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Why Multiculturalism Is Now America’s General Market

Joining the numerous events celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month this year, Chicago played host to Latino Fashion Week (LFW) -- a fashion show and tour dedicated to Latino fashion within the U.S. As a fashion and art enthusiast, I knew I’d find fashion pieces I’d love but little did I know I would see real, breathing examples of multiculturalism evolving as the new U.S general market. 

Image Courtesy of GPC Blogs

“Us vs. Them”

Working with our planning team at Elemento L2, this reality is something we repeatedly see pop-up within our research. According to a report by LatinWorks, conversations on multiculturalism continue emphasizing an artificial divide between Latinos and non-Latinos. Though the idea of “Total Market” has dominated topics this year, advertisers continue having an “us vs. them” approach. Realistically, America’s largest cities are 51 to 71 percent multicultural, moving away from acculturation and Chicago is no exception. 

Take a look at LFW’S tagline, for instance: “By Latinos, for Everyone.” This clearly demonstrates an understanding of the changing U.S. demographic. The fashion event showcased Latin inspired designs that appeal to the broader audiences but it also featured designers like Roksala Bogutska, a Ukrainian designer who showcased her collection among Latin designers. 

Transculturalism

A new term has emerged among marketers: transculturalism. As Richard Slimbah explains, “transculturalism is rooted in the quest to define shared interests and common values across cultural and national borders.” This means, people today aren’t confined or defined by their cultural backgrounds but all all around them to find elements that best identify with them -- whether it’s within their own culture or outside.  

At LFW, is was refreshing to see such a diverse crowd of guests -- African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and Caucasians -- mingling and waiting for the show to begin. In fact, the event hosted diverse vendors. Though not all vendors were Latino or pieces Latin inspired, they recognized their guests have an appeal for fashion pieces inspired and various cultures. Having local multicultural vendors present like the Shen Yun Orchestra added to this coexistence of cultures and the sharing of common interests. 

It’s clear that in extremely multicultural cities like Chicago, people from different backgrounds pollenate each other’s interests. The general market is evolving. It’s no longer about “us vs. them” but rather, a new more diverse “us.”

What are some examples of transculturalism you’ve found around you? Share with us below. 

Alejandra Alvarez

Account Coordinator

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Don’t Be Networking Neutral

While networking is an important part of my role as elemento L2′s Business Development Manager, it’s been even more important for my overall career development, and it has played a major role in every other aspect of my life. Most of us can come up with personal examples of a relationship gained through networking that has had an impact on our lives.  

Networking does not come naturally to most people though, so it’s important to understand that overcoming an initial hesitation to network can be easy if we understand both why it is important to network and how to do it effectively.

Why Network?

Networking is crucial to personal and professional development, and starting now allows you to build a base of contacts you’ll have for years to come. Networking is for everyone, and it’s really easy to do so! 

Networking provides you with the opportunity to discover something new whenever you exchange information with other people. It is also a chance for people to get to know you, what you do for a living, what your aspirations and passions are. But more importantly, I’ve learned that networking is about giving and if you give, you get. In other words, networking is congruent with the purpose of life -- to love, give, serve and add value. 

How to Network

There are two well-known approaches to networking: 

The goals-based approach is what comes to mind when we think of networking -- a one-time transaction -- and it is often one person needing something from someone else. Meanwhile, values-based networking is done with unknown long-term benefits. By developing a relationship based on mutual interests over time, eventually a situation may arise where one person can help the other.  For me, networking has been a combination of both approaches. It is good to remember that life is constantly evolving and changing, and we don’t know what situations we will encounter and when.  Where to Network

Virtually every social setting provides an opportunity to network. From events designed with networking as a clear goal, like a reception or a career fair, to more casual and less obvious situations like grocery shopping! If meeting people at events is difficult for you, start slowly. Push yourself to find new opportunities and just keep practicing. It will become more natural over time. Something I remember to ask myself is: what do you have to lose? Not convinced yet? Seek to meet resourceful people who know lots of other people!

Know your Story Well

It’s important to know in advance what you would like others to know about you or what you need from them. For career purposes for example, having an “elevator pitch” is a quick way to effectively introduce yourself - remember to cover who you are, what you do, what makes you competent, what value you could provide and anything that makes you unique.  Listen and Be Interested

Listening with intent to someone else’s story is as important as knowing yours and sharing it. Be genuinely interested, and ask about someone’s job or hobbies to give you a context about them. This gives them a chance to explain future opportunities or something they’ve got going on right now that you or someone you know may be able to help with. 

Follow Up and Follow Through! 

Ask if you can get in touch, give the other person your contact info, or take theirs. If you say you’ll follow up, do it! It’s your word. In order to maintain meaningful relationships it is key to genuinely care about helping people you meet solve problems. To do this, you must learn enough about people to have a reason to keep in touch and regularly connect people with one another. Remember, it’s all about giving! 

Irene Acosta Moreau Business Development Manager

Do you have a tip for networking? Have you gotten better at it? 

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An Open Letter to 2015-- From Elemento L2

Dear 2015,

You do not know us very well, but you should start getting to know us pretty soon. Ask 2011, 2012, 2013 and your not-so-distant relative 2014. They can give you good references of what is yet to come.

At Elemento, we take every year very seriously, so we wanted to give you a heads-up. “What should I expect during my long – but so short – 12-month life?” you may ask. Well, first of all, Elemento is ready to welcome new clients, like P&G, Disney and a few others that are ready this year – your year – to become our partners. Next, our co-founder, Marco López, is now part of the board of AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing. Additionally, our team has been growing, and there even more people will be coming in to squeeze in some more creativity – with a strong dose of ROI – into every single program we do. What else…? Oh yeah! We know our clients at Coca-Cola and Target are going to have great year, because multicultural has become a core of their strategic imperatives.

This year, we can also tell you that the total market approach is old news. Our clients have been doing it since a while back, so please let some of this year’s conferences know that it’s no longer an innovation, and refer them to your cousins 2012 and 2013 (don’t send them to 2014… he still thought it was something new).

We also foresee our company expanding – but more on that later. We don’t want you to freak out with so much information just yet, 2015. You will also see us visiting many time zones, but we hope you don’t spill the beans of success ahead of time (like when the Walking Dead social media team gave away the finale). That would suck. In fact, let us handle your social media – we have an amazing team that is ahead of the game and quite resourceful.

Please be kind to us by making sure the days that we have to finish pitches are the days that are magically extra long. (We hope this is not a huge request.) We also want to ask that you own every hour, of every week, of every month, and make sure our team of experts can account for every hour as well – it can only lead to profitability.

2016 is already looking at you, so let’s set the bar high. If I can give you one last word of advice, please be good to us… and maybe you should partner up with the sun; we need some good weather and warmth. We have a feeling your year will be the one to beat.

Now, get ready, set… GO!

Sincerely,

The team at Elemento L2

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New Year, new job? Elemento L2 is looking for two Creatives to join these three and let the marketing magic happen! If you're ready to jump in the ring with us, start by clicking here: http://linkd.in/1AKFC98 & http://linkd.in/1AKIoLB

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Why the #ALSIceBucketChallenge was Social Media Marketing Gold!

At Elemento L2, we’ve seen a fair share of campaigns take off and go viral while some... don’t quite make it through. In all honesty, what brand doesn’t dream with their campaign going viral? Imagine having thousands of people tweet and share your content with their friends and with the world. Once in a while a brand is able to do that, as is the case with the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It started as a challenge from one friend to another but to date, thousands of people have participated including celebrities, athletes, and other prominent figures (not to mention two of our very own Elemento L2 chemists). 

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has become a social media trend that managed to not only raise money, but also increase awareness of this deadly disease. The success is in its distinction from other non-profit campaigns. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is about challenging someone you know to either donate $100 or dump a bucket of ice on his or her head and post a video of it. The fun part is challenging someone before you dump the ice bucket on yourself and continuing the chain. It’s engaging and the timing is perfect! In the middle of a hot summer, people will want to cool off. It shows that knowing your audience and timing are crucial in having a successful campaign.

Getting consumers to share your content:

As marketers we know the best way to get your content buzzing is by giving people something that catches attention and generates a feeling of excitement while inspiring to share the content seen. In the case of ALS, it’s not simply doing the challenge but filming it as well. And everyone has posted videos. Getting celebrities to share the content with their followers did a lot to get the campaign more attention. People who didn’t know about ALS have jumped on the bandwagon after seeing videos of their friends or favorite celebrities participating.

I know all of my Ukrainian friends, some of who barely speak English, have done the challenge and my newsfeed is filled with their videos. Other brands have taken up the initiative and posted videos of their employees doing the challenge at the end of a workday. Not all have been able to successfully do the ice bucket challenge and some people have gotten hurt in trying to outdo others. 

Utilizing social media to its utmost:

There is no better way to get the attention of millions of people than through social media and the ALS ice bucket challenge did exactly that. People shared content on multiple platforms. There were short Instagram clips share by us regular folks and elaborate videos shared on Facebook by the likes of Bill Gates and Paul Bissonnette. Interestingly, Facebook in particular has seen a lot of videos uploaded directly to their platform rather than sharing those on YouTube or Instagram. Twitter has seen mentions of ALS jump from barely anything in the beginning of the summer to 600K mentions in the last month. 

Below is a chart from Topsy showing the extreme spike in numbers.

Image courtesy of USA Today News:

Lastly, the power of a good cause is in itself a great way to get people involved. According to alsa.org, the ALS Ice Bucket challenge has raised over 88.5 million dollars as of August 26th and the association has almost 2 million new members. So while you’re still waiting for your friends to challenge you don’t forget to head over to alsa.org and donate as well!

Iryna Hutnyk

EL2 Project Coordinator