Is your ad featuring an East Asian man as a nerd actually reinforcing dangerous stereotypes? When and how should you use “Black American” in your copy or scripts? Should there be a hyphen in “Filipino American”?

The answers to all these questions and so many more can be found in the latest ANA Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) report “A Marketer’s Guide to Inclusive Language,” which is available for download here. The AIMM is a coalition of entities from the entire marketing ecosystem, representing the Hispanic, African-American, Asian, and LGBTQ+ markets.

Despite certain political attacks on DEI initiatives (and even the very concept of diversity as a society’s strength), pros know that authentically inclusive marketing is a major key to success in today’s world; ignoring BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities means leaving money on the table in addition to simply being immoral. 

Multicultural and inclusive segments, though, have a keen sense of when they’re being pandered to, or being tokenized. Approaching your multicultural and inclusive marketing from a place of authenticity is therefore an imperative if you want to have an actual impact.

The two pillars of authenticity are representation and inclusive language. Representation is the “easy” part—language, though, changes over time, and terms that were used as recently as 10 years ago can be seen as offensive today. So AIMM brought together an expert panel from its DEIB track to give their input on this up-to-date snapshot of where inclusive language stands and how you can use it to authentically connect with every segment of your audience, whether they be immigrants, indigenous, LGBTQ+, or people with disabilities.

AIMM has also launched an ad campaign to support their aim (no pun intended) of rallying our industry around authentic, impactful DEI. The #SeeAll campaign, which is the centerpiece of AIMM’s 2023 Media “Growthfronts” initiative, encourages members to invest in diverse media. 

By investing in diverse media and using the inclusive language that diverse segments see as authentic, we can finally ensure we see all—races, ethnicities, sexualities, genders, ages, and abilities. Representing and speaking to the entire spectacular array of humanity is a win for all.