The Web 2.0 Generation of Asian Americans

All orientals look the same , originally uploaded by chanman171.

Today, Jeff Yang contributed a rather insightful article about the changing Asian American identity in SFgate.com. This got me thinking about the state of multicultural marketing in age of social media. To read the full article, click here.

Yang observes that his generation, which fought against social ignorance and insisted on being Americans before Asians, is largely out of touch in a Web 2.0 world.

Today’s Asian American youth, in comparison, “sees its connection with Asia as an opportunity, not a handicap.” Yang gives the example of young Asian Americans who strive to learn their heritage tongue, while traveling abroad, whenever they can, to their parents’ or grandparents’ motherland.

One common fallacy among multicultural marketers is the idea that reaching out in-language media outlets (print, broadcast and radio) via PR and advertising is a sure fire way to target all Asian Americans of every age. Just like mainstream America, there are many segments defined by age, language and profession that separate Asian America.

Marketers should avoid believing that just because the young people are trying to learn and retain their heritage language these days, does not mean that they are now relying on ethnic media for information. Just like every other American kid, they were raised with the Internet and they will source their up-to-the-minute news as such.

Even the fresh-off-the-boat Asian American youth are not relying on traditional media, even if it is in-language. Those kids often refer back to their home country’s own social media outlets in addition U.S.-based social media.

At the same time, many Asian American organizations and media outlets have not fully embraced social media. Many of them are only just beginning to post their content online; however, Yang cites that the Center for Asian American Media and Asia Society as two exceptional standouts. (I’d like to add Hyphen, Giant Robot, as two Asian American publications, to that list.) This means that most cannot be considered the true influencers of our community’s youth, though they continue to be influential among other Asian American segments.

So in order to be successful in reaching out to today’s Asian American youth, multicultural marketers must embrace social media–blogs, podcasts, vlogs video sharing and social networks, just like every other marketing and PR professional out there. Just because ethnic media and social groups are not up to speed does not mean that we can just mosey along. Instead, it means that we must find the youth community’s new influencers who are blogging, on YouTube, etc.

For sure, we’ve got our work cut out for us.

Filed under: Marketing, Social Media, Web, Asia Society, Asian-American, CAAM, Center for Asian American Media, Jeff Yang, Marketing, Multicultural Marketing, Multicultural PR, PR, Public Relations, Web 2.0

To Be “An Expert In Chinese Desserts”

taro bubble tea, originally uploaded by stu_spivack.

 

I was pleasantly surprised this morning to learn that I was quoted in local Texas newspaper story about “Bubble Tea” as an “expert in Chinese desserts.” How fitting.

It’s interesting to note, that I am the only person that was quoted in the article. Clearly, none of the major corporate bubble tea/boba chains (i.e. Quickly or Tapioca Express) have a PR person or PR agency with a subscription to ProfNet. PR note to corporate boba marketing teams….it might be a good idea.

“Bubble Tea: Ever Drink A Pearl?”
By Miriam Ramirez, The Monitor
Thursday, May 22, 2008
To view the full article onine, click here.

Here’s a quick excerpt with my quotes:

Why bubble?
Several stories as to why its known as”bubble” tea continue to swirl around the world. Some of the most popular arguable factoids are that the tapioca pearls also looked like bubbles or that bubbles floated on the top and bottom of your drink or that in Chinese speaking countries, its called both “zhen zhu nai cha”(Pearl Milk Tea) while in the U.S. its called “Boba” (which is slang for a big breasted woman, said Daisy Kong, an expert in Chinese desserts. Other names include “tapioca milk tea” and “milk tea with pearls.”

“In the U.S. bubble tea can be found mainly in Chinese shopping centers at snack shops or specific milk tea shops that also sell snacks,” Kong said. “In Toronto, Canada, where there there is an even larger overseas Chinese community, boba cafes are incredible (looking more like a very hip and trendy bar then a snack shop.

One interesting find from this article was www.bobafind.com, a site that is surprisingly very accurate in locating the nearest bubble tea/boba shop near you.

Filed under: Food, Retail, Boba Tea, Bubble Tea, Drinks, Food, Milk Tea, Miriam Ramirez, Pearl Milk Tea, PR, Public Relations, Quickly, Tapioca, Tapioca Express, Tapioca Milk Tea

Third Time’s A Charm For Shanghai Tang (NYC)

 

Shanghai Tang, originally uploaded by sun55585w.

Shanghai Tang, China’s premier luxury brand, has opened a new 3,200 square foot boutique on 600 Madison Avenue in New York City according to WWD.com. This is the Hong Kong-based fashion retailer’s third attempt at a brick and mortar store in the Big Apple.

Shanghai Tang made its first debut in New York (which was a PR disaster) with a 12,500 square foot store on Madison Avenue in 1997. Needless to say, it closed it in less than two years mainly due to poor sales and having misjudge the New York market for high end Asian apparel and products. After this less than stellar start, the retailer quietly moved to a smaller location. (So small, I haven’t been able to find the address now that it doesn’t exist anymore).

Perhaps Compagnie Financière Richemont SA, which has held major ownership since 1998, will have learned from David Tang‘s mistakes and do better this time around. Though in this economy, I highly doubt that the market for expensive Chinese chic fashion and accessories has grown that much since 1997. Only time will tell.

Though one thing’s for sure—they have since hired a really good PR agency to build their branding and messaging as a luxury brand. While I can’t say with 100% certainty that a publicist was behind the good press (since I wasn’t there), but in my professional opinion, these top-tier business placements did not just magically appear out of no where:

• BusinessWeek: “China Goes Luxury” By Reena Jana
• CNN: “Designing A Global Brand” By Samantha Broun
• Fast Company: “The Gucci Killers” By Linda Tischler

Filed under: Fashion, Retail, China, David Tang, Fashion, Hong Kong, Luxury, Public Relations, Retail, Shanghai Tang