BULLDOZING THE TOWER OF BABEL: A Multicultural Approach to Communications
All opinions in this post are those of Paulino Diaz and do not necessarily reflect the views of Golin.
“Come, let us go down and confuse their language, so they will not understand each other” Genesis 11:1-9
I’ve always been fascinated by the precision with which the Bible portrays the tragedies of the human condition. The predicament that falls upon the characters in The Tower of Babel has just as much relevance today, as it did the day the story was written. We live in a world of many languages, cultures and traditions; all of them in constant interaction with each other. This interaction is chaotic and disordered, just as many times as it is smooth and effortless. At the center of both these outcomes lies communication or the lack thereof.
In the business world, agencies like Golin are at the center of communication between producers and consumers, service providers and users, merchants and vendors, etc. It is one of the main goals (if not THE main goal) of PR to ensure that these transactions of information run smoothly and generate the desired outcomes for both parties. This, however, represents an enormous challenge in a globalized world, where different cultures and languages share the same markets. In the U.S., for example, demographics are changing at such a fast rate that the Hispanic share of the population, currently at 17 percent, is expected to reach 31 percent in 2060 (Pew Research Center, 2014). And Hispanics are not the only growing minority group, the Asian population in the U.S. had a 2.9 percent growth from 2012 to 2013, now reaching 19.7 million people. We’ve all heard talk about these numbers before, but what do they mean to our practice?
Well, the answer is obvious. As the demographics of our markets become increasingly multicultural, the demographics of our agency must mimic this behavior in order to remain competitive. This is how our multicultural practice and the idea of a Total Market Approach were born. A Total Market Approach (TMA) as defined by AHAA is:
An internal-external mindset and practice, which aims to enhance growth effectiveness by actively integrating diverse segments — from the campaign inception through the entire strategic process and execution. This could lead to one fully integrated cross-cultural approach, individual segment approaches, or both, but always aligned under one overarching strategy.
In simpler terms, TMA is the creation and distribution of a message that can transcend cultural and language barriers, thus reaching “the whole market.” This doesn’t mean that we should stop targeting specific segments of the population, it means that our message, if not appealing, should at least be culturally relevant to the whole market, it must fit the environment it inhabits without disrupting it.
A common misconception of a TMA is that only Hispanics are able to communicate to Hispanics, or that African Americans should be the only ones developing messages for African Americans. A TMA seeks to achieve exactly the opposite scenario. It attempts to break cultural barriers so that the background of the messenger can differ from that of the receiver and still have effective communication. The only way to achieve this is through knowledge.
Professor Jesús María Cortina Izeta, a professor at my university in Mexico City, used to tell the story of a fisherman, who without exception won every single fishing tournament in which he participated. When interviewed after he was retired, the fisherman revealed his secret:
Before the tournament, I always catch a fish in the same place where the competition will take place. I open it up and examine his guts to find out what he´s been eating. Sometimes I find amazing, weird, and even disgusting things, but that is what fishes eat in that place, at that time of year. I only follow their taste, and not mine. Then, on the day of the tournament, I make sure I have the right bait not by following my instincts, but the fishes’ guts.
The process of getting to know your audience is a little more complicated than opening up a fish, but it is still essential to the success of your message. Everyone is capable of reaching out to people in cultures other than their own, but it requires a deep understanding of the differences and similarities between both. Knowledge of the differences will allow you to tread carefully and be respectful, while the similarities will be your points of connection and engagement.
Often times we tend to get caught up on our differences, but when you look at the big picture these become minuscule compared to our similarities. The strongest emotions available to humans are universal. Fear, happiness, anger, surprise, sadness and love are all felt with the same intensity across cultures. If we try to focus on these similarities instead of our differences, maybe we’ll be a step closer towards achieving the most effective communication.
Acknowledgments: This blog post was inspired by Los Amigos Invisibles in a performance I had the pleasure of attending this past weekend. This is a band that has the ability to play in 60 different countries around the world; and regardless of language, culture and race, make everybody dance.
Meet the Intern:
Born and raised in Mexico City, Paulino Diaz began his college career at Universidad Iberoamericana. After a couple of years, he transferred to Loyola University Chicago where he majored in Communication Studies and Economics. Paulino now works at Golin headquarters in Chicago, where he serves as a connector for Constellation Brands, Walmart and Kaiser Permanente. In his spare time, Paulino enjoys long romantic walks to the fridge, making unnecessary sounds when he is bored, and writing about himself in the third person.
#GOALLINterns
