HISPANIC MARKETING: Almost South of the Border

According to the 2000 Census, there are 32.8 million Latinos residing in the U.S., which means that one out of eight people (or 12 percent) is of Hispanic origin. And, to be more specific, 66.1 percent of the Hispanic population is of Mexican heritage.

“Do corporations really want to market specifically to Hispanics? No.” says Greg Bennett, president at Luna Bacardi, Culver City, CA, the ethnic marketing unit of Los Angeles-based Aspen Marketing Group. “Do they need to? Yes.”

Since relatively few marketers are even targeting Hispanics, most brands aren’t prepared to set their sights more narrowly by targeting Mexicans or other specific Hispanic groups. But it may be high time they did.

Hispanic households are larger than those of whites, with 30.6 percent consisting of five or more people — and Mexican families are more likely to have five or more members than other Hispanic groups. The Mexican-American population is also younger than its white and Hispanic peers: 23.5 percent of whites, 35.7 percent of Hispanics, and 38.4 percent of Mexicans are under 18. (That’s good news for marketers, because the younger the Hispanic consumer, the more likely he is to be receptive to general, mass media marketing, says Bennett: “The younger generation is more exposed to a world beyond their own communities.”)

And Mexican-Americans often have distinctive tastes — literally. Stamford, CT-based Mott’s learned that in 1999, when it discovered that the demographic was mixing Clamato cocktail juice with beer. Since then, the brand’s marketing strategy has been focused primarily on Hispanics in general and Mexicans in particular (October 2000 PROMO).

Adding lime to mayonnaise is another uniquely Hispanic culinary habit. Thus, Englewood Cliffs, NJ-based Unilever Bestfoods introduced “mayonesa con limon” this spring with a national sampling program largely targeting Mexican-Americans. The six-month tour featured two “Rolling Kitchens” (sporting the Hellman’s Mayonnaise brand in the East and Best Foods label west of the Rockies).

The vans parked outside Hispanic grocery stores to give shoppers a taste of pasta salad as TV monitors mounted on the trucks played commercials. Shoppers who brought proofs of purchase back to the vans received a free bilingual recipe book. The tour made stops in Texas, California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. Ft. Lauderdale, FL-based agencies EventNet and Mass Promotions, Inc. handled.

Although a sales-force reorganization hindered the program’s overall results, “where we’ve sold in we’ve had success,” says Hellmann’s associate brand manager Fabio Marciano, adding that results were “more qualitative than quantitative.”

Speaking the Language

Is there a Spanish word for zeitgeist? Whatever that may be, tapping into the Mexican-American market most often entails sports- or holiday-related efforts. Timing campaigns for Cinco de Mayo in the spring has been the most common strategy — despite the fact that the date is a fairly trivial holiday back home in Mexico, having only gained popularity in the U.S.

Of more cultural significance on both sides of the border is Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16, a date which was tapped by Labatt USA, Norwalk, CT, for the culmination of Copa Tecate, the first state-side promotion for the company’s Tecate import from Mexico.

The brand is exclusively emphasizing its roots. “There will be no English [translations],” says Labatt brand manager Valdemar Cantu. “There will be no dilution of the effort into an Anglo promotion.”

This summer, weekend soccer warriors around the country squared off in sponsored local tournaments that awarded two finalists from 18 regions first-class trips to the Sept. 16 “championships” at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The games will be part of a larger celebration called “Va Por Mexico” that also features a match between professional teams from Uruguay and Mexico and concerts by well-known Mexican bands.

Support for the program includes five Volkswagen Beetles, outfitted as soccer balls, that travel to local games as well as parades, festivals, and events for Mexican-Americans. DVC Group, Morristown, NJ, handles.

Labatt was surprised to learn that there were about 40 Mexican-American leagues around the country, according to DVC account manager Lupe De Los Santos. To whittle down the entries to the planned 18, Labatt staged local playoffs at which leagues could qualify for the official tournament. All told, more than 1,700 teams and 25,000 players participated.

Tecate also sponsored local leagues, donating uniforms and equipment. “Some of these guys are just playing on dirt fields. We’re giving them first-class treatment,” says De Los Santos. “To these guys, Tecate is part of their life, not a corporate invasion of their weekend.”

Meanwhile, Keebler Foods, Elmhurst, IL, this month hosts Independence Day contests in parks throughout Los Angeles at which visitors can kick against a goalie to win sampling packages that include Keebler T-shirts, key chains, and hats. The effort is part of the Keebler Southern California Soccer Consortium, a three-year-old Hispanic-targeting program that sponsors leagues representing 400 teams and 145,000 players, and which hosts its own La Copa Keebler championship each fall. Luna Bacardi handles.

Sears Roebuck and Co., Hoffman Estates, IL, also caught “fútbol fever” by becoming title sponsor of the Copa Sears Pre-Libertadores, an annual five-city, 10-game tournament. Although played in the U.S., the tourney determines which professional Mexican teams advance to the Copa Libertadores de America, a 40-year-old pan-Latin America tournament. The games, which are held in L.A., Dallas, Chicago, San Jose, and Houston from July through September, draw between 20,000 and 40,000 attendees each.

“Soccer is the most important sport in Mexico and Latin America, and is an integral part of U.S. Hispanics’ lives,” says Gilbert Davila, Sears vp of multi-cultural and relationship marketing. “Sponsorship of Copa is our way of further connecting to our Hispanic customers in a very relevant and targeted way.”

To support the sponsorship, Sears ran local in-store promotions including sweepstakes awarding game tickets and merchandise; sent the Sears Fiesta Mobile tour bus and an interactive gaming area to stadiums; and ran radio and TV spots in tourney markets. Cardenas/Fernandez & Associates, Chicago, handled.

The department store chain also partnered with Soccer in the Streets, an organization that funds soccer leagues in more than 75 U.S. cities. That program helped Sears recruit children from local soccer leagues to serve as ballboys and ballgirls at the Copa games.

Cross-Country

Brands living close to the border have the native land to target as well: Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres franchise has a special relationship with fans on both sides. “I’d say 90 percent of the San Diego population is of Mexican descent,” says Angelica Ortiz, the team’s advertising and marketing research manager. “That means our pitches south of the border aren’t too different from what we do in our home market.”

While some of the targeting simply entails Spanish translations (such as Coca-Cola Nights discount-ticket offers), others go more directly after the Mexican population. For instance, the team will leverage Mexican Independence Day with a giveaway of T-shirts bearing the Padres logo along with the colors of the Mexican flag. “We may get some backlash from our English-only fans, but it’s worth a try,” says Ortiz.

The Padres last year unveiled Compadres de Mexico, a Spanish-language spin-off of its Compadres Club loyalty program. Members can swipe their cards at stadium kiosks to earn points toward free tickets or special offers at the Padres Baseball Store in Tijuana. The effort helped the team double its database of Mexican fans to 6,000 members.

In marketing, a double counts as a home run.

For more discussion on the subject of ethnic marketing, put PROMO Expo 2001 on your calendar. This year’s agenda features case studies on promoting to different ethnic groups, as well as sessions focusing on targeted marketing. The conference will be held in Chicago Oct. 22-24. For more information, head to promoexpo.com or call 800-927-5007.