For a look at what's ahead in 1999 in marketing to ethnic consumers, Multicultural Marketing News turned to the nation's leading research firms, ethnic ad agencies, ethnic media and corporate marketing executives for their predictions. Participating in our survey:

• (LA): Loretta Adams, President, Market Development, Inc.
• (MD): Maria F. Dias, Marketing Manager, AT&T Language Line Services
• (AE): Dr. Andrew Erlich, President, Erlich Transcultural Consultants
• (SG): Saul Gitlin, VP, Strategic Marketing Services, Kang & Lee Advertising
• (FK): Felipe Korzenny, President & CEO, Hispanic & Asian Marketing Communication Research, Inc.
• (AS): Alfred Schreiber, Exec VP, General Manager, The New America Strategies Group
• (IV): Isabel Valdés, President, The Market Connections Group, Access Worldwide Comm.
• (JY): Jon Yasuda, President & COO, KSCI-TV

What's Ahead in 1999?
Multicultural marketing will move from a niche perception to much more of a mainstream perception. Rather than as an add-on, it will be seen as a strategic part of any major marketing program. Key companies will consider the opportunity with ethnic Americans as part of their due diligence in creating a marketing program. (AS)

This is going to be a banner year for multicultural marketing. There is a renewed commitment from people currently involved and there will be a lot of new players coming onboard. (AE)

Multicultural marketing will continue to grow. There are a lot of corporations that are currently investigating the benefits of marketing to the various ethnic markets in the U.S. As they learn these benefits, more and more companies will initiate multicultural marketing efforts. (JY)

More and more companies will try to provide the same level of customer service to their non-English speaking customers as English speakers enjoy. Perhaps the deregulation of the utility industry will drive companies to target non-English speakers as one way of attracting and retaining customers. (MD)

More specialized and narrowly targeted approaches, e.g., Cubans more directly and uniquely addressed (FK)

What issue(s) is/are currently of utmost importance in the field of multicultural marketing?
Paying attention to regional differences. There is a need to customize marketing efforts to particular markets as opposed to a "one size fits all" campaign. (AE)

Specialization in the culture of very narrowly defined consumer groups (FK)

Understanding and managing Hispanic marketing vis-a-vis language preference and acculturation (IV)

Quality control. As businesses start to provide service in languages other than English, how can they guarantee that the people they hire have not only the linguistic capability and excellent customer service skills but are also knowledgeable about their industries? (MD)

The issue to me of utmost importance is the ROI issue; the need of multicultural marketers for measurement, just the way they measure in the general market. (AS)

Measurement of ROI and measurement of audience (JY)

What are the trends in marketing to ethnic groups in the US?
There is a trend for companies to look internally to their personnel as a resource that they may have given short shrift to and overlooked in the past. (AE)

"Visionary" companies are designing new products and services to specifically target Hispanics. (IV)

Trend toward marketing to teens, children, young adults. (LA)

The "de-niching" of multicultural marketing; greater sophistication, a more integrated approach to reaching the multicultural audience which includes not only advertising but public relations, events, tie-ins with local organizations. Another trend is the desire to reach the market for the right reasons. Companies that once looked at it as a Black History Month involvement are saying "How can I extend my marketing to a year round involvement?" There is a dawning consciousness that these markets are here to stay. (AS)

Companies are learning from past mistakes and now working with professionals to develop materials that are not simply translations of English text but materials that are designed to appeal to the various ethnic groups in their own terms. (MD)

The importance and relevance of ethnic media will be recognized as the optimal environment to most effectively reach multicultural audiences (AS)

What is the most controversial issue in this industry?
Sparking debate is the language issue. Many seasoned marketers are still skeptical that Asian Americans skew strongly for Asian language media consumption vs. English language media. Asians overwhelming prefer their own language and the controversy will be put to bed. Landmark research to be fielded in 1999 to measure both readership and viewership for Asian media vehicles will fully confirm that the Asian market needs to be reached in-language. (SG)

The whole issue of monolingual vs bilingual, i.e. how can you reach bilingual Asians and Hispanics in the mainstream media and when should you try to reach them using in-language media. Then there are those marketers who want to do away with ethnic media and just reach everyone via mainstream media. While there are important growing segments that are bilingual, I strongly believe there are substantial populations that are unacculturated and tied to their language of origin. The ethnic markets are dynamic, changing and evolving. (AE)

"Bilingualism" as a valid marketing venue; there's little knowledge and lots of wishful thinking! (IV)

The future of acculturation as contrasted with assimilation (FK)

The role of diversity and the role of marketing need to meet. Creating a diverse workforce is a major issue and the human resources and marketing departments are finally starting to talk to each other. (AS)

What industries will be next to market to multicultural consumers? Where is there an opportunity that is not being tapped?
Financial services, auto markets, the bilingual area and the older demographic in the ethnic population (AE)

Strong spending by telecom companies will continue. We expect to see dramatic new growth from the financial services sector particularly from insurance and investment companies including brokerage/securities firms. 1999 appears to be the year that automotive marketers will enter the Asian American market en masse. (SG)

Automotive. Packaged goods. Continued growth in financial and telecommunications. (JY)

Financial services, healthcare, tourism, childcare, education/training. (IV)

Banking; finance; health insurance. Perhaps deregulation of the utility industry will drive those companies to target non-English speakers as a way of attracting and retaining customers. It's a likely outgrowth as we saw from our own experience when deregulation occurred in the telecommunications industry in 1984. (MD)

Financial services; healthcare; the interactive and computer industry will be a growing sector due to rising levels of usage particularly among African Americans. (AS)

In the Hispanic market, convenience and premium foods; automotive industry in the small car category; computer technology and Internet provider categories (LA)

High tech is the next frontier, particularly the Internet. (FK)

For more information, please contact Lisa Skriloff, 212-242-3351, infobrokr1@aol.com.