The Mezcal Revolución: 5 Mezcals You Should Drink Right This Minuto

By John T. Roosevelt / 24 October 2013 / 0 comments

Everybody in the marketing world that hasn’t been living under a rock knows about the huge and growing Latino market in the U.S. If you are looking to capitalize on it you probably have heard all about the $1.3 trillion buying power, the 52 million Latinos, etc. You are probably very excited about this fantastic market opportunity, but then you stop and ask yourself the question: How do I go about capitalizing on it?

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/212018/the-latinspired-strategy-a-novel-way-to-capitaliz.html#ixzz2iey9WibA

Goya is going after the Latin influenced mainstream with Latin inspired brands.

http://reachhispanic.com/2013/10/15/goya-expands-beyond-the-hispanic-market/

The Latino market opportunity is also the opportunity to win with the mainstream consumers that are being influenced by Latinos and are adopting Latino purchasing habits, beliefs and attitudes.

http://specialsites.grey.com/Wing/Tumblr/Latino_Influence_Project_Report.pdf

Why would 57%+ of top advertisers spend less than 1% of their advertising budgets targeting Latinos when there are clear facts that show it is the fastest growing and more attractive market in recent US history worth $1.3 trillion in spending power ?.  I couldn’t believe this stat but according to a new study by the AHAA (Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies) this is the case.

I have an opinion on this topic based on years of experience working in marketing organizations both in Latino and general market roles. There some key forces at play that are causing many companies to miss out on this huge Latino market opportunity:

-Misconceptions and confusion about the Latino market, its segments, its influence on the mainstream and the best way to target them.

-Lack of understanding and confidence in success models on how to win with Latinos. In the absence of a success model many advertisers are opting to tweak their general market marketing into a total market approach to win with Latinos and the general market with the same marketing spend. Sometimes the total market approach is the best approach but sometimes it is not the right approach or it is not executed well.

-Not having an influential champion in their organization or at their agencies with the right Latino/multicultural expertise, experience and power to lead an initiative to make the case for targeting Latinos.

-And the big elephant in the room: The dynamics of budget allocation, power and decision making in organizations. At most top advertisers the general market is still the primary focus, and the leaders of these companies which control the budgets have mostly built their expertise and track record in the general market. The perceived risk of betting big and failing on a market that might be unfamiliar and which they don’t master is big. Pushing for a shift to focus on the Latino market also poses a big question to organizations: whether a Latino/multicultural specific strategy is the best success model for the future. The ad spending would suggest that as of now many of these companies are not convinced that is the case.

Check out this great article by Food-Navigator-USA that lays out these surprising stats:

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/R-D/Latino-consumers-can-t-be-defined-by-a-single-lens-study/?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BDaily&c=NCTRsyH4nOTmGSICwN7c2A%3D%3D

There is a huge market opportunity that many are overlooking that you can capitalize on: The Latin influenced mainstream marketplace. To learn about it check out our infographic:

Marketealo Infographic_Sep 2013

Why you need to “Multiculturize” your brand

By Arturo Nava, Managing Partner at Marketealo

There is a huge emerging Latino wave “Multiculturizing” America that will also change the mainstream market in the US. Latinos represent a massive $1.3 trillion in purchasing power and 56% of US population growth. The Latino population is 52 million strong and growing, they represent 17% of the US population. The number of Latinos living in the US is expected to grow up to 29% of the population by 2050 according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

US born millennial Latinos are driving this huge wave as they will represent 80% of 18-29 year old US population growth by 2015 according to the Pew Hispanic Center. These Latinos unlike their parents want to stand out and be noticed, they want to do good in the world and get ahead embracing a working class moral compass. They are becoming more educated and more affluent: Latino college enrollment grew 20% in 2011 and Latino affluent households now number 5 million. The US born Latinos’ heart is Latino but their head and aspirations are American. Their heart is rooted in their Latino culture so they embrace their family, food, music, and community. Their aspirations reflect the American cultural values of education, financial success and freedom.

The rise of US born Latinos has fueled the new Latino status as today’s SUPER TRENDSETTERS. They are rapidly becoming the most influential voice in business & politics. Their deciding role in the outcome of the 2012 US presidential election was the watershed moment for Latino influence in the US. Latinos are having a powerful influence over non-Latinos by spreading their culture and shopping preferences through technology at higher rates. Latinos are twice as likely vs. non-Latinos to be first to share with friends and try new products first. They also shop more with mobile phones (56% vs. 33%) and tablets (43% vs. 25%) vs. non-Latinos according to the “Latino Shop” study by the Center for Hispanic Leadership. Retailers across all channels are trying to find ways to capture this trendsetting and extremely attractive Latino shopper. They know that Latino households will actually spend more at retail than white non-Latino households over their lifetime: 48 % in food consumed at home and away, 82% in apparel and 22% in personal care products according to Convenience Store News.

Latino culture, food, music and overall product preferences are very attractive to non-Latinos so the more they are exposed these influences the more they will embrace them. Latino influence has already inspired a growing number of non-Latino mainstream consumers to embrace Latino culture, food, music, fashion, sports and shopping preferences. According to a study by the Latino influence project by Experian marketing non-Latinos living in high-density Latino neighborhoods behave, buy and believe more similarly to Latinos than non-Latinos living in low-density Latino neighborhoods. These non-Latinos were 5.5 times more likely to eat jalapenos, 2 times more likely to shop organic and natural food, 6 times more likely to listen to and enjoy salsa and merengue and 70% more likely to experiment with new clothing styles.

In popular culture Latino celebrities are all the rage as evidenced by the popularity of Sofia Vergara, Pitbull, and Shakira now the new judge on the popular show “The Voice”. Latin food and beverages have won over the American palate and are expected to grow 31% over the next 5 years to $10.7 billion in sales. Tortillas now outsell spaghetti, macaroni, pasta, hamburger and hot dog buns and salsa is growing twice as fast as ketchup according to Packaged Facts 2012. Top Latin food chefs are more popular than ever as evidenced by their huge foodie following and the fact that they are widely considered as the ones to watch at the 2013 James Beard awards. Walmart launched Supermercados (Latin grocery format stores) in some markets and has expanded their Latin food aisles in many stores, in Florida Publix launched Publix Sabor. In fast casual restaurants Chipotle is a shining light increasing sales by 20.2% in 2012 according to the research firm Technomic.

It is very clear that Latino influence has hit the mainstream in a big, big way. This influence on mainstream market will continue to grow as more non-Latinos discover more of the beautiful, colorful and flavorful world of Latino culture, food, music, and fashion. But, yet there remains a lack of Latin inspired products and brands that reflect this new market reality. Brands that don’t embrace Latino inspiration will lose relevance not only with Latinos but also with what we at Marketealo have coined “The Latino influenced mainstream” consumer. This consumer is comprised of non-Latinos that are being influenced by Latino culture and that will demand more Latino inspired brands and products. The most visible examples of this can be seen in the food & beverage, retail, entertainment and restaurant industries who should be the first ones to evaluate how their product offerings and brands are addressing the needs of this Latin influenced consumer.

The need to “Multiculturize” brands to continue to be relevant in this rapidly changing Latino influenced marketplace couldn’t be more urgent. “Multiculturize” is what we at Marketealo call the process of infusing Latino inspiration into brands and products to win with the Latin influenced mainstream and multicultural markets. “Multiculturizing” encompasses product innovation, brand positioning and go to market plans. There is not a once size fits all solution here, the amount and type of Latin influence needed will have to be tailored for each brand’s situation. Latin inspiration can range from a very subtle infusion to a full embrace. Brands should be wise to seize the moment and get Latin inspired to capitalize on this fantastic market opportunity.

Arturo Nava is Managing Partner at Marketealo, a strategic brand marketing and innovation firm focused on creating and marketing Latin inspired brands to help companies win in the Latin inspired mainstream and multicultural markets.

Learn more about Marketealo at: www.facebook.com/marketealo, www.marketealo.com, @marketealo

Did you know that Hispanics currently represent 56% of population growth in America? 

Glenn Llopis contributor to Forbes.com shared the following in a recent article about why American Companies need to urgently invest more in Hispanic Marketing to capture growth opportunity.  And, he also provided insights into how to do it.  Here is an excerpt of his article:

America’s Corporations Can No Longer Ignore Hispanic Marketing Like Mitt Romney Did

America’s corporations that make the right investment now will stimulate economic development and market share gains by enabling the Hispanic market opportunity with a holistically driven approach that:

1) Commits us to becoming more culturally intelligent

2) Compels us to think of the Hispanic community as a profit center – an investment to drive innovation and growth

Read More

Here is some advice I would give to small to mid-sized business that if followed will help them spark brand growth. These are three of the “secrets” top brands use:

• Define your target consumer. You can’t be all things to all people. A big part of being a “brand” is making hard choices about targeting your best and potentially most loyal consumer base. The more focused the better so that you can create a customized experience that will make your brand indespensible in their lives. You have a much better chance of making a connection with a consumer if you know specifically who they are and what they want. For example, just targeting men is probably too broad, but putting definition around what “kind” of men (like health conscious dads) will provide direction on how to reach them.

• Find your emotional benefit. Functional benefits are only half of the story and chances are that they alone won’t differentiate from your competition. But discovering how you can make your target consumer feel can set you apart and become the basis for building your brand experience. A ready-to-drink tea beverage provider, as an example, should not just claim to satisfy a consumer’s thirst, as that is merely a functional benefit. Instead, connect with your consumer by offering all-natural tea that’s hand-picked at the peak of freshness to deliver pure tea satisfaction and suddenly there’s an emotional benefit to leverage.

Read More