Particularly in the Western world, demographic trends have shifted mainly as a product of migration. Therefore multiculturalism has become an increasingly important player of marketing, as companies continue to realise the benefits of targeting minority groups who often possess significant buying power.

As an example, make-up companies have traditionally held a narrow range of product lines, but now find themselves up against strong competition from diverse product marketing initiatives such as Fenty’s “Face Shade Finder” quiz.

But an issue that some companies tend to overlook is the misconception that multicultural marketing success is defined only by advertising’s end-product. The reality is that the very minorities they are trying to target should be included in their decision making processes.  In other words, they must foster multiculturalism in the workplace as well.

Yet some companies often frown upon this idea because they feel that a group with so many different ideas will foster tension, and therefore negatively affect productivity, which according to Deloitte is false.

Diversity is nurturing

Having people from different backgrounds in the workplace can lead to a substantial boost in both morale and productivity. For starters, a diverse team is inherently more creative, since there is room for more perspectives and opinions than a homogenous group is likely to come up with.

This does not mean that a homogenous group is limited by its lack of diversity, but growing up in different environments, facing different challenges, and receiving another type of education can result in the same problem or topic being interpreted in a variety of ways. In other words, what is invisible to one person can be highly evident to another.

The thin line between Multiculturalism and Inclusion

Most companies tend to approach the concepts of multiculturalism and diversity inclusion as something interchangeable. They are not, and doing so can ultimately backfire and adversely affect a company’s image.

In a broader sense, multiculturalism is the embracement of cultural plurality in daily life.  But interpreting it as the same thing as inclusion is wrong; by only attempting to access minority markets through multicultural campaigns, companies can be seen as fake friends who are interested in nothing but profiting from obtainable audiences.

A genuine inclusion of minority groups can only be achieved once a company acknowledges the fact that money is not the only thing that it can gain from them; their skills, knowledge and values in the workplace are the real profit.

The Future is Diverse

While the impact of Brexit on migration trends is yet to be fully established, Britain is expected to become the world’s most racially diverse country in less than 40 years, according to an LSE study. Moreover, experts have also predicted that Britain will eventually become a minority-majority country.

This is why reaching out to minorities, and including them in the conversation by giving them an earned seat at the table, is an important step that companies should take in order to transition to this new age of diversity as a core value in modern day societies.

Which other benefits can companies obtain from including diversity in the workplace? Did we miss anything? Please leave us a comment; we would love to hear from you.