Has your healthcare organization developed culturally relevant campaigns that hit home with African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Pacific Americans? Don't delay. Despite the challenge - and even frustration - these are the country's fastest growing medical markets. The sheer dollars up for grabs in this burgeoning marketplace mean few healthcare organizations can afford to miss out.
Non-white populations represent 25 percent of all Americans. Seventy percent have some form of health insurance and represent a $25 billion annual pharmaceutical market, according to New America Wellness Group (NAWG), a newly launched multicultural communications arm of True North Communications in New York. NAWG is comprised of three firms that provide communication resources for reaching African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Pacific Americans.
For those who think it's enough to put an African American or Hispanic face on their marketing materials, think again, says Sheila Thorne, NAWG's managing director. Ethnic campaigns must be culturally relevant and reflect a long-term community commitment, she says.
Thorne speaks from 20 years experience and before joining NAWG, she was the first African-American VP of medical communications at Edelman Public Relations Worldwide in New York. Here she offers insight into developing effective ethnic marketing campaigns.
HPRMN: What are the most prevalent misperceptions about reaching minorities with healthcare messages?
ST: There are key misperceptions about ethnic marketing that once marketers understand they can overcome. They include:
- African American and Hispanic stereotypes that assume these groups are on public aid and Medicaid. This poverty stigma leads many to believe they can dismiss marketing efforts to these groups because they don't have the financial wherewithal to affect a company's bottom line.
- The marketing assumption that putting an African-American or Hispanic face on materials will make the campaign culturally appropriate.
- The return on investment [for minority marketing campaigns] is too slow.
- Companies fear that targeting ethnic groups will brand them a 'black drug company' and detract from their general market efforts.
HPRMN: What are the most effective strategies for reaching minorities with healthcare campaigns?
ST: Non-traditional efforts and long-term commitments are needed. I'm talking grassroots, in-the-trenches hard work, like posting flyers in neighborhood businesses, launching church-based initiatives, developing relationships with business leaders in the community.
HPRMN: How do you counsel your clients on justifying a long-term commitment to communities that are often difficult to reach?
ST: I advise them to design programs that include short-term measures of success so that that the long range results won't seem too far off. Telephone and print surveys are ideal for finding out [immediate] awareness levels six weeks into a campaign.
Also, you have to find a credible spokesperson to reach the community you're trying to communicate with. Consider ministers, large business owners and opinion leaders. Sometimes you have to take a risk when choosing a spokesperson. For example, for an HIV program I worked on, I advised the client to use HIV-positive individuals who had successfully managed their disease but who weren't the typical celebrity types.
They included a formerly incarcerated individual, a black lesbian and a prostitute. In their own way they were celebrities who met the challenge of managing HIV and they put a face on the condition.
HPRMN: Where do minority campaigns fall short?
ST: Many campaigns assume that the target is empowered to make key decisions. Consider whether your target audience can afford the drug and if they will understand how to take it. You have to establish a real commitment to the community. For instance, there was an HIV/AIDS forum in Harlem that provided metro cards for people to attend. The planners considered the community's transportation needs and allowed people to maintain their dignity.
Sheila Thorne can be reached at 212/727-5129