Conference Highlights Strategies for Marketing Health to Asian Americans

By Jenny Chen

Washington, DC – Forget Asian says professors and marketing expert Bobby Kumaki of the Ronin Group. Forget Asian and think Asian American.

Asians in America are very different from Asians in Asia. In his presentation Understanding the Asian Market Segment during the Multicultural Health National Conference Kumaki noted that the best way to reach Asian Americans is to really understand their experience instead of resorting to age-old stereotypes.

Kumaki said that there are some common patterns among the Asian American community including:

• “Asian American elevator” – Kumaki said that many Asian American families have a common strategy for     success that includes assimilation, education, and a kid-first     mentality. Kumaki said that the “elevator” metaphor comes     from the idea that immigrants get in the elevator and don’t come out until they’ve reached the top.

• “The Own Race Effect” – Asian Americans (and others) like to see people who look like them. It     doesn’t matter if they are Korean American, Chinese American, or     Indian American. As long as there is the idea that the company is     recognizing Asian Americans it will appeal to the Asian American     community.

• English – A common complaint among the marketers is that there are so many sub     groups of Asian Americans and it costs a lot of money to target all     those different groups. However Kumaki argues that the majority of     Asian Americans have one thing in common – the English language. The     rate of assimilation and education that many Asian Americans have     ensure that most Asian Americans are quite fluent in English. So     advertising in English language Asian American publication for     example, would reach a wider Asian American audience than     advertising in one in-language publication.

Asian Fortune is an English language newspaper for Asian American professionals in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Visit fb.com/asianfortune to stay up to date with our news and what’s going on in the Asian American community.