Talkback: Asia market needs targeted approach

The Asian population in New Zealand is growing, fuelled by immigration and natural population growth. One-third of Auckland is expected to be Asian by 2021. That makes Asians one of the fastest-growing market segments for the next decade.

However, Asian migrants are by no means homogeneous. This market segment can be grossly categorised into four groups based on migration tenure: the settled, student, new migrants and the 1.5 generation.

The first three are self-explanatory; the last describes people who migrated here with their parents at a young age. There are differences in cultural and language preferences, plus lifestyle attributes such as age, gender and family structures.

There are a number of key challenges for this market.

First, you need to determine who you want to target.

* The settled migrant community consists of people whose heritage in New Zealand tracks back to as early as the 19th century: Chinese during the goldrush period, the Gujarat and Punjab Indians at the beginning of the 20th century, the Fijian Indians, later the North and Southeast Asians during the wave of Asian immigration in the 1990s, and others. This group is by far the largest.

* The international student market is transient and yet it is a permanent segment. A significant proportion will become permanent residents and gradually move away from having financial assistance from families overseas.

* The new migrants are people with residence or visa approvals who have just moved to New Zealand. Most are financially well-established and intend long-term settlement.

* The 1.5 generation are young, energetic and passionate about their multicultural identities. They are the natural bridge between the settled and new migrants and also between the mainstream and the minority communities they represent.

Once you have selected your target audience, you need to determine how to reach them.

Here is a summary of what we have found works best:

* Classic marketing: everything starts from your customers. You must understand what their needs and wants are before you can find out what products or services of yours will be of interest. With Asians, this may not be as obvious as you think.

* Set up an ethnic marketing strategy that fits within your overarching organisational objectives and make sure it is in line with your product and market cycle. A splendid but isolated programme will not last, nor will it create any real contribution to your bottom-line.

* Develop a multi-layer communication strategy that aims to touch and persuade at all levels. Integrated PR and media programmes increase the odds of success where relationship comes before brand at times.

* Tailor your communication collateral to attract and hold attention across cultures.

Using multilingual artwork is a good start, but the key word is "culture".

* Winnie Chang is managing director of cross-cultural communications agency bananaworks.