Recent U.S. Census Bureau data reports suggests that the U.S. population is more multiracial and diverse than ever — and, it’s projected to be even more diverse in coming decades. This goes beyond race and ethnicity, and it’s changing the way organizations need to think about their audiences internally and externally. That’s why Zeno Group partnered with EGAMI Group to conduct an in-depth study of more than 6,000 Americans to uncover how different multicultural communities feel about their lives and their futures, and how their evolving values illustrate the challenges and opportunities inherent in both these groups.

In this episode of the PRovoke Media Podcast Teneshia Jackson Warner, founder and CEO of EGAMI Group, and Therese Caruso, managing director, and global head of strategy and planning at Zeno Group, join Megan Keogan, to discuss the study’s findings and why it’s important for PR, communications and marketing professionals to be aware of America’s changing landscape. 

“Seventy percent of people globally demand that the brands that they buy, that the companies that they work for, mirror their most personal core values,” Caruso says. “So, for companies to be successful in this endeavor and this pursuit, they have to know what those values are. The world has changed every brand out there and every company out there needs to understand how to connect with people on a very human level.”

Warner, who has worked with Caruso on the Multicultural Mandate research initiative, believes this work needs to be a much higher priority for organizations. As is, too many are brushing broad strokes and missing their audiences and their needs, she says.

“We’re way behind where we should be in speaking to diverse audiences,” she said. “We are still receiving briefs that are poised to meet the general market. That should be a term that should be expired because general market is multicultural and multicultural is general market. But the briefs will be written in a way where it’s ‘we want to reach moms’ or ‘we want to reach general market dads’ and there’s no reference or pull-through of the diversity and the complexity of diverse audiences in our nation.”

Both leaders say the marketing rules are about to change in a major and disruptive way. The findings from their study are published in “The Multicultural Mandate 2023,” and more information is available here. 

Key moments 
3:57 EGAMI & Zeno Group Partnership
13:48 Gen Z Is Changing The Face Of Everything 
17:35 Pop Culture Is Dead 
21:54 Surprising Study Findings And Takeaways 
26:02 Brands Need To Say And Show
29:30 How to do Multicultural Branding Authentically 
42:00 How Your Products Can Cater To Audiences’ Unique Needs
44:07 Your Job Is To Give The Next Generation A Voice