Culturally Relevant Ads Drive Brand Growth, ANA Study Finds

It’s kind of a no-brainer, but now we have the data to back it up: When someone feels as though an ad they’ve seen accurately reflects culture, they’re more likely to buy products from the featured brand.

A new study by the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing, an arm of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), recently surveyed 10,000 individuals from various racial backgrounds, as well as members of the LGBTQ+ and disabled communities.

Turns out, consumers who perceive ads as “culturally relevant” are 2.6 times more likely to find the brand relevant to them, and are 2.7 times more likely to purchase a brand for the first time. Additionally, they are 50% more likely to repurchase a brand they have bought in the past.

According to the ANA, the study was conducted using the Cultural Insights Impact Measure (CIMM), a tool developed by the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing in partnership with member companies and NBCUniversal.

While it’s not exactly clear how CIIM works, the ANA said it “evaluates advertising creative in various categories and identifies the impact and effectiveness of cultural insights in ads and programming on increased brand relevance, ad relevance, purchase intent lift and loyalty.”

The ANA said that insights from CIIM will fuel the launch of #SeeAll, a movement to expand representation within advertising and illuminate growth opportunities for brands within multicultural segments.

“One of the cornerstones of ANA’s growth mission is measurement,” Bob Liodice, chief executive of the ANA, said in a statement. “The utilization of CIIM provides marketers and the industry with a powerful measurement tool that will enhance culturally relevant creative to engineer incremental brand and business growth.”

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