NEW YORK CITY (Mediaweek) March 3, 2008 — It might seem at first blush that a scattershot approach is the most effective. But instead of carpet bombing, veteran Hispanic shops suggest another metaphor: weaving a delicate tapestry. That's because far from being a monolith, Latinos are a diverse group with a myriad of ethnicities, voices and economic groups, and so is the marketing plan to reach and connect with them, veterans say. Good examples of this are two very disparate campaigns from one agency, Conill Advertising, New York, on behalf of two very different car brands, Toyota's full-size Tundra pick-up truck and Lexus. Tundra is a high-volume seller among Hispanic males in the Southwest who are Mexican immigrants characterized as Jefes, local heroes who are considered pillars of strength in their communities. To reach that consumer, Conill devised a plan that would rely on El Jefe's penchant for regional Mexican music and the national Mexican sport of charreadas (rodeos) to prove the Tundra is as tough as the guy who gets behind the wheel.
"Because the numbers were so high in this particular cultural group, we saw it as a phenomenal opportunity to be able to dig in deep into cultural heritage and to get into the charro culture and the 'Tundrazo charreadas,'" said Cynthia McFarlane, president, Latin America, at Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi and CEO/chairperson for Conill.
Tundra led an effort to give charreadas a domestic audience, paying homage to the consumers' Mexican rodeo tradition and launching Tundrazo Charreadas and a Tundrazo Music Tour, McFarlane said.
As a result of the campaign, which combined traditional tactics—such as TV and print—with the experiential strategy, the Tundra grew its market share and increased the number of registrations in key markets where Tundrazo events were held, Conill said.
Conill's push for another Toyota unit, Lexus, couldn't be more different. The agency sought to conquer the luxury market in Miami to reach affluent Hispanics, who are considered less acculturated but very wealthy and who appreciate art and culture.
With that in mind, the approach relied on TV for a more traditional product-focused message as well as experiential marketing and events centered on art and design to appeal to Hispanic Miamians.
For some perspective from the art world, Conill joined forces with local artists Hector Catá and Christian Duran, and asked them to create their view of "the pursuit of perfection in South Florida" with plugs here and there for Lexus.
The agency's collaboration with the artists resulted in a brightly displayed print campaign that had long-term placement in the lifestyle magazine, Ocean Drive en Español.
McFarlane says her shop has seen positive results with experiential marketing, which she considers the best way to reach sub-segments within the Hispanic culture.
"It allows you to cut very finely the audience you are trying to get to and reach them with more one-on-one marketing," McFarlane said. "When you go mass media, you have to cast a much wider net and you can't get as culturally or as sub-culturally specific."
In Miami, the Conill effort has helped to move Lexus from the fourth-ranked player in the luxury market to the leading vehicle during an 18-month period, McFarlane said.
Conill's vision of an intricate Hispanic audience target corresponds with a recent Nielsen PreView study out this month titled, Why Market to Hispanics? The report acknowledges the extreme diversity of the Latino market, concluding, "Bottom line, there is not one type of Hispanic consumer but many to market to."
The study suggests that marketers who successfully "dissect their Hispanic consumer base on a scale of acculturation" will be best positioned to reach their targets.
Veteran agencies and media execs concur that more culturally relevant content and messaging that addresses sub-segments of the Hispanic population is the best approach. Another component is crafting advertising and marketing messages that conform to the lives that Hispanics in 2008 actually live.
"That's what is taking us to the next generation of Hispanic marketing," said Alex López Negrete, president and CEO of Lopez Negrete Communications, Houston. "It forces you to really take a look at whether or not the work is truly 'in culture.'"
López Negrete has discovered this evolution in Hispanic marketing as he and his team work with clients Tyson Foods and Sonic Drive-In, developing creative for TV spots that target Latinos via media and with messaging that recognizes the dualities of their lives.
For instance, a TV spot for Tyson features a family that pays tribute in a campy song and dance number to their mom for serving them a home-cooked meal of Tyson's chicken that they all enjoy and spared her some kitchen-time, giving her the best of both worlds: preparing dinner for her family and using a product that is already cut, trimmed and ready to place in the skillet.
Similarly, a Sonic Drive-In ad conveys the easy-breezy convenience of pushing the call button to order when ready, which lets customers know there's no pressure to order immediately and they can do so at their leisure. When the order is served up car-side, the group is magically transported to a carefree beach.
López Negrete said developing Hispanic-targeted content for TV spots or a full campaign today means understanding the nuances of what and where Latinos are getting their advertising messages.
"There's a big chunk of this customer base who is consuming mun2, MTV Tr3s, maybe watching SíTV, then will bounce over to [ABC's] Ugly Betty, then tune into [CBS'] Cane and go back over to her novelas, so that's where the message has to be relevant and in culture," López Negrete said.
As a result, he says, the marketer's message will change.
"Rarely, now, if you have client who is committed to the segment, and a client who is ready to invest in the segment appropriately, you may have one overlying brand message that works for everybody," López Negrete said. "But when you start getting tactical and into promoting specific products, or specific lines of business, that's where one message may not work."
From the vantage point of the marketer/content provider, as is the case with ESPN Deportes, the idea of multitiered and segment marketing has a similar approach, though it also relies on such factors as regions of the country or ethnic-specific programming since the audience is largely male and is watching/listening in Spanish.
"In our space, which is sports fans in general, there are various sports that are more appealing to viewers in certain countries, so we have a broad landscape where we look to satisfy the needs of all sports fans," said Lino Garcia, general manager of ESPN Deportes.
Within the Hispanic viewing audience, Garcia pointed out, "There's the Mexican market and then there's the rest of the market, given the large percentage of the overall market that is Mexican or of Mexican descent."
The No. 1 sport among Mexican viewers is Mexican soccer, Garcia said, so they serve this audience by programming to them specifically while balancing that with programming for all of the various Latinos.
"We cut across ethnicity when we offer programming such as UEFA Champions League and we do the same thing with American sports," Garcia said. "But when we look at specific geographies and cultures, Mexican soccer, Dominican baseball and Winter League Baseball, which is more Caribbean, lends itself to more regionalized programming."
Ultimately, Garcia said the cable network's approach comes down to "finding the right mix of programming to appeal to a national audience, then segment that with programming that we know will have a regional appeal and that will cut across to serve the Hispanic's largest segment."
ESPN Deportes marketing director Maribel Viteri said the network takes the same approach with its marketing, utilizing a national multiplatform message that can be drilled down for use in local markets.
"We focus on going national with a lot of what we do," Viteri said, "But when we have an opportunity to push a campaign even further to a local market, we're able to reach the most local fan."
