Tour will roll along the Southwest making stops at top retailers and serving up special recipe grilled tacos to benefit the next generation of Latino culinary professionals

SAN ANTONIO May 5, 2011 —Paying homage to the flavor innovations from food trucks around the country, McCormick is bringing its signature Asando Sabroso tour to San Antonio to share grilling inspiration for the season. The Asando Sabroso food truck will offer product samples, flavor ideas and special recipe tacos for a minimum $1 donation to help Latino students pursue their passion for cooking in culinary school.  McCormick will match all funds collected to provide scholarships.

The Asando Sabroso tour will start in San Antonio on May 5, and will serve a menu of two great grilled tacos—a Carne Asada Taco seasoned with Grill Mates^® Montreal Steak^® Seasoning, and a Chipotle Chicken Taco, with cumin and garlic, during every festive stop. With live radio broadcasting and giveaways, the tour will turn each store’s parking lot into a grilling fest.

“Latinos have a passion for great food and great company, and the grilling season is perfect for trying new delightful flavors. The tour brings a taste of the latest flavors and recipes for everyone to experience. In addition, we want to raise awareness and inspire the next generation of talented culinary professionals to harness that passion and pursue their dreams in the food industry,” said Valentín Ramirez, vice president/managing director of Hispanic consumer markets for McCormick.

During 26 sizzling stops throughout San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, the truck will be promoting educational opportunities for aspiring Latino chefs with the help from Chef Johnny Hernandez– a rising food star and successful restaurateur from San Antonio who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA)-the premier cooking school in the world.

The Asando Sabroso tour will kick off on Cinco de Mayo from Chef Hernandez’s restaurant, La Gloria Restaurant at the Pearl Brewery in San Antonio—his hometown and also the home city for the CIA’s San Antonio campus.  Hernandez also is partnering with McCormick on Latino-inspired food trends for the tour and the season.

“So many Latino restaurant owners have started out with big dreams of making it in the food business, and we want to inspire more in our community to pursue them through the power of education—I am honored to help more Latinos get a head start at the CIA,” says Hernandez.

Information on Asando Sabroso, and adventurous grilling inspirations including the latest trends in flavor for the summer are available at mccormick.com/espanol. Also, follow the tour @asandosabroso handle on Twitter or friend McCormick on Facebook at mccormickspice.

Source: Press Release

Univision Study on Hispanic Men’s Grooming Habits is an Eye-opener

March 22, 2011

By Chiqui Cartagena

Over the past couple of years, a ton of research has been released about the power of Latina women. And honestly, the focus on Latinas was long overdue. But while women are, no doubt, important to marketers, we seem to have lost sight of our men. Hispanic men, after all, make up 20% of the total U.S. population and while they may not have total control of the Hispanic “purse strings,” they do have a say in what is bought for the household, especially when it comes to personal care. So the research shared by Univision last week felt like a breath of fresh air.

 

During an invitation-only breakfast at the Bryant Park Grill in New York, Univision Senior VP-Corporate Marketing Ruth Gaviria unveiled the results of a new study^* called “Why Latinos Look So Good” and moderated a panel discussion on the subject with marketers and TV personalities: Cristian de la Fuente (who is hunkier in person than on TV, if you can believe it!); Univision’s own Giselle Blondet; David Salazar, multicultural manager for Target Guest Insights; celebrity stylist Samy; and Daniel Villarroel, assistant VP-experiential and diversity marketing, Maybelline New York/Garnier.

As a Latina, the findings totally resonated with me. I’ve always known that my men love to “primp and groom.” They just like to look good. I don’t know if it’s that “Latin lover” thing, but gay or straight, Latin men do the whole nine: mani-pedi, hair, cologne. It’s what this study called celebrating their “vanidad” (the good kind of vanity with a small “v”) over “machismo.”

I believe Latin men have always been “metrosexual” — long before the term was ever invented. In fact, Cristian de la Fuente shared a story about how his dad wore pink shirts and groomed his hair with expensive hair products 25 years ago! And while we Latinos know this at the gut level, this study should be a major “aha” for marketers in the personal care/grooming categories.

Among the surprising results revealed was the fact that 34% of Latino men shower twice a day vs. 16% of non-Latino men. Now, that statistic can be partly explained by the fact that Latinos predominantly live in warmer areas of the country (mainly the South and Southwest) or that their line of work may require a second shower in a day. But who cares why? All I hear is ka-ching! Calling all marketers of soap, body wash, deodorant, body lotion, after-shave, face cream, etc.

According to Univision’s Marsha Sanor, VP-client development group, Nielsen AdViews estimates the men’s grooming category spend to be around $380 million, of which only 10% goes to Spanish language! Do you hear a clue-phone ringing? Hello?

Clearly, most marketers are not capitalizing on the opportunity. Let me share some more facts from this study. Not only do Latino men over-index almost 2-to-1 in their weekly usage of hair styling products, moisturizer and fragrance, a whopping 68% of Latinos say price is not a driver in their decision making process (vs. 49% of non-Latinos).

It doesn’t have to be a World Cup year for you marketers to see that it might be worth investing some of your advertising dollars on our men. In fact, when you do spend some money, it seems to pay off. “When we give visibility to national brands that over-index with our Hispanic guests, we see better performance,” says David Salazar of Target, citing work they’ve done with Degree for Men, among others.

Now, Unilever is one of the companies that gets it. In addition to being the official sponsor of the Mexican National soccer team, Unilever has consistently been putting major advertising dollars (TV, online, grassroots events) behind Degree for men in the Hispanic market for years now. The payoff, according to Mintel’s latest report on Hispanics and Personal Care (January 2011), is loyalty from 20% of Hispanic men.

And when it comes to fragrance, forget about it. I can smell my friends one block away! Sadly, according to celebrity stylist Samy, with the exception of Macy’s, most marketers and retailers don’t let men feel comfortable buying men’s cologne. From packaging that comes across as too feminine to actually making it hard to find men’s fragrance product in stores, you are leaving money on the table.

Oh, and by the way, how about making travel-size frangrance bottles? Maybe then you will keep Cristian de la Fuente from sneaking into the duty-free shops when he flies to “spritz” on his favorite cologne after landing. BUSTED!

Source: Adage

 

 

November 23, 2010

By Caroline Scott-Thomas

Marketers need to tailor their strategies to reflect the cultural diversity of the United States rather than adopting a ‘one size fits all’ approach, according to the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies.

Market research organization Nielsen predicts that more than half the US population will be non-white by 2050. Currently, the African-American, Hispanic and Asian populations in the United States are responsible for about $299bn of CPG (consumer packaged goods) spending, and Nielsen estimates that this could rise by as much as 25 percent over the next 10 years, to $373bn in today’s money.

The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) said that savvy marketers, including the likes of General Mills and McDonald’s, understand the value of targeted marketing for different cultural groups.

AHAA chair and COO of Bromley Communications Jessica Pantanini said: “Trying to be all things to all consumers not only waters down the communication but also waters down the results. The population is definitely more multicultural but that only reinforces the need for customized, one-to-one communication.”

The association said that consumer inclusion and cultural insight is crucial to translation marketing strategies into improved financial results.

Pantanini said: “The US is a salad bowl and not a mixing bowl. Multicultural consumers are blended into the population but they retain their own unique cultural traits, behaviors and innate desires that influence their responses, purchasing and loyalty. To ignore this in the name of cost-cutting and consolidation or leaving it to the agencies to figure it out will impact negatively advertisers’ return on investments.”

The growing diversity of the United States requires marketers to understand cultural and ethnic nuances and the differences that drive shoppers’ behaviors, the AHAA said.

In 2006 Americans of Hispanic and Latino origin were estimated to make up 14.8 percent of the United States’ population. The Census Bureau has projected that they will account for 30 percent of the population by 2050. Driven by this rapidly increasing Hispanic population, market research organization Packaged Facts said that US sales of Hispanic food and drink were nearly $7bn in 2009 – up 28.7 percent from $5.4bn in 2005.

In addition, it has predicted that sales in the Hispanic food and beverage sector will hit $9.5bn by 2014.

Source: Food Navigator-USA

November 22, 2010

NEW YORK: Brand owners including Best Buy, Coca-Cola and Ford are attempting to enhance their connection with Hispanic consumers in the US.

Ford, the automotive giant, introduced a dedicated online portal for this audience ten years ago, but last year hired specialist website translation company MotionPoint to revamp its output.

Trisha Habucke, the carmaker’s digital marketing manager, suggested the original offering delivered a “very poor experience.”

Ford has also produced a bespoke Spanish-language mobile hub, and argued it enjoys substantial benefits from possessing greater flexibility.

“The technology that MotionPoint provides enables us to translate millions of words within 24 hours,” Habucke told the New York Times. “Prior to having them it was all manual translation.”

In August, 55,000 people visited Ford’s Spanish website and 14,000 accessed the equivalent for wireless handsets, and the Michigan-based firm intends to boost its understanding of this segment going forward.

“It’s been very encouraging,” said Habucke. “There’s no benchmark. No one knows what an industry standard is yet.”

MotionPoint has worked with other corporations such as fast-food group KFC, sports specialist Puma, fashion brand Oakley and pharma manufacturer Tylenol.

“What we’re seeing is clients who are looking for growth outside their normal market, and often that market speaks a different language,” said Charles Whiteman, svp, client services, at MotionPoint.

“If we’re serious about targeting this consumer, this target market, we need to speak their language.”

Pizza chain Papa John’s International runs parallel web and mobile services in a similar manner to Ford, and revealed a greater proportion of Hispanic customers place orders using cellphones.

“Now almost 30% of our sales come online, since we launched our new English and Spanish desktop and smartphone-optimised mobile sites in October,” said Jim Ensign, vp, digital marketing.

Electronics retailer Best Buy has built microsites, apps and catalogues in Spanish, alongside translating text messages such as its regular “Deal of the Week.”

During the FIFA World Cup, Best Buy sponsored Univision’s smartphone app, and the organisations jointly constructed a mobile platform aimed specifically at the Hispanic demographic.

“We try to connect with customers around their passion points,” said Ana Grace, Best Buy’s site manager for Latino initiatives and online catalogues.

She added that the average order on the Spanish website was twice the value of the English alternative, partly as it allowed large numbers of people to conduct research in the language they were most comfortable with.

“So many brands try to simply translate their site,” said Jessica Pantanini, chairwoman of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies.

“You’ve got to make sure that you’re connecting with your consumer in a relevant way in language. What’s the right spin, the angle? You’ve got to have the right strategy.”

Coca-Cola, the soft drinks titan, also provided members of its MyCokeRewards loyalty scheme with the chance to win a trip to Walt Disney World and meet two telenevola stars.

“For more than 100 years, Coca-Cola has been part of the dreams and celebrations shared by Hispanic families,” said Reinaldo Padua, assistant vp, Hispanic marketing, Coca-Cola North America.

“From bautizos to quinceañeras, from our kids’ sports victories to graduation and treasured family vacations, Coke has always been there to … bring people together.”

Source: Warc

November 17, 2010

By Mary Zerafa

At the end of the year the US Census will begin releasing data from the 2010 Census.  The answers to ten questions will have a profound impact on how we see ourselves as a nation.  Across the nation you can expect to see headlines like:  “Hispanic Population Grows 42%; Non Hispanic Only Grows 5%”.  The coverage will be on every news outlet.  In your inbox you can expect an email from your CEO with a link to one of these articles with the question, “What is our strategy?”  Not “What is our Hispanic strategy?”  The census will show we’ve moved beyond that.  Marketing to Hispanics will now be an integral part of every marketing strategy.

Previously, there was a lot of talk about the future along with a lot of projections, such as “In ten years the Hispanic population be this” or “In twenty years  Hispanic purchasing power is projected to be that.”  The census will show that we are not talking about the future.  We are talking about now.

Hispanics dominate the marketing sweet spot

According to Ad Age’s white paper “2010 Hispanic America” in the age group 25-44 Hispanics grew 34% while non Hispanics in the same age group grew 0%.  Yes, you read that correctly:  zero percent growth for non Hispanics ages 25-44.  But let’s look at the growth in age groups further:

Alma DDB released a yellow paper, “The New State of America”.  They looked at variety of sources including American Community Survey (ACS), Center for Disease Control (CDC) for birth rates and the Department of Homeland Security for immigration data.  Their findings also confirmed that Hispanics are in the marketing sweet spot, “Already in 2000, an overwhelming majority of Hispanics were under the age of 35 versus only half of the total population. Only 5% of Hispanics were over 65 versus 12% of the US.”  According to Ad Age’s white paper,“ The media age of Hispanics is just under 28, which means that 75% of adult Hispanics are age 18-49, compared to 56% of non Hispanics.”

Not convinced yet?  Let’s look at the money

Unfortunately there are many myths surrounding the Latino market.  One is that they have lower incomes.  What many do not know is that Hispanic married couples have the highest income of any household type, with an average of $63,000 (2008), according to  “2010 Hispanic America”. This is primarily most Hispanic families that have at least two wage earners.

But that’s not all.  Hispanic households, with their average age of 43.3 are approaching their peak earning years.  This is in contrast to non Hispanic households whose average age is 50 plus.  They are actually past their peak earning years.  This is another piece of data that points to the importance of the Hispanic market to businesses today.

Marketing to Hispanics means reaching out to a growing population rather than a graying population.  A population that is in the marketing sweet spot and whose peak earning years are now.  Where do you think revenue growth for your company will come from for the next quarter?

Some clarification about the census data

There is some confusion around what the census will tell us.  For this census everyone received the same ten question survey.  The questions were basic such as name, age, sex, number of people living in the home.  As in census survey of 2000, the 2010 survey first asks people if they are Hispanic, Latino, Spanish origin and the subsequent question asks about race.  Instructions tell people to respond to both questions.
Previously, a percentage of the population received what was known as the ‘long form’ which asked much more extensive questions.  That data is still being collected through the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS).  It is conducted on an annual basis and gathers information such as education, housing, income, etc.

The differences between the 2010 Census and the ACS, as explained by Robert M. Groves, Census Bureau Director are time, geographical detail, population count vs. population characteristics
    •    Time:  The data from the census is from 2010. The data from ACS is from 2009 and earlier.
    •    Level of geographical detail:  The census demographic analysis is at the national level. The census counts are state level.  ACS goes down to small levels of geographic detail.
    •    Population count vs. population characteristics:  The census is a population count.  It asks only 10 questions and will provide population counts at a state level.  The ACS is 48 questions and provides more in depth data about the characteristics of the nation.

But we already know what the census will tell us.  America is a multicultural nation and Hispanics are driving the growth.  Hispanics are in their peak earning years while non Hispanics are past their peak earning years.  We are not talking about tomorrow.  It is now, the future is now.  The question is –is your company going to be a part of it?

Source: Hispanic Market Info

November 18, 2010

By Joe Kutchera

Last week, leading advertisers convened in Miami for the Association of National Advertisers’ annual Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference. Historically, Hispanic, African-American and Asian-American marketers have fought hard for budgets even though demographic trends point to the fact that today’s minorities will become the majority in the coming decades. Hence, the summit was subtitled, “Multicultural — The New Mainstream.”

One marketer who clearly sees the growth of multicultural audiences converging with the growth of social media is McDonald’s. Rick Wion, director of social media for the company, gave an excellent keynote presentation on “Multicultural Social Media,” specifically detailing how he manages its 3.6 million fans on Facebook, 60,000 followers on Twitter, 4000+ daily check-in’s on Foursquare, and 2 billion daily views on YouTube.

After the event, I had the chance to speak with him about the golden arches’ approach to social media, two of its successful promotions and his advice for using the medium.

Q: How do you, as McDonald’s director of social media, distinguish between customers needs for information, entertainment and dialogue in social media?
A: We are extremely customer-focused at McDonald’s and part of that effort includes extensive research to understand where customers are talking about our brand while also developing a sense of when and where they are looking for different types of engagement. We’ve found that Facebook and YouTube tend to be more about entertainment while Twitter and blogs are generally focused on dialogue.

Q: At the conference, you talked about a promotion you did with “Papi Blogger” and his trip road trip across the country where he and his family would eat at McDonald’s locations. Tell us about that.
A: The Papi Blogger road trip was a chance to partner with a leading Hispanic blogger as he embarked on an amazing cross-country road trip with his family.
As part of their journey, the Ruiz family visited notable McDonald’s [restaurants] in New York, Chicago and even Roswell, N.M., while blogging, tweeting and posting videos about the experience. His 46-day journey showcased how McDonald’s is a part of Americana. In addition, it highlighted our commitment to families through our menu and visits to Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Q: McDonald’s did a “Face of the Fan” promotion for the World Cup. How did that work and what kinds of results do you see?
A: The Face of the Fan promotion was a way for soccer fans to show their team passion through the McDonald’s Facebook page and our McDonald’s MeEncanta.com site. The mechanics of the promotion let consumers upload a picture and “paint” their face virtually with the flag of their favorite team. Part of the success of this program was that it let Hispanic customers celebrate their heritage by choosing any country in the app rather than being limited to the most populous ones. We saw tens of thousands of users paint their faces and also a 40% increase in traffic to MeEncanta.com.

Q: Your celebrity endorsement of Michelle Wie worked well. How did she promote McDonald’s through her Twitter feed? She tweets in both English and Korean. How did that build a global following in both the U.S. and Asia?
A: Social media was a critical component to extend the reach of this program. Our partnership with Wie received a tremendous amount of positive buzz and excitement. We kicked off the partnership with announcements through both McDonald’s (@McDonalds) and Michelle Wie’s (@themichellewie) Twitter and Facebook pages. The second and third phases of the social media campaign began with the launch of the TV commercial and digital game at myinspirasian.com.

To date, this campaign yielded an amazing 197 million traditional and social media impressions. Michelle’s fans continue to respond favorably to the partnership, especially the direct engagement with Wie and bonus content like the behind the scenes video of the commercial shoot. Golf bloggers and influential twitterers were blogging and sharing McDonald’s new brand building commercial with Michelle Wie with their social networks. Bloggers and twitterers highlights include Stephanie Wei (blogger/writer and golfer), Ryan Ballengee (golf blogger and broadcaster), Danielle Tucker (radio host of The Golf Club Radio Show in Hawaii) and Fastfoodjunky (popular Twitterer to tweet news of quick service restaurants).

Q: What recommendations can you make for marketers about tapping into social media for multicultural audiences?
A: My main piece of advice would be to start with solid research about how and where your audiences spend time. Only after you have this understanding should you then seek to engage with these audiences through social communities and events that are meaningful and culturally relevant.

Source: Media Post