For more than a decade Marty Pouwels has dedicated his business life to helping businesses and organisations communicate with New Zealandโs ethnic populations. But even he was โblown awayโ by the results of his company Niche Mediaโs research, he says.
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โBusiness people think that if they advertise in the Herald or pop an ad on mainstream television they are reaching the total population. But our research shows thatโs not the case at all. In fact, the lack of reach in the mainstream media is staggering.โ
Equally struck by the lack of reach of traditional media in todayโs New Zealand is content marketing company BrandWorld, which has joined forces with Niche Media to offer its clients a way of reaching more of New Zealandโs population.ย
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โGiven the results of Niche Mediaโs research, marketersโ normal mechanisms targeting standard demographics such as โ25 to 54 year-olds in Aucklandโ simply donโt work as youโre effectively only reaching half of that audience using traditional avenues,โ says Cameron Harper, BrandWorldโs business manager.
Pouwels commissioned Nicheโs Mediaโs extensive survey into the media and media habits of our rapidly growing ethnic populations early last year. In whatโs considered to be a New Zealand first, much of the research was conducted in the language of the people being interviewed. It was so extensive, the results were only collated, crunched and analysed a few months ago.
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Pouwels admits initially he and his colleagues thought they were simply investing in research to prove something they already knew. โIn a lot of situations that was the case, but the extent of the situation really blew us away. When you actually analysed how much information from companies and the government was actually getting through to these communities, it was very, very little.โ
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According to the 2013 census, the combined ethnic and Maori populations of New Zealand currently make up 34 percent of the population; this increases to 46 percent in Auckland, with the two fastest growing groups being Asian (growing at +3.4 percent a year) and Pacific (+2.4 percent).
Over 83,000 new immigrants have arrived in the past two years; 48,000 in Auckland alone, most without any knowledge of New Zealand brands, but needing to purchase a whole range of products and services from property, cars and whitegoods to banking, furniture, electronics and utilities, says Pouwels.ย
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โNot only are the numbers of consumers huge by New Zealand standards, these ethnic markets are driving exports and growth in the New Zealand economy, because they understand the language and business culture in their home country and in New Zealand. They are also New Zealandโs fastest growing consumer group and have been for the last decade.โ
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Yet Niche Mediaโs research shows that for those Aucklanders who list Chinese as their ethnicity, 78 percent consume at least half of their total media in Chinese; while for Indians its 58 percent; Pacific Islanders 56 percent; and Koreans 78 percent. This need is catered for by about 80 different ethnic media companies operating in New Zealand covering radio, television, newspapers and digital/social media.
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Take the burgeoning Chinese market, for example, says Pouwels. โThey have multiple print publications ranging from monthly to six days a week, three main radio stations in both Mandarin and Cantonese, two Freeview television stations and eight subscription channels on the Sky Asia platform.โย
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Powerful partnership
Given the size, scope and reach of many of its clients, it was a no brainer for BrandWorld to join forces with Niche Media, says Harper. BrandWorld produces a number of well-known branded content formats for television and online, including Family Health Diary, Discover and the rurally-focused Field Trials, as well as bespoke offerings such as Wattieโs Food in a Minute, Fonterraโs Nourish and Lionโs Made to Match and The Mix.
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โWeโre a growing Kiwi company and we provide a service to other growing Kiwi companies which often want to reach as broad an audience as possible, as effectively as possible. Our expertise lies within the mainstream media and in crafting information that resonates with those audiences our clients want to reach.ย
โNiche Mediaโs research made us realise there was a whole wealth of audiences out there which we simply werenโt reaching as effectively as we could. So it made sense to us to join forces.โ
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Harper dismisses the view that ethnic audiences are only important to large corporates and government bodies. โThey are important for all sizes of business. The more you get in now and get it right, the better it will be for your business as it expands and grows.ย
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โThey are all consumers. They all go to supermarkets, have their car serviced, buy coffees, but unlike the rest of us they are often a blank canvas, with no idea about any of the brands on offer; many of which are now household names to the rest of us. So itโs actually a really exciting opportunity for companies.โ
Harper admitted that BrandWorld and Niche Media have already been involved in a couple of joint pitches since announcing they were joining forces โto offer a one-stop branded content shopโ a couple of months ago, but wouldnโt elaborate further.ย
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โAny decent-sized company or company that aspires to be a decent size that doesnโt have an ethnic strategy in place is going backwards fast,โ says Pouwels. โItโs only a matter of time before someone more attuned to New Zealandโs evolving markets will come in and take their place.โ
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For more visit www.brandworld.co.nzย or www.nichemedia.co.nz
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Lesley Springall is an Auckland-based freelance business journalist.ย
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