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Comment on By all means, please check the “other” box. by Bill Cherrie, VP Multicultural Marketing, Pernod Ricard USA

Bill Cherrie, VP Multicultural Marketing, Pernod Ricard USA — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:14:16 +0000

From time to time I fall back into explaining the Hispanic consumer market using acculturation theory but then I catch myself and realize that while race, where you were born, and what language you naturally speak can provide valuable insights to understand Latino experience and mind-set these descriptions are not sufficient.
I have learned that shared life stage plays a much more significant role in defining the Hispanic audience and helps me to understand Hispanic consumption habits.

Comment on By all means, please check the “other” box. by Michael Dozier

Michael Dozier — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:18:55 +0000

For as long as I’ve been in this activity I’ve thought the acculturation model is BS and its death is long overdue. I don’t understand why there is such little flexibility in accepting that this “model” that’s been around for as long as I can remember is useless, regardless developing sub-segments of acculturation. It doesn’t play out in the real world of people, emotions and values, it is pure marketing speak and unfortunately many Hispanic marketers hide their lack of expertise by parroting all the acculturation dogmas out there which no one questions. Just like the infamous ad “Vuele en cuero” and the Chevy “Nova” which experts still quote as marketing mistakes.

Comment on By all means, please check the “other” box. by Cesar M Melgoza, Founder & CEO, Geoscape

Cesar M Melgoza, Founder & CEO, Geoscape — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:17:43 +0000

…additionally, “other race” usually means people don’t identify with a standard definition and census doesn’t even include mestizo or mulatto — and ironically most Latinos fall into one of those mixed categories. There are other ambiguous questions in the census forms in addition that need clarification. We hope to clarify some of these points directly to the US Census Bureau…more for when we talk.

Comment on By all means, please check the “other” box. by Cesar M Melgoza, Founder & CEO, Geoscape

Cesar M Melgoza, Founder & CEO, Geoscape — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:59:16 +0000

Hi Christian, thank you for your post. I’m interested in learning more about your study and its methodology. I believe many Hispanic marketers, perhaps even experts that you refer to, assume that acculturation “definitions” — most don’t merit the term “models” since they are not very rigorously scientific — drive behavior and/or decision making. That is a mis-understanding. Acculturation is normally a Descriptor and might sometimes be a predictor of behavior. it doesn’t necessarily drive behavior, but it is often correlated with certain behaviors and attitudes. Additionally, acculturation itself is (if applied properly) is multi-dimensional (or at least multi-variate)…it’s not just about language use or place of birth or age or geography of residence, etc. It includes those elements plus others. I am both intrigued and amused that you and others in the Hispanic space are eager to dispose of this framework as if it were the only lens from which to view the market. Of course human beings are complex and multi-dimensional and should be viewed and understood in appropriate context. Trashing acculturation, however, doesn’t necessarily mean taking any kind of high-road of thinking or getting beyond something obsolete. Your agency and others (and certainly my firm) must approach marketing to Latinos and other consumer segments with rigor and clarity as well as fresh facts and techniques that could yield powerful insights. I have a hunch that the vested interests in media and marketing try to reduce the complexity of Latinos by emphasizing the Spanish language too heavily — most of us are bilingual to a degree — and it’s the context and relevance that matters most in the end. Rather than go on and on (of course I could) I would suggest you give me a call to discuss; I reached out to you after our Summit but didn’t hear back from you, appreciate your attending the event and welcome further discussion.

Comment on Peaking into the future: Seven trends in multicultural social and digital marketing for 2012. by Niklas Nikolaidis

Niklas Nikolaidis — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:43:21 +0000

Hi Loida,
One thing we also see is the proliferation of multicultural groups to specific social networks. For instance, certain Asian audiences are using Friendster more or African groups over-index on Hi5. Feels like a trend that will continue when people start feeling overwhelmed by too many Facebook “friends”.

Comment on Silo Blowing. by Bill Cherrie

Bill Cherrie — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:31:41 +0000

Blowing up multicultural silos sounds at first glance like it might make sense, but like so much in our field one size rarely fits all situations.

At Pernod Ricard USA in our multicultural practice we have learned over the last two years that before you consider blowing up anything you need to first build a center of multicultural expertise and credibility which not only identifies and sizes opportunities (the easy part) but more importantly leads and shows stakeholders how to convert the opportunities into money in the short term (the only part that matters). In other words, learn how to walk before you try to run.

David is right. Our companies and multicultural teams need to be customized in flexible structures which can grow and evolve but jumping to blowing up multicultural silos is most probably utopian and premature for many companies which have recently got into the multicultural game.

Comment on Moving beyond the Hispanic ‘Right Spend’ Argument. by Roberto Orci

Roberto Orci — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:45:23 +0000

Jose, these are very valid points. We completely agree with you that the results of the AHAA Budget Alignment Study should not be misinterpreted as a magical threshold for all companies regardless of brand equity, product relevance, value, distribution, customer experience, etc. In fact, we want to clarify that we have not emphasized a single “right-spend” number in our report for the same reasons you identify – rather, we only indicated that, thus far, our findings have found indisputable evidence that allocation directly and positively impacts revenue growth among marketers who consistently apportion more than 14.2 percent to Hispanic marketing. To that end, we acknowledge that advertising allocation is just scratching the surface of the total Hispanic marketing mix, and that other critical marketing elements also are at play. Now that we have found sound proof of the relationship between Hispanic advertising allocation and overall corporate growth, we want to use this report as a springboard to expand our study to include the various paid and non-paid marketing disciplines you describe and explore what range of investment and integration move the corporate needle. Over the next year, AHAA is committed to further tests, forums and research with more data partners to broaden the base of original variables in order to shed more learnings with member firms and marketers – both statistical findings, as well as best practices like some of the ones you mentioned. We invite you to form part of this discovery, as we continue to build a solid and irrefutable case for companies to increase their Hispanic marketing spend to the fullest potential.

Comment on Moving beyond the Hispanic ‘Right Spend’ Argument. by Antonio Ruiz

Antonio Ruiz — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:34:56 +0000

Before we “move on” let’s perfect it.

I don’t completely agree with AHAA’s approach to “right spend”. However, “right spend” is a critical tool for all U.S. marketers. True U.S. Hispanic experts have a broader understanding of this tool than the way the industry in general speaks about it today.

The “right spend” conversation should not result in one-size fits all number. Enabling the interpretation that all entities should allocate 14.2% of their overall investment to reach U.S Hispanics is dangerous.

Marketers must correctly define the value U.S. Hispanic consumers to their business. Above all the “right spend” calculation is a “demand based” model and its result will vary by category and brand. The calculation itself forces marketers to put the value of U.S. Hispanic consumers in the context of their overall business.

Marketers need to think about how both mainstream and targeted media work together to truly engage U.S. consumers who happen to live in a mainstream and Hispanic context. We are nurturing a narrow definition of “right spend” as the percentage of a marketer’s advertising and marketing budget devoted to reaching U.S. Hispanics via targeted U.S. Hispanic media. But really the exercise makes the marketer define the total percentage allocation before dividing it into mainstream and targeted media.

Marketers need to clearly define their situations before setting objectives and embarking on planning. The “right spend” calculation must never be used in isolation of market conditions, product life stage and competitive circumstances. The formula results in a guideline spend that can be adjusted up or down for the brand’s particular situation.

The idea of “fairshare” or “right spend” existed for quite some time before AHAA commissioned and published its first “Right Spend” study. Institutions such as McDonald’s Corporation and P&G have been working with allocation formulas and models since the eighties. It’s a critical first step for marketers from which objectives, strategies, tactics and measurement will flow when conducted correctly.

Comment on Newlink Conversations: Why companies fail in the US Hispanic Market. by Manuel Delgado

Manuel Delgado — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:57:53 +0000

Great insight. Very refreshing to see the holistic view of hat needs to happen to guarantee HIspanic market success. It definitely goes well beyond putting together a Spanish-language ad. Gracias!

Comment on Newlink Conversations: Why companies fail in the US Hispanic Market. by Sara Sunshine

Sara Sunshine — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:12:08 +0000

Could not agree more with your comments. They are as valid today as they were in the beginnings of “Spanish” Advertising and Marketing industry in the early 1960s.

I had the privilege of working with many US blue chip companies that are today leaders in the Hispanic “Nation”. We worked hard at making those companies apply if not all, most of the points listed in your presentation.