When Dana Chryst, chief executive officer of the Lancaster-based Jay Group, gave the opening address at the Pennsylvania Business Diversity Works Conference in Hershey on Sept. 4, she sounded a theme that would resonate through the rest of the day.

"Diversity is not merely an exercise of identifying target demographics," she said to the nearly 300 attendees gathered at the Hershey Lodge.

Rather, it is a matter of truly understanding the audiences for one's offerings.

DIVERSITY MATTERS
A Special Report

Exploring efforts to build a culture of inclusion that reflects our community.

• Strengthening diversity adds multiple perspectives to corporate issues
• Experience guides diversity officer's efforts to go beyond traditional programs
• City's outreach efforts build for the future
• Multicultural Arts Initiative's new director broadens perspectives
• Commentary: Benefits of diversity outweigh the fears it evokes
• Understanding is key to marketing to different demographics
• Bridging generation gaps brings more folks into the fold
• State forced to confront growing Latino population
• White men are often missing from discussions about diversity (with video)
• Commentary: Companies benefit by developing more inclusive work environments

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As an example of a company not understanding its audiences deeply enough, she cited the "Women of the World" marketing campaign conducted by diamond retailer De Beers in 2003. The campaign encouraged professional women with incomes of $100,000 or more to buy themselves diamond rings by contrasting the right hand and the left hand: "Your left hand represents love and commitment; your right hand stands for self-expression and independence … Women of the world, raise your right hands."

On the, um, one hand, the campaign was a huge success, boosting DeBeer's sales by 50 percent in its first quarter. On the other, it brought criticism from women's advocacy groups that felt it slighted single women. It also was poorly received by women in parts of the world where wedding bands are worn on the right hand.

Ms. Chryst used the campaign as a cautionary tale to warn against a company falling so much in love with its own marketing campaign that it decides, "even if we do tick off various parts of the group we're selling to, so be it."

She contrasted that with Philadelphia's campaign to attract gay tourists.

In November 2003, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. launched a three-year campaign aimed at the gay and lesbian tourism market, valued at $54.6 billion.

Prior to the campaign, the agency commissioned a research study to establish a demographic profile of a potential gay visitor. Among other things, the study revealed that the typical gay visitor is in a committed relationship, has a household income above $75,000 a year, and would spend between $300 and $500 during a two-night trip to the city.

With data in hand, the marketing group crafted a campaign with the theme, "Philadelphia. Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay."

The time, effort and money spent on detailed research of the gay tourism market paid off.

Within 18 months, a second study showed that spending by gay visitors to the city had soared by 30 percent, meaning that every dollar spent on the campaign had helped to generate $153 in visitor spending.

Women and the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered communities are both powerful markets. Ms. Chryst noted that women account for 85 percent of consumer purchases and the revenues of woman-owned businesses in the United States are greater than those of the Fortune 500 combined. And GLBT people have some $660 billion in disposable income, with 76 percent of them earning more than the national average of $40,000 a year.

Any business that wants to sell to these groups of consumers must make a top-notch effort to "understand how to speak to a diverse group," Ms. Chryst said, an effort that requires "getting to know your market inside and out."