In this op-ed, Ronnie Navani, founder & CEO of Multicultural Outdoor (MCO), challenges the marketing industry’s long-standing reliance on translation as a shortcut to engaging multicultural Australia. He argues that translation alone – without cultural context, strategic placement, and genuine connection – fails to build trust or deliver ROI. Drawing on his own experience and insights from MCO, Navani explores why reaching multicultural audiences requires more than words: it requires presence in the spaces they live, work, and shop, and messaging that truly reflects their communities and lived experiences.
For years, multicultural marketing in Australia has defaulted to a simple solution: translation.
Job done. Box ticked.
But here’s something a little uncomfortable: translation without context is not inclusion. It’s administration. Not only that, and this is where it gets uncomfortable; it doesn’t actually deliver ROI.
Did the creative get looked at for cultural nuance? Did the media strategy get adjusted to reach multicultural audiences? Did AI translate the ad?
If we’re serious about engaging multicultural Australia, we need to evaluate whether translation has become a convenient shortcut rather than a genuine strategy.
The Human Reality We Can’t Ignore
As of 2025, 31.5 per cent of Australians were born overseas (ABS data 2021). That means nearly one in three of our neighbours was born overseas. That’s not a niche audience. That’s modern Australia.
For millions of Australians, the outside world feels like it’s written for someone else. They don’t see themselves represented in the media.
When they see messaging that doesn’t reflect their language, their community or their lived experience, it reinforces distance and distrust.
But when they encounter a message in-language, with culturally nuanced creative, in a place they know and trust – their local grocer, community hub, shopping strip – it does something far more powerful than “inform.” It signals: You are seen. You belong here. Your needs matter.
That is the beginning of trust and connection.
The Invisibility Gap
The industry assumes everyone is online. That digital equals reach. That impressions equal impact.
But many migrants don’t live in a world of infinite scroll and algorithmic targeting. They gather in familiar spaces that replicate their country, food and people of origin.
I reflect on when I migrated to Australia in 2000, my grandmother came out with us from India, and she consistently asked me to drive her a few suburbs over to the local Indian store. One day I asked her why she couldn’t get all her shopping in one day, and she
replied; ‘it’s not just about the shopping, its about hearing news from back home and gossiping.’ That has sat with me since and guided building the MCO network.
Right now, we are in the middle of what we at MCO are calling the Invisibility Gap.
On one side, brands are investing heavily in digital media, battling digital fatigue and the “death-scroll.” On the other: people who see nothing that speaks to them.
For these Australians, physical presence isn’t old-fashioned. It’s foundational.
In their ‘Live, Work, Shop’ zones, visibility equals legitimacy. If a message shows up in trusted physical spaces, it carries weight. If it doesn’t, it may as well not exist.
The Translation Trap
Let me ask a question.
If you translate a campaign but place it where your audience never goes, did the message ever really exist?
Too often, multicultural strategy becomes a checkbox exercise:
- Translate the copy
- Swap the talent
- Publish it in the same channels
- Move on
But translation without placement is like a tree falling in an empty forest. It might technically make a sound. But no one hears it.
If you’re spending the money to translate, why not invest the same strategic thinking into placing that message where trust already exists?
Because in a fragmented media landscape, reach is no longer the primary constraint.
Focused relevance
Reaching multicultural audiences isn’t a matter of shouting louder, it’s about showing up in the right places, in the right way. Real communication happens where people already feel seen and understood.
Trust grows when messages meet audiences in contexts that respect their values, reflect their realities, and connect with their communities. When that alignment happens, when context, connection, and cultural relevance come together, people let their guard down. They stop filtering messages out and start letting them in.
Across the industry, we’re seeing campaigns that succeed when placement reflects lived experience. From financial services brands supporting migrant remittance journeys, to major Australian institutions activating within multicultural retail environments. When placement reflects lived experience, engagement is not forced. It’s natural.
Why Out-of-Home Matters More Than Ever
Out-of-home in Australia has grown from $579 million in 2014 to $1.4 billion in 2025. The category’s growth reflects something simple: physical presence still matters.
In-language OOH doesn’t just deliver impressions. It delivers inclusion. It says, clearly and confidently: This message is for you.
And in multicultural retail environments, those screens don’t just carry brand campaigns. They carry community announcements. Local promotions. Messages from store owners. They are woven into the rhythm of daily life. That level of trust is something digital cannot replicate.
There is significant opportunity for brands to better utilise multicultural physical environments. It is our responsibility to leverage that opportunity. Because this is bigger than media inventory. It’s about making sure one-third of Australians don’t feel like guests in their own country’s communications ecosystem.
From Reach to Connection
The question for brands isn’t whether they should translate more.
It’s this: are you prepared to truly show up where multicultural Australia already lives, works and shops?
Because connection goes beyond translation.
It’s built through focused presence.
