CORPORATE INSIDER

by Matthew Jones

The world of ethnic marketing is filled with buzzwords and convenient phrases.  Corporations are quick to talk about their “commitment to diversity” and “reaching out to the ethnic communities.”  At Sears Roebuck and Co., they prefer to use words and phrases such as accountability, measurable results and responsibility.

Sandra Diaz, director of multicultural marketing for Sears, is one of those responsible for achieving measurable results.  It is through her efforts, and dozens of others like her across a wide range of departments and disciplines, that Sears has been able to retain a prominent position within the retail industry.

“There are lots of people in the company with multicultural responsibilities,” said Diaz.  “We meet and talk about a wide variety of functions – (including) multicultural merchandising, credit, diversity vendors, human resources, and hiring.”

According to Diaz, Sears has been able to make diversity a part of the corporate culture, thanks to senior managers who insist upon a culture of equality and inclusion.

“We’ve been a leader in the multicultural arena for a long time,” said Diaz.  “In 2002, we formed the Multicultural Management Team, and we embedded a multicultural vision across the company – beyond the marketing function.”  Diaz added that the company engaged in a two-year effort "to identify strategies and initiatives to help service the needs of multicultural communities."

“Then we established benchmarks,” she continued.  “We want all of our people engaged and accountable in measurable ways.  Efforts are tracked to ensure that we meet those benchmarks.” 

Rather than relying on a dedicated multicultural office or department, Sears prefers to spread responsibility for diversity across many departments.  It is not the typical corporate approach, but Diaz said, “That’s what has worked best for us – keeping people close to their functional expertise.”

For Diaz, that policy has meant pursuing diversity within marketing.  Over the last four years, Diaz has helped Sears to gain solid relationships and brand loyalty among multicultural consumers.  For her efforts, she was promoted to Director last July.

Prior to joining Sears, Diaz spent five years at Sara Lee, where she handled marketing for Latin America.  She also contributed to general marketing efforts for Sara Lee’s cheesecakes and pound cakes.

Over the course of her career, Diaz has gained considerable knowledge and expertise in evaluating multicultural markets and assessing their needs.  Today, Diaz oversees Sears’ relationships with five multicultural agencies: two Hispanic agencies - The Bravo Group (New York) and LatinSphere (Long Beach, CA); two African American agencies - Burrell Advertising (Chicago) and Circulation Expertise (New York); and one Asian American agency - Kang & Lee (New York).

"Our Human Resources system has been completely modified," said Diaz.  "It can capture up to 13 languages for each employee that has linguistic skills.  Polish, Chinese, Russian - if there's an employee that speaks it, we know about it."

While the company won't force employees to transfer to where they may be needed most, the practice certainly helps the company determine how well multicultural needs are being met within the sales force.  "If you're operating in a largely Polish neighborhood, you better have some employees in the store who speak their language," said Diaz.

A Multitude of Faces

Sears tries to be equally thorough with regard to the faces that represent its brand and products in advertisements.  “We actually keep track (of minorities used in general market spots) to make sure we reflect the customer base,” explained Diaz.

“For both the African-American and Hispanic markets, we’ve been able to quantify reach across a broad spectrum of mediums,” she continued.  “When we see there’s a particular (general market) program that has high ethnic audience, or a particularly high African-American or Hispanic composition, we’ll insert our (multicultural) commercial there.”

Sears is also pioneering the use of bilingual advertising.  A Hispanic spot that features both English and Spanish is scheduled to air on a popular new network called Sí TV Channel.  Sí TV is targeting the younger, acculturated Hispanic audience with what it describes as “English tongue with Latino flavor.”

“It’s a young network, with a young, hip demographic,” explained Diaz.

Sears also has its own magazine, entitled Nuestra Gente, which translates as “Our People.”  With a circulation of more than 865,000, Sears claims that it is the largest ABC-audited Spanish language magazine in the country.  The magazine is so successful that Sears has even managed to solicit advertising from leading Blue Chip marketers.

In an effort to reach out to new Hispanic homeowners, Sears has partnered with the National Council of La Raza – the most influential Latino civic organization in the country – with a program called From House to Home.

“Together with La Raza, we researched the needs of Hispanic families once they’re in the home,” explained Diaz.  “What are the appliance needs?  What do they need to know if something breaks down?  How should they go about putting together a budget for their home maintenance?  From there, we can come up with solutions.  Then we figure out how we’re going to get that information to the homeowners.”

The partnership with La Raza has enabled Sears to connect with a vast audience that it might not have reached using traditional methods.

On the African American side, Sears recently wrapped up its annual Black History Month initiative, consisting of a calendar comprised of acclaimed African-American talent.  For the 2005 calendar, Sears tapped award-winning poet Nikki Giovanni for the text, and renowned artist Kadir Nelson for the illustrations.

With a printed quantity of about 1.8 million, reaction to the calendar has been strong.  The calendars also have Sears coupons attached, and Diaz is able to track redemption as an additional indicator of success.

“The promotion has been very successful – redemptions from the calendar coupons have been above what we typically get (from other coupon promotions),” added Diaz.  At Sears, the success of this and other promotions only adds to expectations for next year.  “Every year, we up the ante,” said Diaz.

While Sears has worked hard to embrace diversity – in its marketing efforts, its employee base, and in the support it gives to the communities in which it operates – Wall Street has maintained a critical eye towards the company’s performance; and the recent acquisition of Sears by K-Mart Holding Corp. might change the course of future diversity efforts.

Kmart, which is now the nation’s number three retailer after Wal-Mart and Target, brings a mixed picture to the equation.  On one hand, the appointment of Aylwin Lewis, an African American, as CEO of Kmart Holding Corp. has been applauded within the African American community, and among diversity advocates.  On the other hand, Kmart is facing an embarrassing law suit from a former executive who claims the company discriminated against its African American suppliers.

Richard Cozart, an African American, and the former director of Kmart’s supplier diversity program, charges that the retailer treated its African-American suppliers unfairly, and then unjustly fired him for raising the issue.  He is not alone in his allegations.  Several former Kmart suppliers have come forward to support his claims.

While Kmart has not yet responded to inquiries from dib regarding the Cozart case, the company issued a statement claiming a strong, positive history in ethnic communities and a commitment to work with minority-owned businesses.

It remains to be seen whether Cozart’s lawsuit prevails, and whether Kmart’s acquisition of Sears will change the scope and focus of future diversity efforts.  What is clear, however, is that Kmart and Sears will continue to need people like Sandra Diaz to increase brand preference and loyalty among diverse communities.