STUDIES IN SUCCESS

Marketers are increasingly recognizing the importance of reaching out to Latinos, and many are doing so with savvy and sophistication.
The following case studies highlight some integrated Hispanic marketing efforts.

By Mindy Charski

Chase Card Services:
Making “more” possible
Chase Card Services has been ramping up its customer service for Hispanics over the past several years, and now it offers such benefits as bilingual customer support and statements in Spanish.
Last October, to promote that customer experience, the unit of JPMorgan Chase launched a multimillion-dollar national advertising campaign in Spanish, which included heavy use of television and online ads. “We wanted to make sure the Hispanic community knew we were here,” says Kimberly Mesa, vice president, Hispanic Market Segment, for the Wilmington, Delaware-based client.
The work, which uses the tagline Más es Posible, or “More is Possible,” targets a broad range of Hispanics of various acculturation levels and ages. The message is designed to convey “how Chase enables the Hispanic consumer to achieve more in life and to have access to more opportunities,” Mesa says.
The two television spots created by Lapiz Hispanic Marketing in Chicago each offer an empowering vignette. In one, a man receives a card and finally buys the motorcycle he’s been admiring.
Online ads, crafted in collaboration with T3 of Austin, Texas, show the Chase Freedom card as a means to an upgrade: One ad features the card positioned between an old television and a more modern one. The ads link to a Spanish-language credit card application. The campaign includes the line, Confía en Ti. Confia en Chase, or “Have confidence in yourself. Have Confidence in Chase,” which Lapiz uses in all Chase Hispanic marketing.
Chase Card Services also uses direct mail, offers cards that include soccer-related rewards, and participates in backing local and national soccer matches. It has also sponsored events like the Latin Grammys.
Chase sees a “clear growth opportunity” in the Hispanic segment, which is underrepresented in the customer base of Chase’s credit card division, says Elizabeth Papasakelariou, an account supervisor at Lapiz. Indeed, Chase estimates fewer than 45 percent of U.S. Hispanics have credit cards, possibly due to a lack of trust in banks.
“It is an opportunity to really reach out and be a relevant brand,” Mesa says.
The company provides educational resources in Spanish at events and also had a Chase representative discuss money-related topics on Telemundo’s Cada dia con Maria Antonieta in three separate segments beginning in October. Mesa says, “We thought it was a relevant way to provide some education and reach out to the community in a way that’s real and genuine.”

Verizon Communications:
Carefully carving an image
Verizon Communications is building out its fiber-optic network, which allows connected consumers to receive super-fast Internet access as well as voice and television service. The Internet offering, FiOS Internet, is becoming available in areas in 16 states, and FiOS TV is offered in areas of 10 of those states.
Late last year, the New York-based company conducted a marketing test to see, which offers for those two products would most appeal to its Latino customers. Alejandra Martínez, Verizon’s senior marketing communications manager, multicultural segments, says a larger campaign will likely come this year or next. The segment is particularly attractive because entertainment is a big part of the Hispanic culture and Latino consumption of online gaming is very high, she says.
The client and Los Angeles-based La Agencia de Orci & Asociados picked primarily Hispanic neighborhoods in California and Florida for the test. The bilingual effort had to be highly targeted—“We needed to go surgically,” says Orlando Zambrano, the agency’s New York-based director of account services—because not everyone in the city would live in an area that had been wired with fiber. That meant media targeted at a wide audience, like newspapers, were out.
The team first visited the areas to learn the “realities of the zip code,” Zambrano says. Then, the agency sent direct mail with compelling messages to tens of thousands of homes. Every household received four pieces, each offering a different message that focused on the intensity of entertainment that FiOS facilitates. “We wanted to make sure as we approached consumers we could have a dialogue and relationship,” he says.
Other promotional efforts included unique door-hangers, trucks with billboards that drove around the communities, and ads on local gas pumps. Verizon also held neighborhood movie nights, where residents could watch a Latino-oriented film and then stop into kiosks to see demonstrations of FiOS. “Even though Hispanics over-index in use of technology, they need to see what this is about,” Zambrano says. The agency created a microsite at www.atodoloqueda.com and used public relations as well.
Zambrano says sales resulting from the effort were more than triple what they had expected. Likewise, Martinez says a brand awareness study following the test found the majority of those surveyed see Verizon as “younger” and “hip” and recognize it as an entertainment company. She says, “We were extremely happy.”

Illinois Bureau of Tourism:
Appealing to emotion
There are more than 1.5 million Hispanics in Illinois, and the Illinois Bureau of Tourism spends about $350,000 annually to encourage them to visit destinations within the state. “We realized we needed something in language that spoke to the community,” says Jan Kostner, deputy directory of the tourism bureau. “We know [Latinos] travel differently—in families and not couples—and we needed something more targeted.”
So while the general-market messages promote a variety of Illinois excursions, including romantic getaways and girlfriend trips, the Spanish-language effort generally celebrates the family vacation. Since 2004, ads in Spanish-language newspapers, on the radio, and on bus shelters have used the tag, Vive la emoción, or “Live the emotion.”
The ads stay away from the idea of escapism, a common theme in tourism work. “Escapism is not the mentality of the Hispanic traveler,” says Agatha Kubalski, account executive at The San Jose Group, the bureau’s Chicago-based Hispanic ad agency. “There are some overarching commonalities [among Latinos] and one is family values. You’re not escaping your family on vacation, you’re taking them with you.”
The ads generally run in the Chicagoland area, where the bulk of the state’s Hispanics live. The work, targeted largely to Latinos ages 18 to 49, promotes attractions both inside and outside of Chicago.
The tourism bureau also participates in radio remotes and events like Hispanic-focused festivals, where potential travelers can sign up to receive materials. The bureau uses those requests to create a database for future direct marketing. In addition, it has garnered more than $136,000 in non-paid media value through public relations efforts.
To assist potential tourists, the bureau offers a bilingual toll-free number and a website and travel brochure in Spanish. “Once we advertise in Spanish, we need to have something to back that up,” Kubalski says. “We wanted to have culturally relevant tools so [Hispanics] don’t feel frustrated.”
The efforts appear to be paying off in drawing interest. There was a 34 percent increase in website activity following the summer advertising flight, the agency says.
In addition, Hispanic travelers taking a trip within Illinois increased three-fold last fall compared to the year earlier. And, the percentage of Hispanic travelers considering a trip within the state over the next three to four months increased 13 percent compared to the prior year.
“This really is about creating a culturally relevant integrated marketing campaign,” Kubalski says, “and having a number of touch points with our audience.”

Winn-Dixie Stores:
Turning Merchandising
into a precise science
Winn-Dixie Stores is a five-state supermarket chain with nearly 90 percent of its stores in Florida. Attracting Hispanics is important to the company and today 103 of its 522 locations—roughly 20 percent—are part of its Hispanic Neighborhood Merchandising program. These stores cater to the predominant nationalities of the areas, so such a store in a Cuban neighborhood of Miami will offer Cuban bread in its bakery, while one in a Puerto Rican area of Orlando or Tampa will sell Puerto Rican bread. Likewise, brands like Goya and Cafe Bustelo are available in the grocery aisles.
The Jacksonville, Florida-based company sees marketing and merchandising as intertwined. “We need to do that brand awareness of what we stand for as a company and we need to deliver on that in terms of the merchandising,” says Michelle Zubizarreta, chief administrative officer of Zubi Advertising in Coral Gables, Florida, which has handled the grocer’s Latino advertising since 1984.
All communications for the retailer use the tagline El Sabor de tu pais, or “The flavor of your country.” The client sends direct mail, participates in community events, uses outdoor work, and runs Spanish-language television and radio spots, some of which highlight items on sale in the middle of the ads. The latest television branding effort reflects the company’s November emergence from Chapter 11 by featuring associates thanking customers.
Winn-Dixie also uses unique tactical approaches to appeal to its Latino base. For instance, when black beans go on sale in the Miami region, circulars and spots on television and radio are likely to call them frijoles negros. Circulars and ads in Orlando and Tampa will refer to them by the more colloquial name Puerto Ricans and Dominicans use—habichuelas negras.
“Your brand essence has to be able to touch all Hispanics or whatever group you may be targeting,” Zubizarreta says. “Then when you get into more tactical, it becomes more of a precise science and you have more chances of connecting on many different levels with every market you may be targeting.”
There are plans to expand the merchandising program, and the company is communicating more about its Hispanic store offerings. Last year it handed out coupons for products and services at those locations while sponsoring an area at the Calle Ocho street festival. The redemption rate was 19.37 percent. “We weren’t expecting that response,” says Andrea Rodriguez, a neighborhood marketing specialist at Winn-Dixie. “It’s telling us our customers are responding to what we’re communicating.”