How to win this year’s all-new NSW Premier’s Multicultural Communications Awards
Long-standing judge Steve D’Alessandro explains why marketers and media professions are missing out if they forget multicultural audiences.
Steve D’Alessandro, a judge at this year’s NSW Premier’s Multicultural Communications Awards, remembers a time when Australia wasn’t a country known for its diversity.
“When I went to school,” he explains, “it was rare to see anyone Asian or non-white in your class. People thought I stood out just being Italian and eating different food.” But today, he continues, things couldn’t be more different. In 2018, Aussies don’t just want multicultural workforces that promote equal opportunities – they expect it.
In fact, figures show Australia is becoming one of the most diverse countries in the world. Nearly half of all Aussies were born overseas or have at least one parent who was. One in three five Sydneysiders speak a language other than English at home. “In NSW alone,” adds Steve, “we have more than 300 ancestries, 150 religions and people speak over 200 languages. There’s a strong Asian background in NSW and probably more of an Indian influence in Victoria. That’s not just good for society, but it’s good for our export-driven economy, too.”
The NSW Premier’s Multicultural Communications Awards celebrate campaigns that speak to all the people of Australia.
People don’t speak over 200 languages, not many at least, there may be more than 200 languages spoken but what use is that information to a marketer in a country where millions speak English?
People are consumers, people are workers, toilers and builders within the framework of life, wherever they happen to be, anywhere in the world.
It is interesting to take note of our cultural diversity (so called) but it is also a cultural unity.