Last week, construction workers of Warmington Homes California-a housing company based in the San Francisco Bay Area-held off just before they were poised to pour concrete into the foundation of the house they were building in Gilroy, San Jose. Once the Indian family, who had paid for the home, placed the coins in the foundation base, the workers resumed their construction (without batting an eyelid).

Not surprising really. The workers, just like the sales team and even the office receptionists, have been put through a three-year-old cultural training programme that sensitise them to diverse cultures- including Indian Americans, the latest to join the fray for owning million-dollar homes. As a result, it is all in a day's work. "Since we are in the Bay Area, we have a diverse client base. The demographics are changing every day and we have to address cultures of people buying our homes," says Cheryl O'Connor, Vice President (Sales and Marketing) at Warmington.

The housing company is not alone. Elsewhere (Culver City) in California itself, hoardings put up by Verizon-the country's second largest telecom carrier-uses a unique catchline to hook desis. One of them reads: "A ticket to a Bollywood movie costs more than a 20-minute call to New Delhi," while the other goes: "A small jar of chutney costs more than a 10-minute call to Delhi."

"Many ethnic groups prefer speaking their home language, and are hungry for music and culture from their country of origin. We want to make an emotional connection with them" Nusrat Durrani General Manager/MTV World

This phenomena, maybe not in the exact form, is playing out in spirit across America as big ticket corporates come to terms with the spending potential of the Indian American community. Put simply, money talks. The 2000 us census showed that as per classification by race, Indian Americans (numbering about 1.85 million) were the most endowed segment. Median personal income for Asian-Indians at $26,000 (Rs 11,44,000) is the highest, with whites coming in second at $23,640 (Rs 10,40,160). Similarly, for median family income, Asian Indians were assessed at $69,470 (Rs 30,56,680) as compared to whites who came in a distant second once again at $48,500 (Rs 21,34,000).

If they are ahead in economic parameters, then the contrast is even more compelling when one shifts to socio-vital stats. Almost 65 per cent possess a college degree (25 per cent for whites), 75 per cent are married (65 per cent), 57 per cent are house owners (78 per cent) and 52 per cent occupy skilled jobs (21 per cent). Taken along with other ethnic Asian groups, they are emerging as a potent and hitherto unexplored market segment in the US.

Any doubts should be dispelled by the 2003 survey by Polk Asian Automotive Survey of new car registrations, which shows that Asian Americans represent over 14 per cent of Toyota's business and 16 per cent of Mercedes Benz's business in Southern California. Nationwide, Asian Americans purchased or leased approximately 352,000 vehicles in 2003. One out of every four cars sold to Asian Americans is sold in Southern California. The most popular manufacturers in 2003 for Southern California Asians include, in order, Toyota, Honda, Mercedes Benz, Lexus, BMW, Ford, Nissan, Acura, Chevrolet and Infiniti.

It is not surprising then that every echelon of corporate America, and not just housing, is chasing this dream demographic group. For some companies, the successful targeting of this niche group has actually become the guiding marketing mantra for them in polyglot America.

Take for example, Merrill Lynch. The financial services behemoth started out in April 2002 targeting the South Asian community as potential clients. In no time, the strategy started paying dividends and subsequently translated to more ethnic groups. It launched a group for Hispanics (June 2002), African Americans (January 2003) and Women (January 2003), Native American (August 2004). Additionally, in the New York metro area, it launched services directed at the community of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender in June 2003.

"Since we are in the Bay Area, we have a diverse client base. The demographics are changing every day and we have to address cultures of people buying our homes" Cheryl O'Connor Vice President (Sales and Marketing)/Warmington-Homes California

Jyoti Chopra, Head of Business Strategy for the multicultural and diversified business development group at Merrill Lynch, reveals that the South Asian group was formed in October 2001 and launched nine months later. "No doubt, the South Asian market was the catalyst if you will. The cornerstone of our subsequent business strategy was based on the success and the efforts around the South Asian market."

Similarly, MTV surprised many by announcing the launch-on Christmas eve last year-of a customised music channel to specifically target the Asian community in the us. The first of the blocks would be MTV Desi, to be followed by MTV China and MTV Korea. In its official statement, the music company argued that it was stepping in to fill what it perceived to be a gap in music programming catering to the ethnic minorities.

Put another way, MTV was merely acknowledging the new demographic truth. The phenomena of multicultural marketing-a distinct message for each ethnic market as opposed to the catch-all marketing targeted at the mainstream.

In the case of MTV, like most others, to understand the market better they opted for an ethnic person to head the division. Nusrat Durrani, who was born and raised in Lucknow, had been working with MTV in New York for the last nine years, when he was sounded out for the new assignment. The 44-year-old did not hesitate. "Many of these ethnic groups prefer speaking their home language, and are hungry for music and culture from their country of origin. We want to make an emotional connection with them," says Durrani.

Underlying these arguments is the realisation that the US is seeing yet another transformation in its demographic history. With increased immigration and the rapid onset of globalisation, the country is seeing an erosion of the two central characteristics-English being the unchallenged form of communication and Christianity the binding religion-that had ensured a sense of homogeneity all these years. The 2000 census revealed that 20 per cent of the 277 million Americans were foreign born and consequently had a different cultural heritage. As the nation has moved towards a more multicultural environment, the traditional notion of assimilation of ethnic minorities into the mainstream has undergone a drastic transformation.

"The South Asian market was the catalyst if you will. The cornerstone of our subsequent business strategy was based on the success and the efforts around the South Asian market" Jyoti Chopra Head of Business Strategy, Multicultural and Diversified Business Development Group/Merrill Lynch

They are no longer being required to shed their ethnic lineages to be part and parcel of the mainstream. "The idea of transnationalism," writes Richard Alba and Victor Nee in Remaking the American Mainstream (Harvard University Press, 2004), "emphasises the prospects for achieving an almost seamless connection between workaday lives in America and the origin society through a web of border-spanning cultural, social and economic ties."

This could not be more true for the Indian American community. Of the 1.85 million estimated in the 2000 census, slightly over 1 million were foreign born. With the emergence of information technology and the rapid spread of globalisation, the relationship with the home country has become a two-way street and a real-time phenomena.

To American companies-most of whom have multinational stakes-it is in their interest to preserve these ethnic conclaves as they provide them a perfect entry point into the country of origin. In this case, India is considered by most analysts as the second most important investment destination in the next decade. Like MTV, Mercedes, Toyota, New York Life, Citibank and Merrill Lynch have active operations in India.

The future direction of the Merrill strategy clearly alludes to this.

Says Chopra, "In the future we will be focussing on broader and deeper market penetration. That is, geographically targeting more territories. We have already begun work in other South Asian markets-in London for example. And in May this year my department will be hosting a symposium of Merrill's global financial advisors. This is the first time we would be hosting such an event."

In the final analysis, it is clear that due to a fortuitous twist of circumstances, India and Indian Americans find themselves the focus of transnational companies. What life in the limelight does to them institutionally, culturally and demographically, will only be told in the years ahead.