South Asian Canadians

Blogger Fazal Siddiqi posted interesting findings on his blog that relate to cultural marketing and new media. Siddiqi used email, Facebook, LinkedIn and his blog to pose questions regarding the habits and preferences of South Asians. He received about 100 responses from "Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis living in Canada, the USA, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the UAE and Saudi Arabia" as well as non-Asians.

Siddiqi cites two main findings:

1. Family is a major consideration for those of South Asian origin
2. Non-Asians don't understand South Asian culture

Based upon his findings he surmises that marketing communications directed toward South Asians should utilize themes of family and family relationships and that, consequently, word-of-mouth marketing efforts should be utilized among this community. He also notes that "(p)ersonal development, professional growth, hard work, movies, cricket and spicy food were other common interests revealed by the respondents," leading him to suggest that (m)ovie theatres, cricket matches and restaurants serving spicy foods could be good touch-points with South Asians" and that "organizations offering professional and personal development services could target South Asians market segments as well to grow their sales."

He also notes that while non-Asians mentioned "rice, spices and Bollywood movies" among South Asian likes, this group did not mention the significance of family or personal relationships to South Asians. Therefore, he suggests that non-Asian marketer should utilize South Asian marketing specialists.

I find this posting interesting for a number of reasons. First, Siddiqi's use of new media tools (email, social networking sites and a blog) to gather market data is relevant. This effort strikes at the heart of the utility of digital tools to marketing: they create easy and effective methods for learning about customers. Second is the information. While more qualitative (or even anecdotal) than quantitative, it does providing an interesting snapshot into the South Asian community. In a follow-on post, Siddiqi offers hard data relating to South Asians in Canada (e.g., "South Asian Canadians spend 23% more on groceries than other households in Canada."). The combination of the hard data and the survey information could provide important insights for marketers targeting the South Asian community in Canada.