Most successful ad creative celebrates cultural sensibilities
Marketers know that it is smart to target US Hispanics. The nation’s fastest-growing minority group, Hispanics wielded over $1.02 trillion dollars in purchasing power in 2010, and will spend $1.48 trillion in 2015, according to data from the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.
In more good news, research shows that US Hispanics are more responsive to ads than non-Hispanics. For example, a comScore study about attitudes toward advertising among both groups of internet users concluded that, when shopping, 35% of Hispanics recalled products they saw advertised, while only 31% of non-Hispanics did. It also found that 31% of Hispanics enjoyed watching ads, compared with just 19% of non-Hispanics.
What kinds of ads appeal most to US Hispanics? Agencies and brands that have created successful messaging say that the most appealing ads look beyond age, gender and language preference to consider acculturation.
In an interview with eMarketer, Carlos Arcos, planning director of agency La Comunidad, defined this as “finding a more consumer-centric approach to Hispanic segmentation, leading us to ask ‘why’ before ‘who.’” He added, “We found that the ‘why’ takes us to where the interesting stuff happens with lifestyle and values exploration, instead of language preference and demographics.”
In a multichannel campaign for Corona Extra geared toward the US Hispanic Market, La Comunidad defined its target as a 20-something Hispanic beer-drinker who may use English at work, but for whom Spanish is the language of choice at home and when socializing. They like American pop culture and have more non-Hispanic friends than average, “but they also hold on to their preference for Hispanic food, holidays, social occasions and customs,” Arcos said.
In a phrase, this group has “saber vivir” or “knowing how to live.” In practice, that means “knowing when to take it easy, when to get up and dance and do it well, and how to make everyone at a party feel special,” he explained. The Corona Extra ads reflected this sensibility by emphasizing photos, video and taglines that celebrated the Hispanic way of living, underscored by the slogan, “Corona Extra Refreshes Who We Are.”
Corona Extra’s Hispanic sales showed an overall increase of 4.4% compared to the six months before the campaign.
SOURCE eMarketer