Marketing for Culturally Informed Products & Services
As a Canadian-based agency with offices in Vancouver and Toronto, we at Apples & Oranges Analytics and Marketing live and breathe the shared values and benefits of living among diverse individuals who draw strength and purpose from cultural belonging.
Working in arts & culture? Work With Us!
We understand the power available to people who form community around a common identity, such as a shared sense of ethnicity, spiritual guiding, sexuality, disability or any other such understanding of self. We see organizations that exist to hold the space and connection for such people as invaluable and integral to our society. Your goals are our goals because we comprehend the nuances of marketing for culturally informed products and services. Allow us to handle your social, email and other digital marketing channels, so you can focus on serving your community with the best your organization can offer.
Below we will share some of the ways we’ve seen culturally informed organizations achieve their digital marketing goals.
Marketing for Art, Home Decor and Gifts as Expressions of Culture
The demand for culturally-specific items of importance has always existed, and is continuing to expand, in Western cities where multiculturalism is high. Holidays like Eid, Lunar New Year, Vaisakhi and others are celebrated across the world, but finding ready-made decorations and gift options can be a struggle in places where those who celebrate are the minority population.
We at Apples & Oranges Analytics and Marketing recognize the many entrepreneurs who are working hard to bring these expressions of culture to the market, and make them as accessible as possible to their target audience.
Exciting Companies in This Space
For example, The MuslimMoon offers child-oriented prayer mats to assist parents in passing on their traditions and faith. Meanwhile, Little Persian sells learning materials and gift packs for those celebrating Nowruz. Also, the Highlande Shoppe caters to Scots and Irish folks looking for celtic jewelry and other specialty items.
We at A & O have intentionally recruited team members who have a high degree of cultural affinity and understanding when it comes to the diversity of ways we celebrate life in Canada, the US, and abroad. Our core team as well as our extended freelance colleagues come from a variety of cultures and can bring both personal and professional experience to our marketing strategies.
Spreading joy and increasing access to expressions of culture make all of us at Apples & Oranges Analytics and Marketing very happy, and we’d be eager to work with folks working in this space.
Marketing for Indigenous-owned Enterprise
Whether in tourism, retail, fashion or otherwise, Indigenous entrepreneurs have been bootstrapping and financing new ventures to deal with all manner of issues including, but not limited to cultural appropriation, energy dependency, and knowledge gatekeeping.
At Apples & Oranges Analytics and Marketing, we see the potential that Indigenous-owned companies have to determine their ethics, standards, and practices around trade and commerce, especially when it comes to expressions of art and culture.
Exciting Companies in This Space
For example, Talaysay Tours offers unique and deeply meaningful knowledge and experience of the place we refer to as Stanley Park, in Vancouver BC. Meanwhile, Supernaturals Modelling is a boutique Indigenous agency that is leading the path to “good representation” in media and fashion. Also, First Nations Gallery, is an artist collective that puts higher royalties/earnings in the hands of Indigenous artists than what could otherwise be achieved in gallery and gift shop retail.
We at A & O recognize that our employees and leadership team do not belong to a specific Indigenous culture and hold no formal ties to a specific Indigenous nation. Nevertheless, we have the means to offer strategies and expertise that still respects and uplifts the variety of ways Indigenous folks choose to do business. We also continue to build our network of Indigenous professionals so that we can find ways to bring them into our work.
As Indigenous-owned enterprise continues to grow on Turtle Island and elsewhere, we will continuously renew our commitment to be part of a world that prioritizes Indigenous sovereignty in business and more.
Marketing for Organizations that Support Refugees and Newcomers
Recent and ongoing geopolitical conflict have exacerbated the need to help people find safety and inclusion in new, unfamiliar lands. Many everyday people feel powerless to assist the efforts of charities, non-profits, and social enterprises that are doing their part to make things better for refugees and newcomers.
Nevertheless, we at Apples & Oranges Analytics and Marketing are encouraged by the creativity and innovation at play in both businesses and other organizations alike.
3 Marketing Tasks Social Good Organizations Can Do Today
Marketing channels like social media, email marketing, SEO and advertising are typically used for communication purposes, i.e. to reach an audience with an intended message and an intended effect or response to a call-to-action.
Both new and well established goodwill organizations looking to update or even lead a cause tend to leverage digital marketing channels in the following three ways:
Utilizing Google Grants and/or other non-profit and charity specific benefits (such as those available through TechSoup), allow organizations to place themselves at the top of certain Google search results, thereby ensuring consistent traffic to their website.
Segmenting email subscribers into smaller groups based on characteristics, such as donation amount and online engagement, can help pinpoint the exact messaging that can generate further fundraising and support.
Demonstrating the impact and “end result” of an organization’s efforts using easy-to-understand visuals, and even data, that can be easily shared on social media.
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