By Stephanie Ramirez, AAE, MSL New York
Hispanicize 2013, or better known as the “South by Southwest of the Southeast,” is an annual event for Latino bloggers and storytellers in social media, marketing, innovation, journalism, film and music. This vibrant and unique event brings together the media and brands targeting Latinos, and focuses on best practices, ideas and looking into what’s next.
I had the opportunity to attend Hispanicize in sunny Miami and left with great key takeaways from the informational sessions I attended. One session in particular sunk in the most, which was called “Hispanic Market Trends 2013: Top Marketers Take an In-Depth Look at the Cultural and Marketing Shifts.”
A quote from Jenina Nuñez, Manager of External Communications at McDonald’s, addressed the crowd with this quote – “Adapt to shifting markets without losing sight of what your core market is – that’s the challenge.”
As we all know, the general market is very multicultural, and Hispanics make a large portion of it. Brands need to pay attention to consumer movements and adjust budget and strategy accordingly. Nydia Sahagun, Target, explains this shift as more than just demographic, but it’s about psychographic, and the role of language is shifting from a functional to an emotional role.
“Target finds partners that are current with millennials and lend themselves well to our message.” – Nydia Sahagun
With a growing Hispanic audience, brands must provide true relevance to this particular audience to better connect and help build brand loyalty. Understanding and identifying your consumers’ “passion points” for is very important. Examine the habit patterns to understand millennials and be educated on their activity in this demographic. Give them reasons to care or believe in your brand in order to get their support.
When you think of the Hispanic market, it cannot be categorized into one large group, instead you need to identify the key markets and understand behaviors there is essential such as Mexicans in Los Angeles or Cubans in Miami.
Jenina talks about McDonald’s communication efforts with Hispanics through its Spanish @Me Encanta Twitter handle and how the brand engages with its audiences the same way they engage with the brand. If consumers tweet at the brand in English, Spanish or Spanglish, the brand will respond that same way.
“McDonald’s looks at what millennials care about and look at the different online portals where we can connect with them – it’s multigenerational and bilingual.” – Jenina Nuñez
Always continue to think of new ways to stay relevant to your audience is the key to success.