As a veteran marketing professional Rekha Gibbons, the President of Raare Diversity, has witnessed 3 decades of Marketing evolution. From traditional media to the emergence of the Internet, to social media.
Rekha strongly believes that each breakthrough brought a new contribution. The Internet gave us online Lead Generation and eCommerce. Social Media gave birth to the Influencer and Word of Mouth Marketing.
In this new era of Digital Renaissance, diversity & inclusion impacted Rekha the most, so she launched Raare Diversity, a marketing agency that helps brands engage through the lens of Culture, Gender & Generation. Raare Diversity is a subsidiary of Raare Solutions, a CRM Marketing agency specializing in customer journeys and engagement. The company expands those journeys by mining diverse audiences so brands can engage authentically.
The Present Industrial Scenario
According to the US Census Bureau, by the year 2050, the minority population of America will become the majority. The historical white majority will be surpassed by minority segments of Black, Hispanic, Asian and other multiracial groups. These minority segments have spending power of over $3 trillion dollars. Additionally, the population older than 65 years old will double. Brands who realize this paradigm shift can seize massive opportunities to engage with the “new face” of the American consumer.
So it’s not all justice and altruism. There’s a financial benefit to brands who target these markets correctly. Vice versa, diverse markets shape and evolve the economic cycle of product and consumer goods advancement.
Best-in-class Services Offered
Raare Diversity mines diverse, hard to find audiences for brands to engage, acquire & retain consumers. Their hallmark is discovering hidden consumer audiences. They have excelled at doing this for Automotive, Travel, Financial Services and Healthcare. And now the company brings its solutions to the forefront of the diversity and inclusion space. From focus groups to product testing, from increasing event attendance to recruiting for clinical trials, Raare Diversity mines audiences essential to diversity in the life science and product testing communities.
The second service the company provides is to flip the Customer journey into a Cultural journey. The company creates campaigns based on demographic and psychographic indicators. This means the consumer is communicated with in the language, channel and manner they prefer. Omni channel delivery means the consumer can receive communications from a traditional print mailer, email, text, smartphone or social channel.
Its third service is helping brands engage respectfully and authentically with audiences by using the lens of culture, gender and generation. Based on a brand’s identified audience, they overlay dimensions that create credibility and trust in an authentic, respectful, personalized voice unique to that target audience with messaging that resonates on an emotional level.
The emergence of Raare Diversity has shifted its focus from serving luxury and automotive brands to the forefront of the diversity and inclusion space: Life Sciences. Now the company brings solutions to include, elevate and ultimately service under-served communities in Healthcare.
Notable Milestones Achieved
As Chief Operating Officer since 2016, Rekha has proudly promoted Raare Solutions, a CRM Marketing Agency and its CEO, Esther Poulsen as an award-winning woman-owned business. The company garnered awards such as: INC5000, NJ Best Places to Work, NJBiz Fast50, Top Multichannel Marketing Solutions Provider and Top Marketing Automation Consulting Companies.
She has also created Strategies to mitigate COVID disruption: Inventory shortage, Direct to Consumer Purchasing, Retention & Loyalty strategies.
In 2021, in the midst of COVID, social justice and focus on diversity & inclusion in the workplace, Rekha realized she had a personal story to tell about cultural assimilation in America. That motivated her to create a new business arm called Multi-Dimensional Marketing which gave her the opportunity to evangelize and strategize the opportunity for brands to tap into the $3 trillion multi-cultural market.
In addition to the societal angle, Multi-Dimensional Marketing gives brands a leg up on the substantial spending power of minorities in America. Minorities have money to spend and the brands that recognize this and engage with them genuinely will edge out brands that don’t seize this opportunity.
As an advocate and evangelist for Multidimensional Marketing, Rekha is sought after to speak at global conferences, lecture at Universities, appear on podcasts & videos, author articles and as a guest speaker on forums.
The Remarkable Moment
Being recognized as a change agent for multi-dimensional marketing. Rekha has been nominated for Female Disrupter and Marketing Catalyst awards, which thrills her.
” As a woman and an immigrant, I’ve been mis-marketed my entire life. I am passionate about evangelizing the richness of cultural heritage and how it impacts America through fashion, music, cuisine, technology, and art“, she says.
Rekha doesn’t want to just help brands market to Multi-dimensional audiences. She is more committed to creating awareness of the unique differences in culture, gender and generation, honoring the road to assimilation into the American fabric. It takes time to emerge into public perception and then into acceptance. And it takes respect and authenticity to understand and engage with diverse consumers. Rekha believes that it feels like everything she has done has brought her to this point in my life. The history, education, the experiences – monumental and heart-breaking have opened the door for her as a cultural evangelist.
Looking forward to a Bright Future
” I’ve always been a writer, along with that comes telling stories. I’d like to optimize my impact by speaking to larger audiences. Brands and businesses – large and small need harmony and engagement with the different cultures, genders & generational mix in their workforce. As a matter of fact, this holds the key to company success. I welcome the opportunity to educate businesses on achieving company cultural harmony“, says Rekha when asked about her future plans.
For the past 3 years Rekha has been speaking at Universities and in classrooms. Shaping the Gen Z generation is vital for its present and future. ” If I can offer wisdom, share personal and professional lessons, and inspire them – that’s a huge victory. Zoomers seek mentorship, as a matter of fact, they crave it! Two-thirds of Zoomers want to become entrepreneurs. They might have the technology to achieve this goal, but they can learn from older generations how to make that dream a reality“, says Rekha.
Golden Piece of Advice for Budding Entrepreneurs
Rekha shares 3 pieces of straightforward advice to the budding entrepreneurs in the industry.
1. Understand your unique gifts. Understand what distinguishes you from everyone else. Nobody on this planet has your DNA, your history, your experiences. It’s your duty to be you and no one else. No one else can create what you can. The Oracle at Delphi says: Know Thyself. And it’s so true, knowing yourself and your singular gifts means honoring your treasure. Imagine if Steve Jobs didn’t persevere with his dream of a handheld phone that would become the bestselling product of all time.
2. Listen to those crazy ideas in your head. From those fragments, gold will develop. Golden ideas that can transform into an impactful, lucrative enterprise. And the best part is nobody can dream them like you. If gives you the edge on differentiating your product or service.
3. Align yourself with successful winners. Join an organization with high performing, financially profitable entrepreneurs and learn from them. Seek mentorship from those you admire. Read about them, connect with them. Network with them. Learn from them.
Rekha’s Driving Force
Rekha’s main driving force is to constantly seek peak experiences. Abraham Maslow created the theory of Self Actualization as the pyramid of human development and fulfillment. On that journey to fulfillment Rekha encounters seminal moments, “Peaks” in her experiences. She constantly strives for peak moments.
“It’s not enough to speak to an audience of thousands. It’s not enough to run a marathon or write a book. Once you achieve those goals, I look to the next mountain top. That is what motivates me. Finishing one extraordinary adventure and finding the next“, she states finally.
