The Office of National Statistics predicted that the population would exceed 70m by 2029*.  Another study by University of Leeds reveals that UK’s ethnic minority numbers will rise to 35% by 2025, and the population will reach nearly 78 million*.

According to a recent study from King’s College, compiled by professor Chris Hamnett, 53% of the secondary pupils in the capital are multicultural.  The compelling findings reveal that in every borough of London there are more than 50% of pupils of ethnic backgrounds *.  It shows that London has got minority–dominated secondary school system. This is partially because, most of the immigrants that come to UK, particularly the recent ones are more likely to be of child-bearing age, which results the baby boom in  the UK. It is already obvious that multi-cultural communities will increasingly become visible and more influential.

All the researches demonstrate, that targeting ethnic minority groups can be an immensely profitable practice, however the UK brands and companies are quite slow to respond. During the recession, the marketers had to work even harder and receive far more for a penny, but they are still missing out an opportunity to reach ethnic groups.

If companies and brands cannot communicate effectively to these changing demographics, soon they will find themselves losing market share. When saying ethnic groups most people understand that as just non–white population, but ethnic communities includes also those from Europe, Eastern Europe, India, Middle East, Africa, China etc. In the times of financial hardship it is not forgivable to miss out these opportunities.

It is one of the joys of London offering cosmopolitan and multi-faith experience, with more than 300 languages spoken for which it is crowned as ‘capital of the world’. If 42% of London is considered to have ethnic background it means most of the marketing budgets are targeting only 58% of the population, the mainstream. Is this something the brands can still afford?

The CEO of Mediareach Advertising Agency Saad Saraf said, “In campaign planning and management it is vital to have the right insights on the specific ethnic groups which most of the mainstream marketing and advertising agencies can not offer. The understanding of the culture, religion, and psychology, spending habits has to be taken into consideration when planning a marketing campaign. We have been in this industry for a very long time, and I see huge opportunities that the companies miss out as they try to talk to ethnic groups through the mainstream marketing approaches”.

Marketing messages can bring maximum return on investment when advertisers speak to the audience with the messages they can rela