“For life as you know it.” The campaign for Canada Life shows authentic Chinese, South Asian and West Asian rituals, traditions and practices associated with good fortune.
Balmoral Multicultural CEO Sharifa Khan knows that authenticity and relevance matter when marketing to diverse communities.
“Multicultural consumers respond to marketing that authentically speaks to them using culturally relevant experiences, insights and images. Brands wishing to effectively engage with Canada’s growing multicultural market need a smart, targeted approach embracing critical ethnic nuances,” Khan explains. “We create work that makes people feel, ‘oh wow, this company is truly talking to me.’”
Khan, inducted into Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends as a multicultural visionary, says she’s made it her agency’s mission to shine a light into every corner of Canada’s diverse population, ensuring all backgrounds see themselves reflected in a way she never did as a new immigrant in 1975.
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She has spent 35 years building an agency that has grown year-over-year in its pursuit of better representation of multicultural Canadians. It’s a significant opportunity. Nearly 10.6 million Canadians identify as members of visible minority groups, representing about 26.5% of the total population, according to 2021 data from Statistics Canada.
The mission is resonating. Agency revenue has more than doubled over the past five years as leading brands such as OLG, RBC, Canada Life, BMW, Tata Consumer Products, Clorox, Brita, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Safeway, FreshCo and Sobeys strengthened their focus on multicultural marketing.
Jeffrey Almeida, managing director at Balmoral, says the growth is mainly due to a data-driven, always-on strategy across its client portfolio. “We use rigorous, holistic marketing to drive growth for our clients,” he notes. “Our success with diverse audiences stems from our multi -ethnic staff who put a cultural lens to brand development and creative.”
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The result, Almeida adds, is that Balmoral “has taken minority marketing mainstream,” surpassing KPIs and benchmarks for brands targeting ethnic audiences.
Canada Life and FreshCo’s Chalo! are examples of clients that have progressively deepened their relationship with Balmoral and benefited from the agency’s multicultural expertise.
Canada Life has worked with Balmoral since 2019 and first engaged the agency to create a meaningful connection with consumers from South Asian, West Asian and Chinese backgrounds. These were new target audiences for the insurer and, with it being a high-touch category
that also requires great trust, Canada Life wanted to use bespoke creative based on authentic insights.
The result was “Rituals,” a campaign that incorporated customs of importance for the target consumers that are associated with life milestones like buying a new home or starting a business.
The most recent “Rituals” OLV campaign resulted in 19.2 million video completions and 164,000 clicks, surpassing previous benchmarks during spring 2023. It also delivered 108% more impressions than planned.
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On the retail front with FreshCo, Balmoral just launched a campaign introducing the new Chalo! brand, a range of affordable South Asian grocery items, to shoppers who often have to go to several specialized stores to get what they want.
The digital Chalo! campaign was timed to coincide with Diwali, leveraging the season’s emphasis on food, hospitality, and celebration. The objective was to build awareness of the Chalo! range, highlight its affordability, link it directly to the FreshCo banner and position it as a one-stop shop for South Asian grocery needs.
Launched during Diwali, the “Own Brand” campaign for FreshCo’s Chalo! playfully pitched “excessive hospitality” to introduce a new range of affordable, authentic South Asian grocery items.
The creative embraced the insight that during Diwali, South Asians pride themselves on serving an abundance of food to family and guests. This led to the concept of “overtly excessive hospitality” showcasing Chalo! products as the solution for festive celebrations. By blending cultural relevance with a strong value proposition, Balmoral positioned FreshCo’s Chalo! brand as an essential part of the South Asian shopping experience.
Campaigns like Canada Life’s “Rituals” and the FreshCo’s Chalo! launch, as well as Balmoral’s list of steadfast clients, demonstrate the strength and depth of Khan’s vision for multicultural marketing. Going beyond supporting one-off ethnic events and festivals and becoming a year-round strategic partner is one of her proudest achievements. “We are at the table with clients from the start campaigns,” she says. “And that comes from the trust we’ve built.”
CONTACT:
Sharifa Khan
Founder and CEO
sharifa@balmoralmkt.com
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