The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) has announced the formation of a new, wide ranging alliance designed to create a powerful, unified voice for the advancement of multicultural marketing.
The initiative is called the Alliance for Inclusive & Multicultural Marketing (AIMM). Its goal is to bring together senior thought leaders from the African-American, Hispanic, Asian, LGBT and general market communities to create a united blueprint for the evolution of multicultural and diverse-segment marketing in America.
“As the marketplace becomes increasingly diverse, the ANA recognizes that the strategic evolution of multicultural marketing becomes even more important to brands,” said Bob Liodice, ANA president-CEO. “To facilitate and accelerate that change, ANA invites the marketing community to come together to lead the pursuit of opportunities and to address the challenges before us. Our strategic intent is to reach out to all constituencies in order to collectively make a difference in realizing the potential of multicultural marketing.”
This goal is to position AIMM as the leading voice in multicultural and inclusive marketing, as well as diversity, and engage senior marketing executives throughout the country in the multicultural conversation. Work initiated by AIMM is intended to:
- Share multicultural marketing examples through unique and distinctive forums
- Drive ROI, primarily through marketing effectiveness and segment relevance
- Provide leadership alignment and collaboration
- Develop unique, growth-focused insights through collaborative research and through the creation of the multicultural marketing knowledge center
- Create alternative and distinguished approaches to addressing industry diversity
- Disseminate best practices of multicultural and diverse demographic segments through a robust communications program
- Create unique marketplace experiences that provide compelling insights into the multicultural arena
AIMM will be co-chaired by Liodice, Antonio Lucio, CMO at Hewlett Packard, and Michael Lacorazza, EVP, Brand and Advertising-Integrated Marketing at Wells Fargo. Board members will include Gilbert Dávila and Lisette Arsuaga, co-presidents at Dávila Multicultural Insights (DMI), and Carlos Santiago, president of Santiago Solutions Group (SSG).
“At Wells Fargo, we are about reinventing marketing, keeping our customer at the center of everything we do, and this directly aligns with the goal of AIMM,” said Lacorazza. “We look forward to working together to advance multicultural marketing as a fresh voice in the industry.”
Dávila, who also serves as chairman of the ANA’s Multicultural Committee, added: “ANA will create a think tank that will lead an unprecedented evolution of multicultural marketing and diversity through its vision and leadership of an industry wide coalition that will provide distinctive value added to the entire marketplace.”
AIMM members committed to date include: the AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic marketing, representing over 100 Hispanic-focused companies and marketing agencies, Anheuser-Busch, Burrell Communications, Coca-Cola, Dunkin’ Donuts, IW Group, Kaiser Permanente, Kellogg, López Negrete Communications, NBC Universal, OMD, Procter & Gamble, Target 10, Univision, Video Advertising Bureau, and Wells Fargo.
Membership in AIMM for its first year will be limited and by invitation only.
