Marketing to U.S. Hispanics isn’t some mysterious process that breaks all the rules taught on college campuses around the world for decades. To market to Hispanics, just start with the basic marketing model: a thorough situation assessment to understand the product you are marketing, the category, and the competitive and retail environments.
Next, make sure you have a deep understanding of the target consumer culled into meaningful strategic insights that will form the basis for your plan. Strategic insights give way to strategic pillars, which in turn give way to program tactics. ¡Eso es todo! A marketing plan.
But is the process for developing creative for the Hispanic market different in some way? Generating great creative is rooted in strategy, regardless of the ethnic group being targeted. Some people think strategy and creative don’t mix, sort of like oil and water. They consider all things strategic to be “science” and all things creative to be “art.” The truth is that strategic insights form the backbone of hard-hitting, relevant, and provocative creative, no matter your audience.
If you currently focus your product marketing on non-Hispanics and you want to start marketing to Hispanics, you will want to modify the creative as little as possible to ensure linkage and consistency. But you will need to evaluate your current brand positioning. Does it make sense to Hispanics? Start by asking these kinds of questions:
• Is the product in the same stage of the product lifecycle for Hispanics and non-Hispanics?
• Is it well known to the Hispanic consumer target, or is it a new entry?
• Does the product have equity or consumer affinity within the Hispanic market?
• What is the U.S. market share for the product? Is the product category developed or just making inroads?
Now compare your brand positioning to what you know about your Hispanic target consumer. For example, an Internet service provider (ISP) might have a very different advertising message for the general market than it would for Hispanics. Why? U.S. non-Hispanic whites are at a very different place in terms of their understanding and usage of computers, the Internet, and ISPs. So while it may make sense in non-Hispanic advertising to talk about new and better broadband capabilities, Hispanic advertising might first focus on the basic features and benefits that an ISP provides — all the while keeping in mind the consumer problem that needs to be solved.
The goal is to make as few changes as possible to your global product positioning. Think “tweak” rather than “scrap and rebuild.” Be sure to capture those Hispanic strategic insights related to tone, feel, visuals, or copy in your creative brief to ensure that your creative will reach the Hispanic consumer in a lasting way. If you have ended up with a modified advertising positioning, be sure it is clearly stated.
Here’s an example of modified positioning for the Hispanic market. Our client Fisher-Price, the toy manufacturer, began dedicated marketing efforts to U.S. Hispanics about three years ago. As we started thinking about what its advertising would look like, we analyzed its existing positioning: “Play. Laugh. Grow.” This familiar tagline appears in TV, Internet, and print creative, accompanied by happy babies, toddlers, and preschoolers playing with Fisher-Price toys. We held this positioning up against what we know about how Latina moms play with their kids – how they feel, what they do.
Our immediate response was, “Where’s the mama?” What was missing from this beautiful creative execution was the inclusion of Mom in the important activity of play. Latina moms don’t want to just sit by and watch their babies play; they want to play with them. In fact, research on childrearing techniques of Latinas vs. non-Latinas demonstrates that Latinas are much more tactile in their interaction with infants and small children. They are much more likely to teach their children through modeling (playing with the child) than by giving verbal commands and reinforcing with praise.
The “tweak” we added to the Fisher-Price tagline was simple, but it made an impact: “with them.” While the general market positioning and tagline remained “Play. Laugh. Grow,” the new modified Hispanic positioning became “Play with them. Laugh with them. Grow with them.” Visual executions included Mom alongside baby.
Consumers raved about the line. Not only was it viewed as relevant, it was also seen as a call to action – a reminder for moms to stop and play with their little ones.
So to develop breakthrough creative for your Hispanic consumer, look for those strategic insights that are the gold nuggets not just of artistic expression but of culture as well. Kathryn Martínez is chief strategy officer for Market Vision (www.marketvisioninc.com), a Hispanic marketing agency based in San Antonio, TX.
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