East Meets West Asian Americans have money, Net savvy and entrepreneurial fire. Media magnate Jeff Yang explains how to tap both their talent and dollars.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Although Asian Americans make up just 4 percent of the U.S.population, they are the nation's fastest-growing ethnic group,expected to constitute 12 percent by 2020. In 1994, even beforehelping to lead the Internet explosion, the U.S. Census Bureaureports Asian Americans had average household incomes of $52,562,compared with $45,034 for white Americans. We asked Jeff Yang, 32,CEO of aMedia Inc. and publisher of aMagazine: Inside AsianAmerica, which has a circulation of 200,000, about how to tapinto this community.
Give us some insight into the majorAsian American communities.
Chinese and Filipino are the largest groups, followed by [inorder of size] Japanese, South Asian, Korean and Southeast Asian.Immigrants are more likely to identify with their ethnicities thanwith an Asian American identity; individuals born and educated inthe U.S. are more likely to have pan-Asian affiliations. Chinese,Filipino and Japanese communities are the most established U.S.populations, while Korean, South Asian and Southeast Asiancommunities are mostly immigrant.
As far as marketers are concerned, Asian Americans haveattractive demographics: higher median household incomes andeducation levels, ownership of businesses, and the likelihood ofbeing employed as managers or professionals. They respond well toadvertising, seeing it as an "invitation to buy," and areextremely loyal once they've made a brand selection.
And they're the most wired to theInternet?
According to Forrester Research, 69 percent of us are on theWeb, the greatest percentage of any U.S. ethnic group. That's7.6 million individuals who buy online, use the Internet forentertainment and product research, and engage in banking,brokerage and other financial transactions over the Web, more thanany other group.
Can we use Asian American employees orbusiness partners as a good way to reach the Asianmarket?
They usually have ties to relatives, friends and businessassociates in Asia, which has almost three-fifths the earth'spopulation, so you can see us as the gateway to the world'slargest market.
There's one category where Asian countries have a tradedeficit in relation to the United States: media and informationservices...because Americans have exported their culture soeffectively. One interesting aspect is that Asian Americans havewon Oscars in four of the past six Academy Awards, all for workslike short films and documentaries. Well, the very things that makethese kinds of works unsuitable for commercial film distributionare also things that make them ideal for the Web. Combine that withthe fact that Asian Americans are adopting broadband technologiesfaster than anyone else, and you [can see] a real opportunity.
Contact Source
- aMedia Inc., www.aonline.com
