The New Norm: Why Marketing to a Multicultural America Needs to be at the Forefront of Your Comms Strategy

Hispanic Heritage Month isn’t just a time to celebrate Latinx heritage, but a period of time that offers brands an opportunity to engage with underrepresented audiences and demonstrate the ways they honor the contributions of our culture. As a strategic communications firm, HausCo recognizes the importance of authentic cultural storytelling throughout the year. 

For brands, multicultural marketing not only helps build trust among diverse target audiences but also lends brands the ability to tap into unique perspectives, preferences, and insights that reflect our country’s growing population of BIPOC consumers. By embracing these diverse narratives, brands can foster a sense of belonging and inclusivity among their supporters. 

But how damaging can disingenuous cultural campaigns be to a brand’s reputation? The answer is (obviously) very. When a brand impetuously executes a culturally-focused campaign without the right perspectives guiding it, it often relies heavily on stereotypes, resulting in misinformed and even offensive activations. This clearly demonstrates a company’s superficial understanding of a specific culture and can make the brand appear to be insincere and opportunistic, breaking the trust of their consumers. 

Last year, the NFL ran their Por La Cultura campaign in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. This initiative featured a variety of cultural and community-driven events at the local and national levels. The NFL even partnered with Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement, a nonprofit committed to delivering impactful and culturally sensitive materials for both small and large corporate groups. 

While the overarching campaign was carefully considered, the creative execution fell flat when the NFL decided to toss a tilde accent over the N in NFL for their Por La Cultura campaign, claiming that the addition of this eñe represents an “unmistakable Latin flavor that is fundamental to their always-on, 365 initiative”. One problem, though: the word “Nacional,” the Spanish word for “National,” doesn’t carry a tilde, making this a downright lazy attempt from the NFL to celebrate the Latinx community. 

Target’s “Más Que” Collection is a perfect example of a brand that puts the culture and people that are being celebrated. HausCo graphic designer Brian Romero loves how members of the Latinx community are being represented through the art they create and the messages they want to spread. In the end, the community benefits from the representation and the sales of their products in the stores themselves.

Our Managing Director, Argelia Martinez, applauds Google for celebrating our Latinidad all year round by creating the Google Arts & Culture digital portal. Two thousand leading museums and archives partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to contribute to the portal, which highlights topics about identity, intersectionality, and history makers. Additionally, Google established the Black Founders Fund and Latino Founders Fund and awarded 46 recipients in 2023.

Moving away from traditional Hispanic Heritage Month campaigns, HausCo People & Operations Manager Matt Torres highlights the celebration of Latinx Heritage within the music industry and entertainment space. 

Sueños Festival is a dynamic annual celebration that transcends the boundaries of music, art, and culture in the heart of Chicago. Started in 2022, this vibrant event, curated by the minds behind Baja Beach Fest, C3 Presents, and Reventon, is becoming a beacon of Latin artistry. Beyond providing a much-needed U.S. stage for a spectrum of Latin music genres and subgenres, Sueños Festival shines through its profound commitment to the community.

Last year, the festival donated an impressive $220,000 to Chicago charitable organizations, including $50,000 to Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center (SRBCC) to fund the development of a Youth Media Center, providing a dedicated space for Chicago's young Latin talent to receive education, mentorship, and resources while nurturing their artistic dreams, This year, Sueños continued to make a lasting impact with significant donations to organizations like Pilsen Neighbors Community Council and the National Museum of Mexican Art, furthering their missions of social justice, education, and cultural preservation.

As the United States marketplace grows increasingly diverse, brands must keep multicultural marketing and authentic cultural storytelling at the forefront of their strategic communications strategy. By doing so, brands not only display their commitment to their D&I strategies, but also instill trust and sincerity in the hearts and minds of their consumers.