Solpersona

The population of Latinos living here in the United States is expected to have grown after the 2010 Census is taken and it seems the expected growth will come from second-generation Latinos. Now is the best time to tap into the Hispanic market, what are you waiting for ? Right now, their purchasing power is regarded as one of the highest with an annual income estimated at about $863 billion and in this recession, you can expand your market to a more successful and very profitable campaign goal.

Already, Spanish language media cable companies like Telemundo and Univision have controlled the US market and bilingual channels like Mun2 tapped into the younger generation with a mix of Spanish-English music and pop culture. Continue reading…

In my previous post, I blogged about my research into the Hispanic market and the conclusion that came about from the gathered information and interviews that I did. I received a comment that became a very interesting discussion from a colleague of mine named Mari D. González. She is the founder, intercultural communications and market research consultant of IXMATI Communications. Continue reading…

Tommy Thompson, President of INSPIRE! Marketing

On my last blog post, I had a great opportunity to interview Amber Gracia, the President of Cinco here in Dallas about how to market to Latinos in the Hispanic market segment as part of my research project. The next person my interview list was Tommy Thompson, President of INSPIRE! Marketing. Continue reading…

Amber Gracia, Principal of Cinco

In my recent academic research into Hispanic marketing, I have concluded that the basic marketing principles used in communicating with consumers apply to any market, including the Hispanic market.  If marketing communication in the general market are continually perfected to convey clear expressions and to match the emergent images in American culture, the same approach can and should be used to target Hispanics. From there, a deep study into Hispanic culture will boost the communication behind your intended target market. Continue reading…

It’s been awhile, but I’m wrapping up my Hispanic marketing report. It has kept me away from my daily blogging so once the semester ends I should be back in the game.

In order to prepare for my interviews with the Hispanic marketing agencies, I put together a list of questions that is relevant to my research paper. Once they’re answered I plan to add it to my report and my blog.

Below, I posted the questions that I hope will lead into an interesting conversation into Hispanic marketing. If you are a Hispanic marketer yourself, feel free to post some of your answers to the questions on this blog, I’m sure there are different opinions on it, we may get dialogue going.

Interview Questions

1. Do you believe that there is a difference between Hispanic marketing and regular marketing. If so, what are some of the differences?
2. How do you begin a Hispanic marketing campaign with your client?
3. Do you believe that cultural and historical research goes along with Hispanic marketing. If so how much of it is involved?
4. In Hispanic marketing, is there more importance on the “Hispanicness” rather than the Hispanic consumers themselves?
5. What are some of the perceptions that other marketers make about Hispanics that you occasionally have to correct?
6. Has there ever been a Hispanic marketing campaign that was proven much more of a challenge then you have expected?
7. Did you ever believe of the media produced term the “Latin explosion” brought about this interest of the Hispanic market a couple years back?
8. It seems a large population of the Hispanic market, particularly the younger generation are using the Internet a lot more. With this increase of online use What online technology do you wish to use to help with your Hispanic marketing ? (ex. Site building, blogging, e-newsletters, etc.)
9. With the popularity of utilizing social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube for marketing and business applications do you feel that it is just as important in utilizing it for your Hispanic marketing campaigns?
10. Do you feel that using colors, imagery, religion, symbolism and culture from the diverse Hispanic ethnic groups should be taken to heart or more of a source of reference?
11. Are there some books or some other sources of information that you use to help you with your research?
12. What are some of the sensitive cultural and historical issues that you usually avoid when creating Hispanic marketing campaigns?
13. Do you find it difficult creating Hispanic marketing campaigns for the different generations of Hispanics living here in the United States, particularly when it comes to language (Spanish vs. Spanglish vs. English) and culture.
14. Do you feel that the United States as a whole still has a long ways to go in accepting the fact that Hispanics are truly part of American culture and way of life?
15. Do you feel that there are greater opportunities than before for companies and advertising agencies to expand their products and services to the Hispanic market?

It’s getting close to the end of my semester in my Intro to Latin Studies class and I have already decided to choose for my final report the study of Hispanic marketing through cultural and historical research. I have learned so much more about Latin culture and history through my class discussions and assigned books written by very notable Latino scholars, sociologists, historians and essayists. There was so much that I wasn’t aware of that helped me understand modern Latino culture and the diverse Latinos living here in the United States and Latin America.

From international policy, language, revolutions and racial classes to cultural metaphors and symbolism; Latino culture and society is still being studied to this day. One question that my class always brings up is “Do Latinos relate more with native Indians or the Spaniards that arrived here?.” Each book provides different perspectives of not only this issue of Latino identity but also the issue of our relationship with the United States.

This brings me to the point that companies, advertising agencies and marketers who wish to build campaigns to capture the Hispanic market; they really have to do the research. Sure there are focus groups, interviews and surveys but you have to know the culture, sociology, consumer behavior as well and that is what I propose to illustrate in my report. So far I gathered some resources for this report that I believe will help me establish a strong foundation for my proposal. Below is the list of books that I got from my university library as well as what I purchased from Amazon. Check them out, maybe you can use these books for your own Hispanic marketing research. If you recommend any other books feel free and post some.

Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective by Felipe and Betty Ann Korzenny

Hispanic Marketing Grows Up by Juan Faura

Hispanic/Latino Identity: A Philosophical Perspective by Jorge J. E. Gracia

Latinos, Inc.: The Marketing and Making of a People by Arlene Daivila

Latin Americans: Contemporary Peoples and Their Cultural Traditions by Michael D. Olien

Latin American Popular Culture: An Introduction by William H. Beezley

Latin American Popular Culture by Arthur A. Natella, Jr.

Marketing to American Latinos: A Guide to the In-Culture Approach Part 1 by M. Isabel Valdès

Marketing to American Latinos: A Guide to the In-Culture Approach Part 2 by M. Isabel Valdès

Doral Bank of Puerto Rico

In a previous blog, I had a great chance to interview Lucienne Gigante and Karla Gual of Doral Bank of Puerto Rico about their marketing campaign to brand Doral Bank as a bank for the community. So how did Doral do? absolute positive results. I would like to thank Termeh Mazhari of AMP3 Public Relations in providing me with great information through an executive summary that I posted below.

The following is based on a tracking study performed by Doral, Lopito, Ileana, Howie and Ipsos Hispania aimed at measuring Doral’s brand performance over time. The study also measured evolving market dynamics and consumer preferences in Puerto Rico’s banking industry.

The field work took place in January 2008, a month before Doral’s relaunch, and again between September and November 2008. In each wave, the statistically representative samples consisted of 500 to 600 consumers between the ages of 18 and 64, of both genders, islandwide, of socioeconomic levels A, B, C, or D, and with an existing bank relationship.

Findings

• Doral improved its overall brand image significantly since its relaunch in January 2008.

• While all banks improved their brand health (except Santander which lost significant equity value) Doral had the most significant increase (+20% in its overall brand health score), especially among ad recallers.

• The number of consumers who consider becoming a Doral client increased by 7% while all other banks lost potential clients.

• Doral’s “true involvement with the customer and the community” positioning touches the most relevant brand attributes and consumer drivers.

• Doral improved mainly in the two areas “community-commitment” and “involvement with the individual” client,

• The Doral brand is now perceived as a more leading, modern, charismatic, innovative, strong, supportive and energetic brand.

Increases in specific brand attribute

• It is a bank committed with the Puerto Rican people: +24%

• It is a bank that helps me accelerate my life: +28%

• Employees are attentive and courteous: +32%

• It is an institution that actively contributes to the community and its needs: +37%

• Has appealing and attentive branches: +48%

• Its advertising is appealing to me: +30%

• It is an institution that supports social interest and help programs: +64%

• The bank makes good recommendations to me and my family: +40%

• It is an institution concerned with the community’s education, communication and culture: +91%

• Has innovative products and services: +39%

• Has products that provide additional benefits: +33%

Not only did Doral Bank received positive results for their marketing efforts, they also received several awards because they successfully reached their customers by engaging them and becoming involved in the community of Puerto Rico. Something other banks should be doing right now. Great job Doral Bank!

Doral’s Awards

Bank of the Year: UK-based ACQ Finance Magazine recently honored Doral Financial Corporation with a Country Award for Achievement and named the financial institution its 2009 Bank of the Year. The winner was selected through an independent poll of ACQ readers, contributors, and industry experts. ACQ boasts a readership of over 50,000 key decision makers from across Europe, the U.K, and the U.S.

Three Hermes Creative Awards & Two Honorable Mentions: Over 3,700 entries were received from around the globe for what is considered one of the premier Marketing and Communications showcases.

• Best Public Relations Campaign and Best Community Public Relations campaign: Doral’s community programs Ruta Pink won two Gold Awards for Best Public Relations Campaign and Best Community Public Relations campaign

• Best Public Relations Campaign category: Doral’s eres parte d (“you’re a part of Doral”) campaign took Silver in the Best Public Relations Campaign category.

• Two Honorable Mentions: domingos dMuseo, received two Honorable Mentions in both of the aforementioned categories. Puerto Rico-based Lopito, Ileana & Howie, Inc. was the creative agency behind the three award-winning concepts.

SABRE Awards (Superior Achievement in Branding & Reputation)

• Ruta Pink and the eres parte d campaign were finalists for a Gold and Silver SABRE (Superior Achievement in Branding & Reputation) Award, respectively.

• Ruta Pink was up for Gold in the Latin American Category

• Re-branding campaign was named a finalist for Silver in the Financial Services Category. No banking institution from Puerto Rico had ever reached the final stage of the SABREs, an honored U.S.-based competition administered by The Holmes Group.

American Business Award

• Ruta Pink and domingos d-museo were recently named finalists for a 2009 American Business Award in the categories of Social Responsibility Program of the Year and Public Relations Campaign for a Non-Profit Purpose, respectively.

Puerto Ricans rallied to protest against massive layoffs (Primera Hora/Andre Kang)

It was a tremendous site, thousands of Puerto Ricans rallied in front of the Plaza de las Americas to protest a decision that would further worsen the already unstable Puerto Rican economy. Earlier last week, the Governor of Puerto RicoLuis Fortuno, proposed budget cuts that would eliminate 13,000 jobs in an attempt to alleviate a $3.2 billion budget gap. Of course, the people are frustrated enough with the lack of jobs as it is. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate exceeds 15 percent. Some analysts expect the layoffs to increase that rate to at least 17 percent. So yesterday a rally was staged to send a message to the government, “enough is enough, no more job cuts!”

However, where was the news media that should be covering this? This is the frustration that really got to me. Here we have the citizens of Puerto Rico who are fighting to keep their jobs in an economy that has yet to recover from the recession yet their messages were barely broadcasted on television. To be honest, I got better news coverage from my followers on Twitter than from television or major news sites. I have been reading up to date news from those who are living in Puerto Rico via Twitter. They provided links to news updates, minute by minute activities and picture uploads. In Facebook, I was also kept in the loop of what’s going on as well, Lisa Castro who is on the Facebook fanpage Being Latino offered great news snippets, videos and pics to keep members such as myself updated. What’s great about the coverage on Twitter and Facebook is that you can communicate in real time with those who are covering the protest as well as those that are following it. Once again, social media has proven to be an exceptional media tool to aggregate and disseminate information and communicate with others in real time.

If you want more information about the protest that occurred in Puerto Rico, check out Primera Hora, they posted up to the minute updates, video clips and pictures.

In my previous post, I had a chance to blog about Doral Bank’s efforts to give back to it’s community in Puerto Rico by offering free mammograms for those who can’t afford it through Ruta Pink, inviting the community to socialize and engage in both the arts and cultural activities at the Puerto Rico Museum of Art through their Domingos dMuseo program, and encouraging the community to understand the importance of the environment through urban reforestation at their D-Parques Initiative. Doral Bank made great efforts to gain the community’s trust and in doing so managed to build a more trusting relationship with their customers as well. Afterwards, I had a great opportunity to do a phone interview with Doral Bank’s Vice President of Public Relations, Lucienne Gigante and Vice President of Brand Development and Marketing, Karla Gual to tell me more of their successful programs to identify Doral Bank not only as a financial institution but also a part of the Puerto Rican community.

In 2006, Doral Bank started out as a mortgage institution on the brink of bankruptcy. Under its new president and CEO, Glen Wakemen, Doral began to transform itself from a mortgage-based company to a full-service bank. “His vision was to create a new Doral” said Lucienne, “where the community comes first and under his leadership his vision became a true success.” With the banks here in the United States becoming more and more distrustful, perhaps they should study Doral Bank’s marketing and branding campaigns and see that to rebuild trust with the customers, you have to truly engage them and build a relationship, and what better way then to spend time within the community. “At Doral we practice what we preach. The energy and passion is there and we really go to the extra mile to contribute to the success of the communities we serve,” said Karla in an interview with Caribbean Business.

Lucienne Gigante took part in these events and she saw a definite and positive feedback. One event is the Domingos dMuseo last year which drew in a crowd of 500 people and over 60 artists. “To see the difference, many families had a great time,” said Lucienne. “They actually thanked us for organizing this event. We wanted to provide free cultural activities and have our community be involved in a whole new world to explore art education, art to our children and just have a good time.”

Being a graduate student whose focused on marketing, particularly towards the Hispanic market, I wanted to get a better idea of how a professional marketer begins a campaign and successfully communicates it to their selected target market so I asked Lucienne what was behind the success of the Ruta Pink campaign. “Having an advertising background is absolutely useful because you are trying to send a loud and clear message to your target market,” she said. “We understood that women play an important role within the family nucleus and they put their family above themselves. This was evaluated through psychographic research. With Ruta Pink, we made them distinct and encouraged them to take care of themselves.” Through a balance of traditional marketing, online marketing with the development of a very detailed and attractive website and thorough research, Ruta Pink and Doral successfully managed to promote breast cancer awareness and educate women and men of the importance of early detection just by engaging the community.

How successful was this new brand marketing? On my next post, I’ll provide a more detailed analysis in a executive summary provided by Termeh Mazhari of AMP3 Public Relations. Here is a more concise branding campaign established by Doral Bank on Brandweek.

Lucienne Gigante, VP of Public Relations

Karla Gual, VP of Brand Development and Marketing

The growth of the Hispanic population online has grown tremendously over the past couple of years and it will continue to do so as more and more online platforms conform to Hispanic consumers online. The latest statistics from Internet World Stats show that about 171,833,339 of the Latin American population is currently using the Internet, now that’s about 10.3 % when compared to the rest of the world’s population, which is about 89.7% Brazil is in the lead as being the top Internet country in Latin America at 67.5% while Mexico is second 23.9% and Argentina at 20.0% That’s not bad, so where exactly are they going online?

So far, Hispanics are going to websites that the rest of the world are using which are Yahoo, Google and Microsoft but at the same time there are niche websites that allow Hispanics to socialize within their own communities as well as to search for information such as news, sports and entertainment within Latin America. Sites like Terra, Univision and Telemundo specifically cater to the Hispanic population when it comes to searching for general information but there are more engaging sites or “social media” sites that allow real time communication within Hispanic communities as well as exchange links, videos and pics among one another. Facebook, for example, has become an excellent social media platform to engage the Hispanic group. According to the Hispanic market research company Captura Group, the launch of Facebook’s Spanish interface was so successful that between February and July of 2008, new Facebook accounts in Spanish speaking countries grew 325% from 2.3 million to 9.9 million. That means that in six months, more than 7.5 million Facebook accounts were created in countries where Spanish is spoken. A true network effect had taken hold in Spanish-speaking countries and the phenomenon also took hold among Spanish preferring US Hispanics as they received invitations from family and friends to join Facebook and vice-versa. One particular Facebook “fan page” that is definitely taking notice among the Hispanic community is Being Latino, a page aimed at discussing everyday issues within Hispanic culture. What is pretty amazing about this fan page is that in only a couple of months Being Latino has accumulated over 18,000 fans! There are other social media sites that can reach the Hispanic audience other than Facebook such as MySpace Latino, QuePasa and Qoobole!

The Internet is offering communication and resource tools for Hispanics and businesses, advertisers and marketers are redeveloping media campaigns to not only broadcast to the audience but engage them through social media networks as Hispanics continue using current online technology to socialize and to express their Hispanic cultural identity. Below are two visual statistics from the 2009 Hispanic Fact Book that shows which web and social media sites that Hispanics are currently using.

Hispanics in social media networks

Top 10 Web properties among Hispanic online users