Going Beyond Spend: A New Way of Looking At Best-In-Class Hispanic Marketers
We are a society that is fascinated by lists. From Letterman’s “Top Ten” to the Fortune 500, it seems that any time information is presented in list form, we find it easier to digest. Of course, the Hispanic marketing industry is no different. Compliments of AdAge, we have our annual “Hispanic Fact Pack,” which includes the “Top Advertisers In Hispanic Media” – a who’s who of big spenders in Spanish-language media.
An initial review of the list reveals the names of some heavy hitters in the marketing world: P&G, AT&T, McDonald’s – many organizations that are indeed highly sophisticated marketing machines. After reviewing the list, we at the San Jose Group began to wonder: does top spender mean best spender? While big advertising budgets are certainly a luxury that can allow an organization to do more advertising, does it necessarily mean that these organizations do the best job of reaching and connecting with the Hispanic consumer?
To address our curiosity, we have created our own “Best-In-Class” model, looking at factors beyond overall advertising spend. We identified the following three key areas that guided our thinking: commitment to the Hispanic consumer, effective use of multiple consumer touchpoints and what we refer to as going above and beyond marketing efforts. Below is a further break-out of factors we took into consideration. Commitment of Spend We decided that share of total marketing spend is a more indicative measurement of commitment than gross marketing spend.
Commitment
- Percent of Spend: We decided that share of total marketing spend is a more indicative measurement of commitment than gross marketing spend.
- Internal Commitment to Multiculturalism: We evaluated how open and deliberate organizations are about including the Hispanic voice at multiple points in their organization, from management to policies and practices.
Multiple Consumer Touchpoints
- Event Sponsorship Footprint: After all, advertising is a great way to communicate, but is the brand really connecting with the consumer?
- Dedicated Spanish Customer Service: One of the most frustrating experiences for many Hispanic consumers is to be lured in by an ad in Spanish only to find it impossible to communicate with the company in Spanish.
- Integrated Marketing Efforts: We looked at how effectively the brand uses different communications channels, not just for the sake of being integrated but actually making the most of each channel.
Above and Beyond
- Alliances with Hispanic Organizations: We wanted to reward companies that support the Hispanic community in more discreet ways than mass media.
The end result of our model is a dynamic way to view Hispanic marketers through a lens other than overall spending. With our weighted point system, we can analyze any brand and understand in a more succinct way how they compare to other marketers vying for the Hispanic consumer’s attention and share of spend. If you would like to discuss this model, or would like to see how your brand stacks up against the best in the industry, please contact us–we would love to keep this dialogue going.