AV Communications (AVC) CEO Joycelyn David joins the ranks of visible minority women who are making their mark in Canada. A Filipino-Canadian, she has been recently nominated at the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards. The prestigious national awards program celebrates the achievements of the most accomplished and impactful women in the country.

Over the last 29 years, the program has honoured over 190 women for demonstrating excellence across multiple sectors. And this year, David is making history by becoming one of only a handful of Filipino women who have landed a place in this coveted spotlight.

Born in Canada, Raised Filipino

Proud of her Filipino roots, David was the first of her family to be born in Canada after her parents emigrated from the Philippines in the 1970s. She grew up between Winnipeg and Edmonton, learning about her culture through the stories shared by her relatives. But learning the culture was not enough. David yearned to see another Filipino face right here in her home.

“I can still remember the first time I saw a Filipino in a TV commercial here in Canada,” David recalled. “It was a student recruitment spot, and they were inviting internationally trained students to enroll. I distinctly remember the ad and the feeling that ‘Ah… I can see myself, my sister, and my culture represented on TV. I was 25 years old at the time. Why has it taken so long for me to see myself reflected in the media this way?”

This question on her mind motivated David to champion the representation of black, indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) in mainstream media. Especially for the Filipino ethnic group that’s the third-largest in Canada. The Filipino population is expected to reach 1M by 2021, representing a 150% growth rate. They’re also the number one source of immigrants to Canada.

Rising to the Challenge 

With the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, and call for representation for BIPOC, consumers are demanding diversity and authenticity. Multiculturalism is mainstream. This has been David’s battle cry since taking the reins at AVC in 2019. Aside from keeping its Filipino heritage alive, David is taking the 17-year-old agency to greater heights.

Today, the award-winning multicultural agency has expanded its business globally. Growing international brands and reaching multicultural audiences south of the border (USA), even as far as the Philippines and Mexico.

AVC is also expanding through partnerships and research and development with the launch of its insights platform ETHNIHUB^TM  in October 2020. This project landed David a coveted spot in the Microsoft-backed Women in Cloud Accelerator.

Lead with Diversity. Invest in Multicultural.

David aims to push brands to revisit their brand and marketing campaigns and account for visible minorities in their communications. And though she has shattered Filipino stereotypes through her latest achievement, David knows her work has only just begun.

“It’s time for companies to walk the talk. If they truly embrace diversity and inclusion (D&I) it will be reflected in all aspects of their business, including marketing. When I began in this industry nearly 20 years ago, multicultural marketing budgets were often less than 5% of a campaign budget. It’s now 2021, and unfortunately, we haven’t moved the needle enough. I look forward to the day when a campaign brief LEADS with diversity and puts the right investment into multicultural audiences as well.”

If you would like to talk to Joycelyn about some of her current endeavors, future passion projects or how she can help you boost your brand in the multicultural space, drop her a message at linkedin.com/in/joycelyndavid/

How do you tap the 10M multicultural market this year? In this blog series, we give you five strategies that you can use as a guide when you formulate your marketing plans for the multicultural audience in 2021.

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Food brand? Say hello to the halal market.

THE FACTS: Canadian Muslim population, who consume halal food, is projected to reach 2.7M by 2030 (6.6 % of total population). The halal market size is over 1B in Canada and is growing at a rapid rate of 10% over the last few years.

KFC, Popeyes, Mary Browns, Nando’s and many more mainstream brands have added halal options to their menus to increase their market share.

Loblaws and Maple Leaf Foods have their own halal product range (Sufra and Mina respectively) to meet the growing demand of halal audience.

Walmart and FreshCo have dedicated “halal” food sections at various locations.

Why do you need to consider this audience for your brand?

OUR TAKE: Halal product awareness and consumption is increasing at a rapid pace and majority of consumers have the financial power to spend. According to the Canadian Halal Meat Market Study funded by the Alberta Agriculture, Food & Rural Development (AAFRD) and Farming For The Future Farm Demo Project (FFF), the average Canadian Muslim household spends $1,623 on halal meat per year and consumes 5.6 meat servings per day. This trend will only grow from here so why wait?

To learn more about our multicultural strategies contact Shaharyar Irfan and Gideon Lin.

How do you tap the 10M multicultural market this year? In this blog series, we give you five strategies that you can use as a guide when you formulate your marketing plans for the multicultural audience in 2021.

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Get people talking. Tap Emerging Ethnic Micro-influencers.

THE FACTS: Word of mouth is stronger among immigrants versus the mainstream audience.

50% of Chinese consumers use social platforms to gain product information while 40% do impulsive buying online after being influenced by KOLs.

Ethnic groups such as South Asians and Filipinos are hugely influenced by the opinions of trusted people in their community, especially when buying a high value item.

How can your brand be present in these online conversations?

OUR TAKE: Leverage the strong network of influencers to promote your brand among different ethnic audiences.

To learn more about our multicultural strategies, see tip #5 and contact Shaharyar Irfan and Gideon Lin.

How do you tap the 10M multicultural market this year? In this blog series, we give you five strategies that you can use as a guide when you formulate your marketing plans for the multicultural audience in 2021.

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Mabuhay! Add Filipino Canadians to Your Acquisition Brief.

THE FACTS: The Filipino population is one of the fastest growing Asian populations in the country. By 2021, the Filipino population is expected to reach 1M, representing a 150% growth rate. They are the #1 source of immigrants to Canada.

How can your brand grow your customer base?

OUR TAKE: Consider adding Filipinos to your consumer acquisition strategy. This ethnic group has a significant spending power (average net worth is $446k higher than the general population $442k).

Filipino Canadians also have the lowest unemployment rate (5.9%) amongst newcomer segments and 60% of them have a college or university degree.

To learn more about our multicultural strategies, see tip #4 and contact Shaharyar Irfan and Gideon Lin.

How do you tap the 10M multicultural market this year? In this blog series, we give you five strategies that you can use as a guide when you formulate your marketing plans for the multicultural audience in 2021.

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Get on WeChat and Weibo. Seriously.

THE FACTS: With over 1.6M Chinese Canadians, this audience is young (average age 38), affluent (23.2% of Chinese Canadians earn up to $150k in gross income per year versus 16.1% of all Canadians) and growing as the #2 source of new immigration and international students to Canada.

How can your brand connect to this audience?

OUR TAKE: Get your brand on WeChat and Weibo. Chinese audiences have strong preference to consume media in their native language, so brands need to step up and meet them on the app of their choice – WeChat and Weibo.

There are over 1M users on WeChat and over 0.6M monthly active users on Weibo in Canada. This group is socially very active and spends an average of 35+ hours a week on WeChat alone.

To learn more about our multicultural strategies, see tip #3 and contact Shaharyar Irfan and Gideon Lin.

How do you tap the 10M multicultural market this year? In this blog series, we give you five strategies that you can use as a guide when you formulate your marketing plans for the multicultural audience in 2021.

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Be inclusive. Develop a Multicultural Marketing Model.

THE FACTS: Consumers are demanding diversity with the rise of Black Lives Matter movement and call for representation for black, indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC).

How can your brand be more inclusive?

OUR TAKE: Start by building a multicultural marketing model. Connect to customers through a cultural lens – authentically. Language is part of this, but not entirely as many multicultural audiences are of mixed heritage or speak multiple languages. Look beyond the ethnic background and identify the right passion points and hotspots for your audience.

To learn more about our multicultural strategies, see tip #2 and contact Shaharyar Irfan and Gideon Lin.

From 2021 to 2023, Canada aims to bring 1.2 million immigrants to compensate for the shortfall in 2020, the year hit by a global pandemic.

With over a million new people entering Canada from different parts of the world, Canadian businesses need to start thinking about turning this diverse audience into new customers.

— AVC CEO Joycelyn David shares in her interview with Narcity.

These newcomers are not the only source of growth. So are the diverse Canadians who are now living in the country. That is why multiculturalism is a key factor to consider when marketers formulate their growth strategy for 2021.

David reveals five ways on how Canadian businesses can successfully tap into the multicultural market. Read the full article, click here.

For Canadian brands who would like to dip their feet into multicultural marketing, start by chatting with the experts. Contact Shaharyar Irfan, or Gideon Lin.