BAME citizens are expected to account for 20% of the UK population by 2051, yet many companies are still not communicating with multicultural communities.

According to integrated marketing agency, Mediareach, companies wishing to do business with ethnic minority groups need to gain a better understanding of their audience. Mediareach is calling for public relations and marketing professionals to rethink their generic means of communication.

Saad Al-Saraf, CEO at Mediareach says, “Given that most people from ethnic origins are religiously sensitive and culturally conscious, they react and respond differently to generic communication messages as the triggers and hooks needed to capture their interest are understandably fairly different.” As a result, traditional communication channels do not reach or resonate with these communities and they are consequently overlooked.

Each community will respond to marketing tactics differently and therefore require a unique and targeted approach. For example, due to language barriers among multicultural groups, these communities may rely on their own ethnic media channels and community networks for information and entertainment. Companies that overlook these media outlets will fail to connect with this valuable multicultural customer base.

Al-Saraf adds, “The UK is truly a multicultural country and it will continue to flourish in the face of diversity but if companies don’t recognise that people are different, they are going to find it hard to thrive in an increasingly diverse modern UK.”

For companies to survive in the current competitive environment, they must review the premise of their marketing plans and consider the growing market pluralism and multiethnic reality of modern Britain.