Continuing the Tradition
Inaugural Multicultural Retail 360 Summit provided insights for marketing not only
to Hispanics, but all key demographic and cultural segments of the U.S. population
By Debby Garbato
R
etailers today recognize
the value of marketing
in ways that appeal not
just to a short list of
well-recognized ethnic groups, but
to a diverse range of cultural and
minority perspectives.
In August, the inaugural
Multicultural Retail 360 Summit
made its debut in Anaheim, Calif., as
specialists in African-American and
Asian marketing joined the conference’s cadre of Hispanic experts. The Armando Martin of XL Edge (left) moderated a panel of retailer giants on the importance of diversity:
Rona Fourté and Martha Garnica of Walgreens, Rueben Shaffer of Kroger, and Michael Byron of Walmart.
event was previously known as the
Hispanic Retail 360 Summit.
Held Aug. 12-15, the 11th annual summit was
presented by Stagnito Business Information, publisher From Fútbol to Football
of Convenience Store News and other leading retail
The growth and significance of the multicultural marbusiness magazines. Attendance exceeded 450 retailket were underscored by the NFL, which discussed its
ers, suppliers and other marketers that target multicommitment to growing the Latino fan base. Already,
cultural consumers.
26 million Hispanics follow the sport and 63 percent
Presenting companies included such market leadof all Latinos like football more than other sports,
ers as Nielsen, Walmart, Walgreens, the National
said Marissa Fernandez, director of fan strategy and
Football League (NFL),
marketing, and the summit’s keynote speaker. These
Brookshire’s and Kroger.
consumers represent 14.2 percent of the 188 million
More than 50 speakers
NFL fans nationwide.
discussed subjects ranging
The NFL is pairing culturally relevant messages with
from cultural relevancy
its all-American image. One Spanish-language ad shows
beyond language, to the
kids playing football; a voiceover discusses their hopes
importance of indepenfor the future. “The NFL represents both the American
dent grocers gaining a
culture and the American dream,” said Fernandez.
better understanding of
The NFL is also looking to increase Spanish TV
black consumers.
football viewership by building Hispanic fans’ underTopics were so popustanding of the game. On ESPN Deportes, it provides
lar that, by the morning
both in-depth game analysis for veteran fans and “how
of Aug. 13, the conferto” explanations for more novice viewers.
ence had become a
To reach Hispanic women, the NFL ran ads
leading trend topic in
featuring Dominican-born actress Diane Ramirez
Marissa Fernandez, director of fan strategy
Southern California on
in Vogue and People en Español during 2014. This
and marketing for the NFL, explained how
social
media
site
Twitter.
year’s ads star Dascha Polanco, another Dominican
professional football is enticing Latino fans.
140 Convenience Store News | OCTOBER 2015 | WWW.CSNEWS.COM
Noted multicultural experts Eddie Yoon (left) and Guy Garcia used cutting-edge insights, case studies and never-before-seen data from Nielsen to
paint a dynamic portrait of modern multicultural consumers.
actress. At the grassroots level, the NFL is targeting
underdeveloped markets with youth participation programs designed to foster lifetime enjoyment of football.
big Names iN retail
On the retailer end, a panel of executives from top
chains talked about hindrances to multicultural initiatives, the importance of companywide cooperation,
and how diversity can generate additional revenue.
Rona Fourté, Walgreens’ director of supplier diversity, discussed partnering with black entrepreneur
Vera Moore to launch a line of African-American
cosmetics. The assortment is offered by 35 Duane
Reade stores in New York and via Walgreens.com.
“It’s a true example of Walgreens’ commitment to
diversity,” Fourté said.
Walgreens also launched a bilingual freestanding insert
when it began selling Hispanic groceries, said Martha
Garnica, manager of multicultural marketing. The dossier is published at the beginning of the month when lowincome customers receive government benefits.
Mike Byron, senior director of supplier diversity
at Walmart, said the retailer now offers 3,000 products and services from diverse suppliers. In 2011,
it committed to sourcing $25 billion from womenowned companies over the next five years. Byron said
Walmart has already exceeded that goal by about $1
billion. “We want to imbed supplier diversity into our
overall strategic directive. Everyone in charge of negating or awarding a contract touches my office.”
Kroger executives utilize the input of nine associate
resource groups, said Reuben Schaffer, chief diversity
officer. Each is comprised of people from a specific ethnic
or other group. “They tell us what it’s like to be Asian or
gay,” said Schaffer. “Diversity is about the mix; inclusion
is making it work. With us, it’s in to be out.”
brookshire’s New strategy
Three executives from Tyler, Texas-based Brookshire’s
outlined the grocer’s cross-departmental, multicultural
initiative that has increased sales by almost 30 percent
over three years.
Efforts involved identifying and serving customers
in areas with heavy concentrations of Hispanics or
African-Americans. Demographic targets are further
segmented by income, lifestyle, acculturation and
shopping habits. To do this, the company has relied
on extensive research, outside experts and changes
that touch everything from products and packaging to
staffing and training.
For example, Brookshire’s removed sweet Mexican
bread from its packaging and placed it in self-serve
cases. And it began offering beans in bulk.
“It’s not just certain products they want, but the
way they shop for them,” said Ivette Zavarce, multicultural marketing coordinator for the grocery chain.
Outside of supermarkets, Sean Bunner, vice president
of new business development at the Home Shopping
Network (HSN), explained how the multi-billion interactive, multichannel retailer is using a Latina host,
Ecuadorian Amy Bravo, to help gain Hispanics’ trust.
Bravo came to the United States in 2000 at age 18,
spoke only Spanish and was working in a sandwich
shop. After being discovered by HSN, she worked
as a model before becoming one of the show’s most
popular hosts.
“Being a host is hard,” said Bunner. “Most people
who become hosts have been with HSN for years. But
Amy did so well in six months that she got the attention
of executive management — not just as a Latina, but as
WWW.CSNEWS.COM | OCTOBER 2015 | Convenience Store News 141
a host. It’s hard to gain the trust of Hispanics, but once
you do, they stay.”
HSN is already well entrenched in the AfricanAmerican market with cosmetic supplier Carol’s Daughter
and other brands that strongly resonate with blacks.
thirstiNg For Data
The Multicultural Retail 360 Summit also featured an
impressive roster of research experts.
Eddie Yoon, principal of The Cambridge Group, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Nielsen, and Guy Garcia,
Hispanic & Asian Retailers Shine in Immersion Tour
Attendees of the Multicultural Retail 360 Summit had the
opportunity to sample Thai beer, moon cake, fresh tortillas and
other ethnic specialties during the conference’s annual Cultural
Immersion Tour on Aug. 12. This year, the Cultural Immersion
Tour’s emphasis was on Hispanic and Asian retailers in the
highly diverse Los Angeles/Anaheim market.
The goal was to provide guests with a firsthand experience
of how these chains market to multicultural consumers. Unified
Grocers, a major distributor to independent retail chains, helped
organize the event. The tour was sponsored
by McIIhenny Co., maker of Tabasco Sauce.
Stops on the tour included:
SUPER KING, Anaheim
found this confuses its customers who do not speak English fluently. Superior has also done away with bilingual signage, whose
font size was too small and whose overall appearance was cluttered and further confused shoppers.
CURACAO, Anaheim
This retailer specializes in electronics, furniture and fashion.
Categories are aimed at Hispanic consumers, particularly South
Americans. The retailer’s true claim to fame, however, is its special services, most notably a credit program
that targets people who have no traditional
credit history. Hence, most items are high
ticket, with lower-priced products serving as
complementary add-ons.
The company offers money transfers
and international ordering and delivery as
well. The latter serves remote parts of Latin
America in any way it needs to.
“We used to have donkeys on our P&L
[profit and loss statement] that allowed us
to deliver appliances to remote parts of the
The Cultural Immersion Tour included visits
world,” noted Mike Azarkman, director of
to four ethnic retailers: Super King, Superior
Curacao’s eBusiness Group.
This $2-million six-store chain is small in
store count but heavy in foot traffic. Super
King is one of the highest volume supermarket chains in Southern California. The store
visited on the tour was so busy that customers were lined up outside, waiting to enter.
The retailer emphasizes its fresh departments, with many customers loading their
shopping carts with several pounds of proSupermarkets, 99 Ranch Markets and Curacao.
duce along with large packages of meat.
Offal is particularly popular, including such ethnic-centric items
99 RANCH MARKETS, Anaheim
as beef lips, tendons and feet — not to mention the usual tripe
This grocery chain serves various Asian cultures, with the
and pig tongues. Shoppers’ close ties to their home countries
Anaheim location drawing a heavy Filipino clientele, said Teresa
were also reflected in self-serve bulk product displays of nuts
Leung, coordinator of marketing and public relations.
and other dry foods, as well as spices sold by the bag.
This was evidenced by a 25-linear foot-plus assortment of
head fish on ice. This display was complemented by an extenSUPERIOR SUPERMARKETS, Anaheim
sive assortment of frozen seafood, including shrimp rolls, mariThe company that opened Southern California’s first warehousenated milk fish and mushroom squid balls. Tanks of live catfish
style store in 1981 today operates 44 locations. The chain’s
and crabs, along with Manila clams, were also part of this
stores offer a more spacious, modern environment that emphastore’s huge seafood statement.
sizes products for Hispanics of various acculturation levels.
Other traditional foods included moon cakes, which comPre-cut fruit, for example, appeals to second- and third-genermemorate the Moon Festival. Each cake contains an egg yolk to
ation Latinos, while the homemade tortillas that greet customers
represent the full moon. Steamed buns containing chicken, pork,
are embraced by Hispanics of multiple acculturation levels. The
vegetables and red beans also commanded significant space.
same is true of Hatch chilis, a coveted produce item with just a
99 Ranch was the first Asian format in Southern California to
six-week season.
operate as a full-service supermarket. Today, it still offers the
Unlike most supermarkets, Superior does not update departlargest selection of meat and produce in the 37 stores it operment locations and adjacencies every few years. The company
ates in California as well as in Nevada, Washington and Texas.
142 Convenience Store News | OCTOBER 2015 | WWW.CSNEWS.COM
Nuances of AfricanAmerican & Asian Shoppers
Convenience Store News Editorial Director Don Longo also serves as
editorial director for the Multicultural Retail 360 Summit.
president of new mainstream initiatives at EthniFacts
LLC, presented Nielsen data that uncovered some
radical changes and nuances in U.S. demographics:
• 381 different languages are spoken in the U.S.
• One in six newlywed couples is interracial
• 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 every day
• 2012 was the first year that mortality exceeded births
among the non-Hispanic, U.S.-born white population
• Most of the white population’s growth is coming from white immigrants; Asian immigration is
also high
• One out of six blacks in the U.S. is an immigrant
Yoon also talked about how demographics do not
necessarily predict demand. With Korean TV dramas,
for example, just 15 percent of viewers are Asian.
And despite blacks’ love of football, more AfricanAmericans watched “Empire” than the Super Bowl.
“Advertisers could have spent a lot less and reached
more blacks [by using “Empire”],” said Yoon.
New data developments also came from the Center
for Multicultural Science. By analyzing a first-time
National Grocers Association study on independent
supermarkets, the Center determined 25 percent of
sales ($32 billion) in this $131-billion channel are
generated by retailers with a multicultural focus. (The
study involved chains with sales of $2 million-plus).
This information demonstrates how vast the multicultural market has become. According to Isabel
Valdés, chairperson of the Center, the U.S. Hispanic
market is as large as “one of the fifth or sixth largest
economies in the world.”
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA and PepsiCo Inc. were
title sponsors of the 2015 Multicultural Retail 360
Summit. McIIhenny Co., maker of Tabasco Sauce,
sponsored the Cultural Immersion Tour, a first-day
conference highlight (see tour recap on page 142). CsN
144 Convenience Store News | OCTOBER 2015 | WWW.CSNEWS.COM
Reflecting the Multicultural Retail 360 Summit’s expanded
focus this year were several presenters who focused specifically on the African-American and Asian markets. Topics
ranged from cultural values and traditions, to designing
advertising campaigns that meld traditions.
Lan Bercu, founder and president of Lead Across Cultures
International, compared Asian habits and values to those
of other consumers. Asian society — as well as Hispanic
society — tends to be a collective culture based on belonging to a group or family. Group needs come before individual
needs. Conformity, hierarchies and common values prevail.
In Anglo culture, independent thinking and self-actualization
are the norm and people are seen as equals. Anglos strongly
embrace humor, leisure and instant gratification. Among
Asians, thrift, post-gratification and seriousness trump.
Hence, Anglos are primarily concerned with the attributes
and origins of a product, often researching these issues
before purchasing. Asians care more about the brand and
the trust it brings, with word-of-mouth having a big influence.
“It’s the opposite process,” said Bercu.
Switching the focus to African-American shoppers, Cynthia
Perkins-Roberts, founder of Reachingblackconsumers.
com and vice president of multicultural marketing, Video
Advertising Bureau, outlined some of the cultural, economic
and other nuances of black consumers — some subtle,
some not. She also discussed how the culture is changing.
At 45 million strong, blacks represent 14.3 percent of
the U.S. population, accounting for 17 million households.
By 2030, they will represent 19.5 percent of U.S. residents.
The non-Hispanic white population, in contrast, is growing by
just 0.5 percent annually.
Household income among blacks is broken down as follows:
• $25,000 or less: 37 percent
• $25,000 to $50,000: 28 percent
• $50,000 to $99,000 23 percent
• $100,000-plus: 12 percent
While the average household income among blacks is
lower than other groups, Perkins-Roberts noted that many
blacks live alone, which is rarely the case with Asians or
Hispanics. Just 28 percent are married, compared to 49 percent of Latinos. Interestingly, there has been an 11-percent
increase in the number of black married couples.
Living mostly “in the day,” African-Americans spend 80 percent of their income, which is much more than other groups
spend. They are also more receptive to mobile coupons, enjoy
TV commercials and watch more television overall.