Marketing changes as beauty brands target multicultural consumers

According to market researcher The Kline Group, the United States is becoming more of a multicultural and mixed nation, where the Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multicultural populations are collectively growing two-to-three times the rate of the White population.

This has meant that the country is projected to become a majority-minority nation within the next 30 years, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau; and this is changing the consumer landscape.

“With the explosive growth of various ethnic groups, marketers are now competing from both ends of the spectrum for a share of the ethnic consumer’s pocketbook,”​ says Kline.

Rapid rise​

There is good potential in the market given the rapid rise in ethnic shoppers, but there are potential challenges due to the costs involved particularly as marketing ethnic products need to be widespread to be meaningful.

Manufacturers look to circumvent the high cost by narrowing down their focus, catering to one specific ethnic group, but they constitute a very small fragment of the total market.

Kline highlights marketers who had historically targeted their products exclusively to specific ethnicities, but are now focusing on a broader audience as they capitalize on the growing market.

“Concurrently, mainstream brands continue to develop tactics to capture a growing percentage of the ethnic personal care market,”​ says the market researcher.

Market​

Kline’s Multicultural Beauty and Grooming report says the multicultural beauty products market has slightly outpaced growth of the overall market for cosmetics and toiletries, posting a 3.7% increase in 2014.

More than 70% of multicultural beauty sales currently come from African Americans, followed distantly by Hispanics. At the same time, ethnic consumers and, specifically Hispanics and Asians, often use general cosmetics and toiletries which highlight new opportunities for marketers.