With few exceptions, businesses have rarely reached out to the growing Asian American market, the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States.
East West Bank, which originally set out to serve the Chinese American community, recently published an article on its website about how businesses could build an Asian American following.
It’s not the type of article you would normally see on a bank website, but is perhaps an indication of the bank’s strategy of growing its Asian American base of customers.
“If a company wants to commit to this market, they need to bring in someone who has a cultural understanding of the community,” says Michael Halberstam, chairman at ISA, SoapBoxSample and Q-insights. “They also have to understand that there’s more than one community.”
ISA TV was launched by Wong Fu Productions and the musical group Far East Movement, the first Asian American group to reach number 1 on the Billboard top 100 charts. Its channels have a combined 2.5 million subscribers and 790 million You Tube views.
“We really want to help create an identity for Asian Americans in the media,” says Kevin Nishimura, an artist from Far East Movement.
Asian Americans currently comprise more than 5 percent of the U.S. population. American businesses must decide how committed it is to reaching this billion dollar plus market.
“You can’t sweep a broad brushstroke over Asian Americans,” says Karen Sinisi, director of sales and marketing for Ethnic Technologies. “It’s about segmentation and being culturally competent. You have to really look at the group that you want to reach, and reach them in different ways. Think about what’s going to resonate with each of these Asian groups.”
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