2 pages)
10 points for grammar, punctuation, style, etc.
10 points for correct citation of sources
TOTAL: 110 points
Notes that apply to all assignments, projects and exams:

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Should be typed in 12 point font double-spaced with one-inch margins
Should have a cover page with the project’s and student’s information
Each section should have a title/subtitle to identify it
All references must be properly cited both within the text or in footnotes, and in a works
referenced page in APA or MLA format. Failure to do so is plagiarism and will results in failure of
the assignment/exam/project.
EVALUATION
Assignments
Discussion board posts
Final Project
35%
35%
30%
Late assignments and discussion board posts will be penalized 10% per day unless prevented from
delivering the assignment due to excused university reasons.
The grading scale is as follows:
A
AB+
B
94-100
90-93
87-89
83-86
BC+
C
C-
80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72
D+
D
DF
67-69
60-66
60-62
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FSU POLICIES:
GRADE INFLATION
The Department of Communication is committed to reducing grade inflation in its courses. To that end, a
department-wide grading standard has been adopted to insure that an "A" is reserved for outstanding
performance. "A" and "A -" grades represent work whose superior quality indicates a full mastery of the
subject. An "A" represents work of extraordinary distinction.
University Attendance Policy: Excused absences include documented illness, deaths in the family and
other documented crises, call to active military duty or jury duty, religious holy days, and official
University activities. These absences will be accommodated in a way that does not arbitrarily penalize
students who have a valid excuse. Consideration will also be given to students whose dependent children
experience serious illness.
Academic Honor Policy: The Florida State University Academic Honor Policy outlines the University’s
expectations for the integrity of students’ academic work, the procedures for resolving alleged violations
of those expectations, and the rights and responsibilities of students and faculty members throughout the
process. Students are responsible for reading the Academic Honor Policy and for living up to their pledge
to “. . . be honest and truthful and . . . [to] strive for personal and institutional integrity at Florida State
University.” (Florida State University Academic Honor Policy, found at
http://dof.fsu.edu/honorpolicy.htm.)
Americans With Disabilities Act: Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should:(1)
register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center; and(2) bring a letter
to the instructor indicating the need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the
first week of class.
This syllabus and other class materials are available in alternative format upon request.
For more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact the:
Student Disability Resource Center,874 Traditions Way,108 Student Services Building Florida State
University Tallahassee, FL 32306-4167 , (850) 644-9566 (voice), (850) 644-8504
(TDD)sdrc@admin.fsu.edu, http://www.disabilitycenter.fsu.edu/
Syllabus Change Policy
"Except for changes that substantially affect implementation of the evaluation (grading) statement, this
syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change with advance notice.”
If you want to know more about the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communications, the certificate and
the minor, visit
http://hmc.comm.fsu.edu
There you can also find resources for your projects.
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