SAN FRANCISCO — A singer croons in Farsi while musicians strum their instruments before an audience of families gathered in a park for an Iranian holiday feast. A banner looms over the crowd wishing them all a happy Norooz — the Persian New Year — from Lufthansa, the German airline.

Such scenes are becoming part of the marketing landscape as global companies look beyond Cinco de Mayo and Chinese New Year in their efforts to reach immigrant consumers that might miss a more mainstream message.

Just as Norooz offers firms a window into an untapped community, so too does the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, or Malanka, when Ukrainians celebrate the coming of spring.

"You can reach any community, any population, any small target group with the right expertise, the right media resources," said Givi Topchishvili, chief executive of New York-based Global Advertising Strategies, which helps develop niche ethnic markets for Lufthansa and other corporate clients.

By working with advertising consultants who understand a group's unique values and spending habits, he said, firms aim to deliver a relevant message at the right time, in the right place, in the right language.

"You can be effective not only with larger communities, like the Latino community," he said. "You can reach the Polish community in Chicago or the Greeks in New York."

Ten years ago, advertisers did target broad groups such as Hispanics and Asians, said Greg Anthony, senior vice president of Alloy Access, the multicultural division of the marketing firm Alloy Inc. But today's clients want to go deeper, beyond such broad descriptions, and reach the more than 35 million foreign-born residents in the U.S. who hail from more than 400 countries, according to the U.S. Census.

"Anytime you can get more specific and more targeted, the better your campaign will be," he said. "We'd love for it to stay easy, but it won't."

MoneyGram International Inc., a company that allows customers to wire money around the world, used International Women's Day on March 8 to reach out to Russians, Armenians, and other immigrants from countries that celebrate the blend of Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. Moneygram representatives fanned out into neighborhoods handing out carnations, a flower symbolizing admiration and devotion in those cultures, and discussing the company's products in relevant languages.

"Even though you're not in your country of origin, you can celebrate, and we can help you send money to your loved women," said Anna Abelson, the company's global advertising account manager. MoneyGram is presented as "a means of sending that gift."

Lufthansa tried ethnicity-specific advertising in the United States to promote its online booking system, www.weflyhome.com, which was created with immigrants in mind.

The strategy included sponsoring events around Norooz, which falls in late March. Last year, in California, Lufthansa raffled tickets to Iran and brought singers and musicians to parks, where Iranians traditionally gather to celebrate the New Year with food and music.

This is where specialists with detailed knowledge of an ethnic group's traditions and tastes come in, said Tru Pettigrew, president of Alloy Access.

"It's really about understanding the culture and the lifestyle, and seeing the intersection point with the brand," Pettigrew said.

Depending on the ethnic group being targeted, a campaign might send Alloy Access teams to boxing gyms or soccer fields, nightclubs or hair salons.

"It's about letting brands immerse themselves in the community in a natural way," he said.

The federal government also has an interest in reaching certain ethnic groups, especially since the Sept. 11 attacks increased the need for military and intelligence recruits who speak Arabic and other Middle Eastern languages, said Mostapha Saout, president of the Alexandria, Va.-based Allied Media Corp.

"They're aware there are huge swaths of the market they're not communicating with, and they're not able to attract talent from these markets," Saout said.

Allied Media staged campaigns in Arab-language broadcast media for the Army linguist program, which seeks to recruit and train translators. They focused on Ramadan, a month when Muslims pray, fast and celebrate with family, and the World Cup, which is wildly popular with soccer-loving Middle Easterners.

The response — particularly to ads aired during soccer broadcasts — exceeded expectations, bringing in more recruits than hoped for, said Jalal Sayed, Allied Media's marketing strategist.