On Veterans Day

Nov112009
Jim Stevens-Arce

√Soldiers_1Today we honor the millions of men and women who have served honorably in our nation’s military services since its birth more than 200 hundred years ago.

A band of brothers and sisters who were willing to leave behind home and family to protect and defend the land they loved.

Our best and brightest, many of whom were called upon to make the supreme sacrifice.

More than 1.1 million of these quiet patriots have been Hispanics.

Forty-one of them earned the Congressional Medal of Honor, our nation’s highest military award for valor in action.

Twenty of these received the award posthumously.

Like their countless brothers and sisters in uniform, each of the 1.1 million answered the call.

Each donned the uniform.

And each protected and defended the land he or she loved.

Today we remember our veterans.

Today we thank them for their service.

Today we honor them all.

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9. Who’s the Jefe?

Nov102009
Jim Stevens-Arce

√LatinoFamily_26Some Hispanic men may still be machistas.

But in most Hispanic households, Mamá is the one who runs things.

That’s why advertising aimed at anyone in a Hispanic home often tends to be more effective when it addresses Mom, too.

A lot of the time, she’s the decision maker.

Even when it may not be obvious.

And even when she doesn’t flat-out say “no” or “buy this,” in most households she still exerts a strong influence.

Consider this example.

English-language breakfast cereal ads generally target: whom?

That’s right.

Kids.

And they tend to focus on fun and flavor.

As does the following English-language commercial for Honey Nut Cheerios, which plugs the cereal’s sweet honey flavor, the magic compass decoder prize inside, and the “cool games” on the back of its box.

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So who do Spanish-language spots target?

The mother.

And they tend to focus on the cereal’s health and nutritional values.

As does the following Spanish-language cereal commercial, which urges mothers to protect their children against anemia by giving them Kellogg’s Corn Flakes for breakfast because the vitamins A and C they contain can help triple the body’s ability to absorb iron.
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Why the difference?

Simple.

The English-language spot expects the child to decide what the mother will buy.

The Spanish-language commercial knows the mother will decide what her child eats.

See, in Latino homes, Mamá still knows best.

And that’s something advertisers need to know, too.

:: :: ::

Next time we’ll talk about two other important values Hispanics hold dear.
And why they should be important to you, too.
Stay tuned.

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5 Takeaways From Internet Summit 2009

Nov62009
Kipp Bodnar

Yesterday the second Internet Summit conference was held in Downtown Raleigh. The event brought together about 1200 attendees to listen to local and national speakers discuss social media, online advertising, design, cloud computing as well as other related online topics. The day was filled with a lot of content and discussion, more than could be put into a bog post.

So I wanted to share five facts/takeaways from yesterday’s event that I thought were important.

1. ESPN has more traffic to scoreboards via mobile devices than ESPN.com – Translated that mobile is becoming a critical “screen” for consumer data and advertising.

2. Matt Van Horn from Digg said that FourSquare and GroupOn are two applications that are starting to gain traction – This shows location-based services and crowdsourcing applications have growth potential if executed correctly.

3. Pandora has 9 million users on the iPhone and only 10-15K on the BlackBerry – Blackberry continues to out sell the iPhone, but stats like this show that the user experience is more engaging on the iPhone than on the BlackBerry.

4. Twitter panel: Panel concludes that 2009 was year of Twitter, 2010 will be year of Twitter-like services – This lesson from the Twitter panel shows that APIs and the ability to develop third party applications will continue to drive application adoption and usage.

5. According to the E-commerce panel ” Amazon took Circuit City’s market share more so than Best Buy” – This insight helps to underscore that more retail dollars are shifting to online. Advertising and marketing have to shift online and mobile to help drive support for E-commerce.

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Very cool music book soundtrack site, check it out

Nov52009
Chris Gupton

Very cool

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Best Buy has a new logo

Nov52009
Chris Gupton

best_buy_logo_02

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BASF Field Trip

Nov42009
Billy Barnes

A group of us just took a farm tour of Indiana, Minnesota and Upstate New York on behalf of our client, BASF Plant Science, to see NutriDense out in the field. Literally. Nutridense is a trait that, among other things, gives corn (for grain and silage) a nutritional boost. You can learn all about it at nutridense.com. We learned a ton. Met some amazing grain growers and dairymen. And yes, got our hands a little dirty. There’s no better way to learn. See a few pics from the trip here:

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Halloween at HM&P

Nov32009
Laura Gross

We had a great time at our Halloween party on Friday night, 10/30/09. Check out some of our costumes!

Jim, Sarah, Corallie, Laura & Jessica

Jim, Sarah, Corallie, Laura & Jessica

Melanie & Olivia

Melanie & Olivia

Mike "Puppy Dog"

Mike "Puppy Dog"

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8. La Familia is an Institution – Part 2

Nov32009
Jim Stevens-Arce

my_family_mi_familia_posterIn 1995, Latino filmmaker Gregory Nava co-scripted and directed a generational saga he titled My Family, Mi Familia.

(Francis Ford Coppola, who knows a little something about families and generational sagas himself, executive produced.)

And in 2002, Nava created the television drama American Family, which told the story of a Latino family in America and ran on PBS for two seasons.

Coincidence?

Maybe.

But, you know, Hispanics tend to be family-oriented.

Strongly so.

So it shouldn’t surprise advertisers to learn that marketing strategies which focus on family values tend to appeal to them — strongly — as well.

Or that ads targeting Hispanics tend to be more successful when they show the whole family benefiting from and enjoying the product or service.

Examples.

Two similar products.

Two different companies.

Two similar approaches.

First company: Honda.

The Japanese carmaker usually markets the more sporty coupe model of its Accord line to non-Hispanics.

But when it targets Hispanics, Honda highlights the sedan as the ideal family car.

Likewise Ford.

For non-Hispanics, it positions the Focus as a fun-to-drive vehicle for young people.

But when it goes after Latinos, Ford features the Focus’s pluses as a family car.

23_Composite_FocusAccord
Two different companies.

Two different cars.

Two similar approaches to positioning each car.

Each based on understanding the target and its feelings.

:: :: ::

Next time we’ll talk about who’s the boss in Hispanic households.
And how to get the boss on your side.
Stay tuned.

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