Who Advertise In the Asian American Market?

A brief list of who are the players in the market right now.

Telecommunications:
It all started with MCI in the late 1980’s for its international call service. AT&T of course had to jump in. The battle now has turned to Cingular, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint. But most of them run co-op retail ads only.

Insurance:
MetLife began its Asian recruiting advertising effort more than 20 years ago. It is still one of the active players in the Asian American market. Other advertisers include New York Life, State Farm, and Nationwide. Each focuses on different segment with very different media approach.

Heathcare:
Oxford, HIP have been very involved in the Asian American BTL marketing. Since the introduction of Child Health Plus and Family Health Plus in New York, more than a dozen managed care providers flood the market.

Finance:
Sure the national big banks like HSBC, Chase, Citibank, Commerce Bank are in. So as many local community based banks such as United Orient Bank, Abacus Bank, Cathay Bank, to name just a few. National banks of other countries, for instance, Bank of China, also play a significant role. Other financial services providers such as TD Ameritrade, E-Trade, and Charles Swabs are also in the game.

Automobile:
It is perhaps the biggest advertising category in the Asian American market. Active players include Chevy, Cadillac, Hummer, Buick, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Volvo, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes Benz and Jeep. Mazda and Chrysler have also come in this year.

Retail:
JC Penny, Wal-Mart, Lowe’s – all advertise in Asian American market.

Packaged-Goods:
Kraft started two years ago. SK-II advertised big time after it was bought by P&G. Both Coke and Pepsi had been on and off the market, never big though.

Casino:
Asians are big in gambling. That’s why there are Asian VIP sections in every major casino on both East and West coasts. It makes perfect sense for them to advertise in the Asian market.

Alcohol:
Remy, Hennessy and Martell are very active. Several beers, including Budweiser, are also in.

Travel:
International airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Asianna, China Airlines, Korean Air are of course in the market for obvious reason. For American airlines, only Continental is an active advertiser in the Asian market.

(Update 10/16/06: American Airlines is promoting their Shanghai flight in NY as well.)

Others:
Other advertisers include Western Union (for obvious reason), Uncle Sam (Anti-smoking, CDC, USPS, CIA recruitment, etc), IKEA, McDonald's…

Each category has an Asian marketing story or two to tell. I will save them for some other time.

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Asian American
, Asian Marketing
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, Diversity Advertising