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Even as South Asians become more visible in mainstream ads, marketers still rarely take the effort to reach beyond the cliches.
Thousands of South Asians riding Toronto’s subway saw a rare reflection of themselves in a recent advertisement in a free daily newspaper.
And no, it wasn’t an ad for a Bollywood movie, just a plain South Asian family seated on a couch, announcing a bundle of services by Rogers.
“We wanted to portray the South Asian family as a mainstream family, and show that these images are just as acceptable as those of a typical white family shown in mainstream advertisements,” says Bobby Sahni, manager of multicultural marketing at Rogers Cable communications Inc.
“Ride the subway or TTC and you will find that the consumer is not only white. In fact, we don’t market only to a multicultural market but our (entire) market is multicultural,” adds Sahni.

While many companies may not share Sahni’s enthusiasm – still considering the South Asian market to be a niche – they cannot escape the segment’s growing influence. By 2017, there will be 1.8 million South Asians in Canada, with more than 1 million of them living in the Toronto area, Statistics Canada estimates.
Small wonder, then, that the Royal Bank has a “welcome to Canada” website for newcomers and recently gave out several scholarships to new immigrants. Or that Chrysler is marketing the Dodge Caravan to immigrants, that The Bay is wishing consumers a happy Diwali, or that Loblaws is ambitiously expanding its ethnic foods division (see sidebar).
But despite all this, many marketing and advertising experts say that most mainstream marketers haven’t truly attempted to understand the psyche of the South Asian consumer.
“I don’t know if companies have really taken the time to understand how the experience a consumer has back home with his goods and services influences his consumption habits and patterns,” says Mandeep Malik, who teaches business policy and international business at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business.
Malik says ICICI Bank’s advertising tagline hum hai na (we are with you) reflects the view that most consumers in India trust their bankers and many even expect them to make decisions on their behalf. “I don’t think a banker here would say, ‘We are there for you.’ The chances are that bankers here are likely to tell the consumer, ‘It depends on what you are looking for.’ ”
When marketers lack a knowledge of their potential customers, what results is a superficial understanding of the community topped with an abundance of stereotypes.
“Right now a lot of companies think South Asians are the flavour of the month, and don’t really apply the same criteria or evaluation methods they would to mainstream ad campaigns,” says David Innis, CEO of Toronto-based Fat Free Communications Inc. “They tend to pay lip service, get something done quickly, half-heartedly, so they can tick the box and say kiya hai (we’ve done it).
“When we see a brand X in mainstream media and then a cheap version of it in ethnic media, I can see that I am patronized,” says Innis.
For businessman Hari Venkatacharya, the biggest issue is most that advertisements address the “lowest common denominator,” despite the economic, cultural and demographic stratifications within the community.
“It’s about transferring money to India or long- distance calls to ‘my grandmother who lives in Chandigarh.’ I have so far not seen in a Jaguar ad a non-white person – and I like jaguars . . . I drive one,” says Venkatacharya, the Toronto-based founder of secure-network storage and records management companies in Canada and India, and president of TiE Toronto, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing entrepreneurship.
He asks whether businesses targeting white Anglo Saxons would advertise to every generation, age group and economic segment in exactly the same way.
However, data on the media habits of the community are hard to find, says Yakoob Sayed of the ad agency Stratos. “Traditionally, ethnic advertising meant Chinese advertising . . . and the truth is most companies don’t know how to go about this market, although they know it’s a growing one. Gut feel, trial and error, etc., have been very much a part of the process.”
Take the Swedish retailer Ikea, which once marketed to Chinese and South Asians. The company’s marketing strategy has changed. “Ikea has returned to a mass-marketing approach using more traditional media,” says Ikea spokesperson Debbie McDowell. “We truly are a mass retailer whose goal is to be inclusive of all customer segments and reach what we call ‘the many people.’ ”
On the other hand, companies such as Rogers are funding their own research on immigrant consumers. And at TD Financial Group, interacting with South Asians leads to stronger relationships and insights, says Al Ramsay, TD’s community relations and business development manager. “South Asians want us to respect them and their culture, but also don’t want to be stereotyped, wanting people to treat them as ‘regular folks.’ ”
Telus addresses the second-generation South Asian, too, as “there is big movement (among the community) to go back to their roots,” says Preetpal Dhillon, multicultural segment marketing manager. The company offers Apna Des – a cellphone-based content site with news, cricket updates, entertainment and cultural information – and also sponsors Canadian entertainers of South Asian origin.
There is intense competition and companies are tight-lipped for fear of sharing competitive strategies. When asked what companies should do to understand the unique needs of consumers, Partha Guha, marketing and sales manager of the ethnic business unit for Unilever Canada, replied, “Do you want me to share my strategic approaches with my competitors? . . . I wouldn’t like to do that.” Unilever recently launched boilable tea bags under the Brooke Bond brand.
Marketers say that even as the market evolves and companies start understanding the consumer better, what’s essential is a change in the mindset at the top. “We are still saying we have a ‘multicultural radio station’ and a ‘multicultural TV program.’ Then truly, what is Canada about?” asks Venkatacharya. “I keep saying Canada is very good at tolerating people but not accepting them – big difference. Accepting is when the president of CBC is a Chinese person. Hopefully that will happen some day.”
Rogers’ Sahni hopes ads such as the one from his company will appear more often in mainstream media, and the stereotypical South Asian cabbie or convenience store owner will become a thing of the past.
Canada’s largest supermarket chain says it’s time to get behind the “noise” created by the South Asian community here, and market many more ethnic foods to Canadians.
At Loblaw supermarkets, the star attraction is the President’s Choice butter chicken, launched in 2004. In fact, it’s “the biggest-selling single-serve product we have” in the dinners and entrees department, where it competes with products by Stouffer’s and Michelina’s, says Paul Uys, Loblaw’s vice-president of control label brands.
Bhajis, chutneys and even desserts are being tested, and will soon hit the shelves to complete the Indian lineup, Uys says. Loblaw recently relaunched its President’s Choice naan, with a whole wheat version to follow soon.
Rakshande Italia is a Toronto-based freelance writer. Email desilife@thestar.ca.
http://www.thestar.com/DesiLife/article/265408