Multicultural Marketing: What It Is and How to Do It The Right Way [According to Experts]
By cchi@hubspot.com (Clifford Chi)
Growing up as a first-generation Asian American, I lived between two cultures. One was the East-Asian culture my parents brought from Taiwan, which prioritizes the needs and desires of the family and emphasizes academic excellence. The other was the Western culture that surrounded me outside the house, which prioritizes the needs and desires of the individual and emphasizes extracurricular activities.
Needless to say, these two cultures clashed, and I spent the early part of my childhood confused about my identity. My parents taught me certain values and principles to help guide me through life, just like their parents did, but whenever I hung out with my friends, they would show me a completely different way of living. At the end of the day, I didn’t really know which group to side with. But once puberty hit, I did what every other hormone-filled tween would do — I rebelled against my parents and followed my friends.
From the beginning of middle school to the end of high school, I mostly identified as an American not just because the vast majority of my friends were American, but because I realized I was different. And I didn’t like that.
Desperate to fit in, I tried my hardest to blend in with my peers. I immersed myself in football and baseball, deriving all my value in being a jock — the opposite of your typical Asian American. Sadly, I also looked down on other Asian kids who weren’t as American as me, sparingly ate Chinese food, and didn’t like inviting my friends over because I was scared they’d think my house smelled weird. In a nutshell, I was embarrassed to be Asian.
This mentality bled over to college, where I studied economics and business, played baseball, and joined a fraternity — all of which a typical Asian American wouldn’t do. As a senior, I decided to study abroad in Scotland, and my goal was to befriend as many lads and lasses from across the pond. But by the end of the semester, barely any of my friends were European. And none of them were American. Most of them were actually asian.
One of the biggest reasons why I loved studying abroad, in addition to traveling the world and never going to class, was that I befriended a group of Asian guys who were extremely proud of our ethnicity and culture. And it taught me how important it is to be proud of my own identity. Before I studied abroad, I’d never met an Asian person who claimed they were proud of who they were, and I didn’t really take pride in it either. But after meeting my asian friends in Scotland, who were from Asian countries, like Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, Bhutan, and India, I was inspired to flip my mentality.
When I returned home from Scotland, my parents were both shocked and thrilled at how Asian cuisine had become my favorite type of food and how much pride I took in …read more
Source:: HubSpot Blog
