In this episode of Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast, titled, The Future Is Multicultural: How Inclusive Marketing Fuels Revenue Growth, Kerry Curran sits down with Dennis from Sertify to tackle a topic too many executives still overlook: the direct link between inclusive marketing and bottom-line revenue.

With 70% of U.S. consumers preferring to buy from brands that reflect their values—and a multicultural majority already emerging in the under-35 demographic—this isn’t just a social conversation. It’s a business imperative.

Dennis breaks down:

Why inclusive marketing isn’t just ethical—it’s profitable

The hard data behind shifting demographics and consumer behavior

How brands can identify and invest in diverse-owned media partners

What readiness looks like to scale inclusive marketing across affiliate, programmatic, and influencer ecosystems

If you're a brand leader serious about long-term growth, you can’t afford to ignore the multicultural future. Tune in for the insights and strategies to start making inclusive marketing a core part of your revenue plan.

Podcast transcript

Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:01.294)

Welcome, Dennis. Please introduce yourself and share a bit about your background and expertise.

Dennis Tze (00:08.891)
Sure. Thanks a lot, Kerry, for having me. I'm excited to talk about driving growth in multicultural marketing. Let’s start by discussing the concept of diversity within that context. Some people now see it as a newly taboo word. I'd love to help dispel some of those myths and share some data-based insights—because that's my background: data-driven marketing.

Since diversity is really about people, let me give you a quick personal background—where I started and how I built this business. I identify as a first-generation Asian American. I was born in Boston—Beantown!—I think you're nearby. But I grew up in Canada. My dad came over from China and worked in a nickel mine, ultimately using that money to become a pediatric endocrinologist. My mom, also Chinese, was the first woman pediatric dentist to graduate from her college. So with that kind of background, the concept of diversity is deeply meaningful to me. I try to model some of what they’ve achieved.

Professionally, I was at American Express for 12 years, which really helped shape my views. I had the chance to work with some incredible women leaders, and I also ran the Asian ERG group back in the ’90s—so ERGs have existed for decades. I also led multicultural marketing efforts there.

After AmEx, I founded and exited a number of VC-backed businesses as a data-driven marketer. All of that experience led me to co-found Sertify. What we do is identify and validate diverse-owned businesses for corporations. I saw a huge opportunity and need for companies to support and drive performance through those partnerships. That’s what led me to this work.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (02:35.818)
Excellent. Thank you, Dennis, for sharing your background and for highlighting why it’s so important that we take an inclusive approach to diversity—not just in who we market to, but how we integrate it across all aspects of our business strategy and planning. We know it's a challenging time to talk about diversity—whether it's based on background, gender, identity, or family heritage. Can you share some facts about the current state of our population and why it’s so important for businesses to take an inclusive approach?

Dennis Tze (03:31.602)
Absolutely. I’m a data geek, so I’ll throw out some facts and let people decide what to do with them.

First: Did you know that in 2023, the U.S. population under 35 became a multicultural majority? By 2042, it’s projected the entire U.S. population will be a multicultural majority.

Second: 70% of U.S. consumers prefer to buy from companies that reflect their values and beliefs—whatever those may be.

Third: Even from my time running small businesses and at AmEx, I didn’t realize that 70% of small businesses are diverse-owned—whether that’s by gender, race, veteran status, or disability. And small businesses contribute 46% of U.S. GDP. So, essentially, our economy is powered by diverse-owned small businesses.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (05:11.554)
Yes—and we are a better country for it. There’s strength in diversity—of background, thought, passion, and experience. It's essential for so many reasons. In the last five years or so, we saw a wave of corporate diversity commitments, especially around media and advertising spend. Can you talk more about that?

Dennis Tze (06:01.05)
Absolutely. A lot of companies started focusing more on supplier diversity, especially post-2020. Many made public commitments to spend 5% of their media budgets with diverse-owned businesses.

Lately, there have been questions—especially post-election—about whether companies are pulling back. But here are the facts: 97% of Fortune 500 companies still list DEI commitments on their websites. In a survey of 50 chief diversity officers at those companies, 86% said their investment would stay the same or increase this year. In a larger study of 1,000 companies, the results were similar: more than half said budgets would remain the same, and about a quarter said they would increase.

Yes, some companies are repositioning their language—using terms like “inclusive” instead of “diverse”—but they’re still investing because it makes clear business sense.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (07:58.06)
Exactly—and that’s the point. Brands aren't doing this just for cultural or social reasons—it’s also a smart business move. Let’s talk about that. Can you share more about the buying power of diverse audiences and the growing demand for diverse-owned partnerships?

Dennis Tze (08:59.218)
Definitely. I could list a dozen stats—and if anyone wants them, feel free to reach out. We’ve got pages of them. 

Here’s a personal example: My son recently asked, “Why aren’t you taking a green Uber instead of a regular one? It’s the same cost and supports the environment.” Then my daughter pointed out the local Hispanic woman-owned shop and suggested we support her instead of ordering from Amazon.

There’s growing consumer demand to buy with intention. But the challenge is discovering diverse-owned businesses at scale—especially in the mid- and long-tail of display, programmatic, or influencer marketing.

There are only about 200 media companies officially certified by organizations like WBENC and NGLCC. A few thousand more are self-identified. But when corporations want to allocate spend, that’s a small pool—far fewer than the tens of thousands or millions of businesses that may qualify.

Our goal at Sertify is to validate and identify those mid- and long-tail businesses so brands can confidently allocate more spend to them. And the performance is often strong—because there's usually a high audience correlation. My media properties may skew more Asian, while yours may attract more women. That relevance drives results.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (11:29.966)
Excellent. So how are you helping brands maximize this opportunity?

Dennis Tze (11:40.666)
We work across ecosystems—affiliate, performance, display, programmatic, influencer. The first challenge is verification. For example, if Revenue Boost is women-owned, and a brand wants to support women-owned businesses during Women’s History Month, we can verify that in under five minutes.

You’d upload a few documents—maybe a driver’s license—and we’d confirm ownership and share it with our corporate partners. That gives them confidence in supporting your business.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (12:57.804)
Yes—and I know from our earlier conversations that traditional certification can require dozens of documents and take months. That complexity discourages small businesses from applying—or leads to unverified self-identification, which brands may not be able to trust.

Dennis Tze (13:44.114)
Exactly. We view our process as a stepping stone—not a replacement for traditional certifications, but a faster way to build trust. When brands want to spend with creators or small publishers, this kind of validation is perfect.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (14:35.084)
Especially in the fast-moving creator space, where verification helps brands connect more intentionally with audiences.

Dennis Tze (15:09.69)
Yes, and depending on the channel—display, affiliate, influencer—we can work directly with platforms or via SSPs and DSPs. We've partnered with ad tech providers and now have five times more certified publishers than before. Brands can access this supply through our marketplace or directly via our partners.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (16:24.342)
That’s such a smart and scalable approach.

Dennis Tze (16:34.694)
Exactly. It’s about making it easy. Too many companies still rely on manual research—checking websites, hiring interns. That’s not scalable. We simplify the process—just send us your DSP seat ID, and we’ll set up the deals. It’s fast and efficient for both advertisers and publishers.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (17:22.766)
Right—and that unlocks smarter, more aligned creative messaging too. When marketers connect with audiences more intentionally, they strengthen brand relationships and build long-term loyalty.

Dennis Tze (18:17.848)
Totally. This is just another layer of segmentation. We’ve done age, geo, gender for years. Diversity is simply another meaningful attribute to personalize campaigns and drive performance.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (18:59.948)
It’s such a smart solution—for brands and for the diverse businesses they support. For anyone listening who wants to get started, what do they need in place?

Dennis Tze (19:28.9)
If you're an advertiser or agency buying programmatic or display, you can work through us or our partners. Just send us your DSP seat ID and define your focus—women-owned, BIPOC, veteran-owned, etc.—and we’ll take care of the rest.

If you’re a publisher or platform, we can get you certified in five minutes. We can also add a data layer to your ecosystem to enable targeting. There are many use cases—whether you're trying to diversify your vendor pool, your influencer network, or your creative supply chain.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (20:54.892)
Excellent. This is such valuable insight for any marketer or brand leader looking to expand their reach and deepen audience connections. Thank you for sharing all of this today.

Dennis Tze (21:11.302)
Absolutely. And if anyone wants to connect, I’m at [email protected]—that’s Dennis with an S at the beginning of Sertify: S-E-R-T-I-F-Y dot I-O. Happy to share stats or answer any questions.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (21:34.73)
Perfect. We’ll include that in the show notes as well. Thank you again for your time and for the important work you're doing to expand audience access and empower underrepresented businesses.

Dennis Tze (21:53.842)
Thank you. And to everyone out there doing the work—keep at it. Persevere, and keep driving what’s good for business.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (22:07.786)
Absolutely. Thanks again, Dennis. Take care.

Thanks for tuning in to Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast. I hope today’s conversation sparked some new ideas and challenged the way you think about multicultural marketing and increasing diversity across your publisher base.

If you're serious about turning marketing into a true revenue engine, this is just the beginning. We've got more insightful conversations, expert guests, and actionable strategies coming your way. So search for us in your favorite podcast directory and hit subscribe.

And hey—if this episode gave you value, please share it with a colleague or leave a quick review. It helps more revenue-minded leaders like you find our show.

Until next time, I'm Kerry Curran, helping you connect marketing to growth—one episode at a time. See you soon.