The New Britain – Admit it, you don’t know…

IPA Launch ‘The New Britain’ Report 2014

The news is out! Britain is more culturally diverse than ever before according to The New Britain report which was successfully launched yesterday (8^th April 2014) by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA).

The IPA welcomed industry experts, agencies and marketing professionals from across the country including our team to add to the vibrant conversation.

The report provides an industry update on the changing face of Britain and the implications and opportunities for marketers and agencies. Here and Now 365 has played a pivotal part over the last eight years in moulding and adapting the way brands cater their messaging to the continually expanding and diverse communities of Britain.

Here and Now 365’s work has been highlighted in the report through their recent case study showing how high-street giants, TK Maxx reached out to their ethnic minority customers after realising that over one-in-five of its customers in many of its stores were Asian. In order to cater to this audience, Here and Now 365 led a project to capitalise on this and designed a range of gift cards to tie in with the festivals across each community. The results show how a clear communication strategy matched with innovative ideas led to a 40% rise in gift card sales in the Tottenham Court Road branch.

Also featured is the Thames Valley Police campaign that sought to increase recruitment as a Police Officer. Through a series of outreach events complimented with a radio and print campaign, Thames Valley Police increased recruitment from 5.9% before the campaign to 11% after the campaign.

Today’s launch event featured a lively discussion, chaired by Yousaf Khalid (Group Managing Director of Everything Different), along with Hason Sandhu (MD, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity), Karen Fraser (Head of Strategy, The Advertising Association) and Julian Douglas (Vice Chairman, VCCP) as panellists.

Engaging introductions by the panellists led onto an interactive debate on issues such as attracting diverse talent into the industry, how commercially viable and practical it is to target multicultural markets. Whilst agencies like Here and Now 365 have delivered for large brands such as TK Maxx and others, the message from the IPA is clear – the time has come for brands to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by a growing black and minority ethnic (BME) population as multicultural marketing is the mainstream.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this blog to find out the key findings of the ‘New Britain’ report.