Marketing Profs

People of Caribbean heritage remain a large and diverse market. Census data shows that the number of Caribbean Americans is growing at a faster rate than that of African Americans and is one of the most economically viable minority communities.

More than 22 million people of Caribbean heritage live in the US (according to Strategy Research Corporation). An Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) study done in 2002 shows that people of Caribbean heritage are credited with contributing approximately $1.6 billion in remittances to economies in the Caribbean region each year.

Moreover, a Black Diversity Study done in August 2003 by the University at Albany, State University of New York, found that Caribbean Americans are loyal buyers of consumer goods, annual vacations, and homes. They are also sending their children to college at a higher rate than many other populations.

Marketers who ignore people of Caribbean heritage are missing on the opportunities to showcase their products and services to a fast-growing segment with significant buying power.

Unfortunately, some of the marketing campaigns of companies who are marketing to people of Caribbean heritage are ineffective. Here are the top four reasons.

1. Lumping Caribbean People Into One Group

The most common mistake many marketers make is assuming that the Caribbean people in North America are homogeneous. Even though most of them are either Jamaican or Haitian, the other islands cannot be neglected.

The Caribbean community is diverse and each group is a niche. The people from the Caribbean are also patriotic and adamantly identify with their country of birth. If your Caribbean marketing campaign doesn't address each island individually, chances are it will fail.

It may seem politically correct to group together the region as one, and perhaps it is the best way to categorize a marketing campaign. However, in many cases, you end up offending.

2. Pooling Caribbean People With African Americans