BOSTON – On May 8, the Curry College Communication Department hosted the Boston Chapter, Public Relations Society of America’s monthly meeting, with an attentive audience of nearly 40 communication professionals from the Boston area listening…and learning.
The program topic, “Maximizing Your Multicultural Marketing and Pub
lic Relations Initiatives,” spoke to the very challenges that we as communicators…and as educators…face in our day-to-day activities. “Who are your target audiences?” “What do those diverse publics want to hear from you, and how do they want to receive the information?”
The speakers – Christine Clavijo-Kish, Senior Vice President, Multicultural Markets, PR Newswire; Eduardo Crespo, President and CEO, Hispanic Market Solutions; and Michelle Davis, Vice President, Public Affairs, Children’s Hospital, Boston – presented real-life national and local examples of the dramatic growth of the multicultural market and of programs designed to reach those diverse populations.
All three speakers cited current research data showing that communicating with diverse audiences is no longer as simple as dubbing over a broadcast promotion with “words” in another language. Communication today requires an understanding of the cultural and ethnic differences in your audiences and addressing needs in terms that are meaningful to those audiences.
Most importantly, there was unanimous agreement that, before embarking on a multicultural communication initiative, you have to have the buy-in of senior management to ensure that the support is there for the duration of the program and beyond. Executive commitment and audience knowledge are keys to achieving success.