Captura Group a Hispanic and digital-first full service agency obsessed with helping brands connect with and uplift minority communities, is pleased to announce that multicultural marketing industry pioneer Roberto Orci  has joined its team as Executive Vice President of Strategic Growth. 

In this role, Roberto will lead initiatives that drive growth for Captura Group and its roster of clients.  Roberto will further develop Captura Group’s Hispanic and digital-first capabilities that will enable its clients to effectively engage with and reach multicultural consumers.  These include,  multicultural operational readiness, assessment and implementation, multicultural data, analytics, research and insights, Hispanic social listening and influencer marketing in addition to multicultural artificial intelligence and omni-channel media.

Roberto brings robust agency-side experience growing Fortune 500 brands by strategically targeting U.S. Hispanic and multicultural consumers to Captura Group.  He has driven quantifiable results for brands including Honda, Allstate, Wells Fargo Bank, Albertsons, Staples, Time Warner Cable, Nestle, Verizon, Western Union and CenturyLink Communications, among others.  Prior to joining Captura Group, Roberto was the President and CEO of leading multicultural agencies Acento Advertising and La Agencia de Orci and was also the Vice President and Management Supervisor of the global advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather.

Roberto is a pioneer and sought after thought leader in the multicultural marketing industry.  He is a founding member of the Association of National Advertisers Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing, served as the Chairman of the Board of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies and has lectured at Stanford University, UCLA, Pepperdine and California State University on the topic of multicultural marketing.

“When I co-founded Captura Group 20 years ago, the first person I reached out to for guidance was Roberto Orci”, said Lee Vann, Captura Group’s Executive Chairman.  “Since that time, Roberto has been an inspiration, mentor and friend to me. I am truly honored to have him join our family.” 

“I am thrilled to join the Captura Group team at such a pivotal time in our industry,” commented Roberto Orci. “I have dedicated most of my career to multicultural marketing and have never seen as much momentum as I am witnessing now.  Cutting edge brands are driving measurable growth at the intersection of strategic multicultural and digital marketing and Captura Group is uniquely positioned to continue to harness these two market dynamics to succeed for our clients.”

A report by the Association of National Advertisers Alliance for Inclusion and Multicultural Marketing “The Case for Change” indicates that multicultural segments make up 40 percent of the U.S. population and control $3.7 trillion in buying power, data that brands can no longer afford to ignore.  The upcoming release of the 2020 U.S. Census will bolster this data even further as the multicultural population in the U.S. continues to grow while the non-Hispanic white population declines.

“Not only does the data point to multicultural consumers as a critical engine for growth, but we are seeing first hand that Captura Group’s Hispanic and digital-first approach to multicultural marketing works” commented Walter Boza, Captura Group’s President and General Manager.  “I am excited to welcome Roberto to our team and I am confident that his experience coupled with Captura Group’s platform and vision will accelerate growth for our clients and transform our industry.”

About Captura Group:
Founded in 2001, Captura Group is a Hispanic and digital-first full service agency obsessed with helping brands connect with and uplift minority communities.  Captura Group has established itself as an industry leader by successfully leveraging the power of innovation and cultural intelligence to accelerate growth for its clients including Kellogg’s, Fiesta Auto Insurance, Dairy Farmers of America, The U.S. Government, E&J Gallo Winery and others.  Captura Group is a certified Hispanic and Women owned enterprise with offices in Southern California and Chicago.

Contact:
Molly Voska
Marketing Manager
molly@capturagroup.com

Our role as a Hispanic and digital-first advertising agency is to help other businesses grow. We believe that as businesses do well, there’s a positive effect on communities and the economy: more employment, more wealth, and more prosperous society. As a minority and woman-owned business, we are proud partners of Support Latino Business, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Latino-owned businesses in the U.S. 

As part of our ongoing support for Support Latino Business, we are proud to sponsor the Ilumina Latino Business Marketing Grant – through the grant, we will provide one Latino(a) business with $4,000 worth of Captura Group marketing services and $1,000 cash.

Are you a Latino business owner?  

Apply for the Ilumina Latino Business Marketing Grant today!

Inauguration Highlights

• The first female, African and South Asian American Vice President, sworn in by the first Latina Supreme Court Justice, applauded by the nation’s first African American President and First Lady.

• Puerto Rican Jennifer Lopez performed a medley of iconic American Songs “This Land is Your Land” and “America the Beautiful” and then reciting, in Spanish, a verse from the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance “Una nación, bajo Dios, indivisible, con libertad y justicia para todos” – “One nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”  She closed emphatically with her iconic lyric “Let’s get loud”.

• President Biden committed his soul and challenged all Americans to embrace unity and equality in his inaugural address. “The American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us. A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer. We can deliver racial justice. We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors. We can treat each other with dignity and respect. And together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear. Of unity, not division.

• African American youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman reciting her goosebump-producing The Hill We Climb – “We will rebuild, reconcile and recover in every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful.”

Despite the euphoria I felt as I took in the beautiful multiculturalism of the inauguration, as someone who has dedicated my entire career to multicultural marketing, a question kept nagging at me. 

Will Corporate America Finally Inaugurate Multicultural Marketing?

This question nagged at me because on the one hand, I witnessed an entire U.S. presidential transition team embrace multiculturalism. Not only did the incoming administration celebrate our multicultural nation at the inauguration, they are putting their money where their mouth is by forming the most diverse cabinet ever, reversing a previous executive order to restrict diversity training, and signing executive orders to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities with more to come.  

On the other hand, despite a handful of positive multicultural initiatives by some companies sparked by the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements, Corporate America has neglected multiculturalism and multicultural marketing for too long.  

A report by the Association of National Advertisers Alliance for Inclusion and Multicultural Marketing “The Case for Change” goes beyond imagery and prose and aggregates overwhelming, hard data that clearly illustrates that investing in multicultural marketing is good business.  Here’s why:

Changing Demographics

• Multicultural segments, which include all ethnic segments except White Non-Hispanics, make up 40 percent of the U.S. population 

• The White Non-Hispanic population declined by 55,000 in 2016 and is expected to continue this descending pattern. Meanwhile, the Multicultural population is projected to increase by 2.3 million each year before becoming a numeric majority in just 25 years 

• Simply put, diversity is increasing rapidly with each generation. Nielsen revealed that of the 75 million millennials in America, 42% of them are Multicultural. The percentage is even higher for Generation Z.

• Multicultural consumers are younger and have a higher life expectancy, living longer than their White Non-Hispanic counterparts. As a result, their lifetime value as consumers is higher than their White Non-Hispanic counterparts. 

Segment Buying Power is Booming

• In 2018 U.S. Hispanic buying power surpassed $1.5 trillion, African American $1.2 trillion, and Asian American $1 trillion.

• The two fastest U.S. buying power growth segments are Hispanic, which is growing almost twice as fast as White Non-Hispanic, and Asian, growing 2.2 times faster than White Non-Hispanic. 

• 100% of the growth in compact cars, minivans, and midsize SUVs came from African-American consumers. 

• 100% of the U.S. growth in personal student loans and 61% of new investors in stock came from Asian American consumers. 

• 93% of the U.S. growth in home improvement, 76% of the growth in small business, 73% of the growth in smartphones bought, and 79% of luxury car purchase growth came from Hispanic consumers.

• Hispanics over-index on food and groceries, clothing, auto insurance, and wireless services. African-Americans over-index on shoe purchases and wireless services. Asians over-index on dining out, public transportation use, housing, and education.

Smart Multicultural Marketing Works

• A study conducted by the Culture Marketing Council found that, “on average, a five-point shift in allocation from English media to Hispanic media would generate incremental growth rates of 3.3 to 8.9 points per year in CPG, financial and insurance, and automotive sector companies.

• The ANA’s AIMM Cultural Insights Impact Measure found that consumers who perceive ads as “culturally relevant” are 2.6 times more likely to find the brand relevant to them, and are 2.7 times more likely to purchase a brand for the first time. Additionally, they are 50% more likely to repurchase a brand they have bought in the past.

Despite the preponderance of hard data, Corporate America’s neglect of diversity and multicultural marketing is crystal clear. This neglect is staggering when looking at the diverse representation within Corporate America and the severe underinvestment in multicultural marketing.

According to CNBC, “Corporate America has long been criticized for its lack of gender and racial diversity, with underrepresented racial groups making up just 12.5% of board seats at the 3,000 largest publicly traded companies, and women making up just 21%.”  A 2020 report by ANA AIMM found that 88% of ANA member company CMO’s are white while only 5% are Asian American, 4% are Hispanic and 3% are Black. The same report shows the lack of diversity among ANA member company marketing teams where only 29% are multicultural vs. 71% white. 

When it comes to investment in multicultural marketing, the numbers are just as woeful. Corporate America is significantly underinvesting in multicultural marketing. The ANA AIMM found that Multicultural Media revenue – meaning advertising and brand activation revenues (for both above- and below-the-line media) – significantly under-indexes the general population. Multicultural consumers now comprise almost 40% of the total population, yet Multicultural Media investments comprise only 5.2% of total advertising and marketing revenues.

If an entire U.S. presidential team can celebrate the rich multiculturalism of the U.S. and within days take real action to support our minority communities, why hasn’t Corporate America inaugurated multicultural marketing?

The answer to that question is the topic for another post, but what matters right now is action.  Not only does the data clearly illustrate that multicultural marketing is good business, but a pandemic and long-term systemic racial inequality have disproportionately impacted multicultural communities.  If this is not a catalyst for Corporate America to finally inaugurate multicultural marketing, I don’t know what is.

I for one will not stand idly by –  I will continue to put my soul into working to help make sure multicultural communities are represented within Corporate America, are communicated to in a way they understand, and get the support they need and deserve – all while driving growth for companies and brands who choose this journey – this is a true win-win.

I challenge you to join the cause, because success “depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us”.  I challenge you to “rebuild, reconcile and recover in every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful.” 

I challenge you to raise your voice, active your networks, and take action to ensure that Corporate America will finally inaugurate multicultural marketing.

Let’s get loud.

– Lee Vann. Co-Founder | Executive Chairman

Still, according to November 2020 data from the National Student Clearinghouse, there is a decline of students returning to schools this past fall: 4% fewer undergraduate students returned to 4-year for-profit schools, and the decline is even steeper for community colleges. This COVID-19 impact has pushed schools to adopt new marketing methods to break away from the “sameness” we’ve seen in educational advertising. Digital college fairs and close-to-home messaging have shown positive results for a number of students, according to the Ad Age article Higher Ed Gets A Lesson On Marketing During The Pandemic. In this publication, marketers shared methods to push recruitment while facing new challenges. 

While the interviewed schools’ responses have shown that they have been fairly successful in weathering the pandemic, the truth is that, even before March 2020, the overall enrollment was declining for all segments except one: the U.S. Hispanic population. Hispanics were the only group that showed a positive year-over-year change in Fall 2019 with a 1.4% increase in enrollment (National Student Clearinghouse). 

As a Hispanic marketing agency, Captura Group recognizes the power of Hispanic students as a path to recovery for higher education. Pew Research reports that 25% of US Gen Z is Hispanic. The decade of climbing college enrollment rates by Hispanics, across all degree programs, is the driving force for Gen Z to be the most educated generation yet.

As the largest minority group, Hispanic students’ 2-year impact is net -4% enrollment in undergraduate programs, minimal compared to the -12.4% and -12.1% for White and Black students respectively since 2019. Conversely, postgraduate programs are thriving, with Hispanics pushing growth at the highest levels of any demographic group, enrolling at a 13% increase this semester (National Student Clearinghouse). 

Engaging and recruiting Hispanic students is crucial for higher education institutions in their path to recovery and growth. Doing so effectively requires expertise and a deep understanding of the social, economic, and cultural context of the Hispanic population.

Captura Group is a Hispanic and digital-first full-service agency obsessed with helping brands succeed in a multicultural world. We leverage the power of innovation and cultural intelligence to accelerate growth for our clients. Captura Group is a certified Minority & Woman-Owned Enterprise.

During the 2020 ANA Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference, these issues were tackled head-on by the most prominent voices in our industry. While this year the conference was adapted to be virtual, it was successful in engaging its audience with enticing topics, top-notch keynote speakers, and thoughtful panel discussions.

As ANA AIMM members and a certified minority and woman-owned business, we took the opportunity to participate in this year’s conference. We share our 5 key takeaways from the discussions, in the hope that they inspire you to take action.

1. Multicultural Marketing: “A force for good and a force for growth.”

This year’s keynote address from ANA Chair Marc Pritchard, “A force of good, and a force for growth.” was a theme that carried across the two-day conference. The message established and reinforced that representation in advertising is not only the right thing to do, but it will also bring sustained business growth. A multicultural majority is on the horizon. Diverse audiences are inviting brands to understand and engage them to earn their loyalty. Reflective representation throughout the supply chain brings sustainable value to our industry. A full-funnel investment will bring returns in greater creativity & innovation, authentic connections, and wealth creation that builds purchasing power in brands’ markets. 

2. Culture as a Strategy

With 40% of the U.S. identifying as multicultural, a “bolted-on” diversity campaign is noticed by consumers, and poorly reflected in returns. Translated, “racially ambiguous”, and inauthentic promotions have no place in this multicultural nation. Companies can build diversity into the strategic framework of their advertising to strengthen message resonance. ANA AIMM’s Cultural Insights Impact Measure (CIIM) tool allows brands to evaluate the effectiveness of cultural relevance in ads. Proper execution of diverse initiatives has the potential to increase purchasing intent 3x. Major companies, including Kellogg’s (Disclosure: Captura Group Client), are already using CIIM as a tool to measure cultural impact, and use multicultural advertising partners to bring cultural expertise to their marketing strategy.

 3. “Llegar para quedarse, y ganar.” 

CMO Alicia Enciso’s motto, “Come to stay, and win.” helped Nestle successfully activate the Hispanic market for their brands with a commitment to a sustained connection with the audience. Applying cultural insights to brands across their portfolio was fundamental for product relevancy and sustainable growth. Long-term gains will only come if the commitment to winning translates into consistent investing across time. Building market share with diverse consumers takes more than a lone initiative.

4. #SeeAll of Cultural Identities

The nation’s melting pot celebrates all the unique flavors and spices that make our country strong and beautiful. Brands can celebrate this too, but with an understanding that all of us are defined by more than one identity. AIMM co-founder Lisette Arsuaga shared their Emmy’s ad #SeeAll. The initiative pushed industry members to See All of each person’s identity and recognize their perspectives and experiences. Businesses should approach customers with a deeper level of understanding of their cultural nuances and intersectional identities, as each layer of awareness and inclusion unlocks more market potential. Recognize the motivations behind each segment to implement a strategy for the full spectrum of consumers. 

5. Foundational Diversity, Be About It

Consumers are aware and critical of hollow support. They are seeking brands with community engagement rooted in their company. Reflecting your market through your employees and suppliers will help to discover your brand’s rightful purpose and ownable place within the diverse markets you serve. Multiple speakers spoke to diversifying the pipeline by investing in talent and partners within the audience. This allows an authentic brand voice in the space. Consumers are holding companies accountable for representation and authenticity at their foundation. 

Is your company looking to unlock business growth through diverse audience connections? 

Captura Group is a Hispanic & Digital-first full-service agency that inspires brands to discover and embrace their rightful purpose and ownable place within the diverse markets they serve. Reach out to sales@capturagroup.com to take the next step in your brand’s multicultural journey.

Captura Group | Established 2001 | Certified Minority & Women-Owned Business.

By trying to speak to everyone using the same creative, brands ended up losing relevance. Former Facebook CMO and marketing legend Antonio Lucio explains “Marketers are taking the average of the average of the average to create this single message that is directed to this hypothetical consumer that has nothing to do with the real consumer who is consuming our products”.

At Captura Group, we have been strong believers that culture matters when reaching Hispanic consumers. We have operated from this core belief since our foundation in 2001, and have seen that unlocking cultural insights for our campaigns has consistently helped our clients grow their business. 

That’s why we’re thrilled to have contributed to a provocative and necessary report published by the ANA Alliance of Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM). The Power of a Modern Marketing Reset report is a challenge to all marketers to hit the reset button and start doing Multicultural Marketing the right way: by starting from culturally relevant insights.

And there’s plenty of data to support this challenge. AIMM has developed the “Cultural Insights Impact Measure”, or “CIMM^TM ”, which measures the impact of culture in ads and programming. For example, CIIM^TM findings show that ads perceived to have more cultural relevance enhance brand perception (2X), increase brand effectiveness (2X-3X) and lift purchase intent (3X).

At Captura Group we can help your brand connect in a culturally relevant manner with the Hispanic consumer.

Reset Your Multicultural Marketing Strategy with Captura Group

Humans First

As advertising professionals we are responsible for coming up with strategies to help brands navigate these unusual circumstances. We’ll get to that. But what we’re facing now is much bigger than our industry, so my approach is to go back to basics and focus on the human element. We’re all humans first, and we are all in this together.

Feeling anxious or stressed is normal. Not only are we learning how to adapt daily, but we’re also doing this while trying to come up with answers for the bigger questions. How long? How will this affect my financial situation? How will this affect our kids’ long term education? When will I be able to have a “normal” life again? Not being able to even attempt to have an educated guess for these questions can make you feel uneasy.

In a recent virtual meeting with the leadership team at Captura Group we shared some strategies to help us cope. I want to share them with you, as I believe that in times like these we need to be more generous than ever.

Channel Your Emotional and Mental Energy Towards Something Positive

Sometimes in the worst times, the best ideas can flourish. Use your energy to come up with a creative idea, experiment with arts and crafts, learn something new, or simply sit down to put your thoughts into words (like I’m doing now).

Take a Mental Break to Avoid a Mental Breakdown

Allow yourself to take mini-breaks during the day. Do breathing exercises or meditate for a few minutes. If you can go for a walk around the block, do it! Let your mind wander and rest for a few minutes. This advice is useful even under normal circumstances.

Control the Controllable

Yes, it’s almost inevitable to think about the uncertain, but force yourself to stay focused only on what’s under your control. This can be achieved by setting up a schedule so you feel there’s a bit of structure amongst this chaos.

Stay Positive

Negative emotions can drag you down a rabbit hole. Be very aware of your feelings and emotions, and err on the side of hope and optimism. This is hard to do on your own, so maybe do like some of the Captura Group team is doing and enroll in Yale’s “The Science of Well Being” course. Anything that works for you.

Stay Connected

Social distancing is tough! I miss handshakes, hugging people, chatting with strangers, going to the office. It makes going through these uncertain times even more difficult. So call your co-workers, have video calls, over-communicate! At Captura Group we created a group chat ONLY to greet each other throughout the day. A simple ‘buenos días’ can make somebody else’s day better.

These are just some strategies we are using. They will evolve for sure as times are changing. If you have strategies to share we invite you to do so.

What About Brands?

Captura Group is a digital-first full service agency obsessed with helping brands succeed in a multicultural world. A lot of our collective energy recently has been devoted to taking care of the team while taking care of the brands that have trusted us as their agency.

As with our personal lives, we’re learning something new every day. We’re checking what other agencies and advertisers are doing and learning from them.

We can’t offer cookie-cutter solutions for the current circumstances. What we have done is establish some fundamental questions to interrogate our current strategies. All of our teams are analyzing each of their brands using these questions before landing on a recommendation.

What’s the Role of the Brand in the Current Environment?

Some brands have a very clear role given the current context. If you’re a cleaning brand (Clorox, Lysol), a soap or a hand sanitizer brand, it’s clear that you play a key role. However, this doesn’t mean that you should take advantage of this situation to sell more (Clorox did the right thing by turning off their ads on Amazon. AdAge), it just means that consumers are probably going to look for you regardless of whether you advertise or not. These brands will be evaluated for what they say and what they do (Lysol Makes $2 Million Matching Contribution to CDC Foundation’s Coronavirus Crowdfunding Campaign to Encourage More Donations).

Other brands play a less direct role. Since people are staying at home more, there’s a greater demand for remote connectivity. If you’re a video/web conference platform, a video streaming service or food delivery service, you can play a big part in making these dire times more bearable.

The role of your brand can be even more indirect. Maybe you’re a CPG food brand that is mostly consumed at home? People are going to need you, as they’ll go out less often. You might need to shift your messaging slightly or put more weight on your e-commerce efforts.

And sometimes, your brand experience can be counterintuitive to our current environment. If you’re a restaurant or bar, or an alcoholic beverage that promotes a socially active lifestyle, you definitely need to pivot your message and your behavior (restaurants and bars focusing on delivery, distilleries making hand sanitizers).

Is my Current Message Relevant, Irrelevant or Harmful?

Regardless of the role your brand plays in the current environment, agencies and advertisers should look at their current campaigns with a highly critical lens, and be brave enough to take action if needed. People are extremely sensitive, and for a  reason, so if you believe your current message is going to receive a backlash, don’t be afraid to pull it out (Finger-Lickin’ Good anyone?).

If your current message is based on recipes for home cooking, sharing at home, or simply staying at home, you should probably continue to support those efforts. Being forced to stay at home, consumers will highly appreciate anything that makes these times feel a bit more normal.

A New Brief

Creating a campaign specific to the current times should start by honestly answering these questions: will it do good for society/the community? Will it be helpful for the target audience? Is it aligned with what the brand stands for?

These questions are always relevant. But given the current circumstances, they are now critical.

A good example of how a brand can achieve this comes to us from Nike, who created a social campaign promoting social distancing (usatoday.com). But all the solutions don’t have to be short-lived. Ideally, the solution you come up with today will still be relevant after we go back to more normal circumstances.

A Hispanic Lens

With a young and growing population of 60 million and a purchasing power estimated at $1.5 trillion US Hispanics will play a key role as the economy rebounds. While the coronavirus impact will affect everyone one way or another, regardless of race or ethnicity, we want to offer some perspective from a US Hispanic lens.

Hispanic households are already outspending the average US household on buying food to eat at home. Hispanics are also bigger on stocking up, averaging 3.1 stocking trips vs 2.7 for the general population. If you represent a CPG food brand you need to be aware of these behaviors and make sure you stay connected to these consumers in times in which we’re all forced to stay in.

Staying home also means that our shopping behavior needs to adapt: from physically visiting the retailers to shopping online. This is something Hispanics were already doing: 54% of Hispanic shoppers have access to online grocery shopping solutions and 65% of those have ordered grocery items online in the past year. We also know that US Hispanics over-index on social media as a source for product information.

But most importantly, Hispanic are Big on Brand Relationships. We see our favorite brands beyond the functional purpose – they are highly trusted and personal to our everyday lives.

Final Words

In a recent note from Steve Mandala, President of Advertising Sales & Marketing at Univision, he references several studies that prove that companies that continue to advertise during an economic downturn end up in better shape than their competitors after the downturn is over.

While we don’t want to be prescriptive about how your company should face this current crisis, we do want to offer just some final thoughts to all agencies and marketers during these seemingly chaotic times: talk to each other and do it frequently, be human, be sensitive, be flexible, be ready to pivot and most of all be generous.

Feel free to reach out if you need to talk. Hopefully, it’s about how to help your brand come out of this crisis more relevant than ever.

Stay safe.

2020 will be the year of the Hispanic consumer

Hispanic consumers in the U.S. control a total of $1.5 trillion in buying power, up 212% this decade, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.  If you are a marketer looking to grow your brand, repeat after me –  $1.5 trillion – 212% growth – $1.5 trillion – 212% growth. These figures alone should lead you to take a hard look at the Hispanic market to drive growth today.  Right now, Hispanics account for one out of every six Americans and their aggregate buying power is larger than the GDP of Australia.

Need more data?  These facts curated by CNBC’s, Latinos may be the key to future US economic growth, should do the trick.

• GDP among U.S. Latinos increased to $2.3 trillion in 2017, up from $1.7 trillion in 2010.
• If the U.S. Latino population were a country, GDP growth rate of the Latino market would be the third-highest growth rate among all global economies.
• Relative to the overall U.S. market, Latinos have a high labor-force participation, faster population growth and increasing consumer spending.
• Between 2010 and 2017, product and services consumption among U.S. Latinos increased by 42% – that’s 72% faster vs. non-U.S. Latinos.

When it comes to Hispanic consumption, AlphaWise data in a report from Morgan Stanley, “How the Gen Y+Z Boom Rolls Through the US Economy”, suggest that outsized growth in the Hispanic population will be supportive of above-average spending (consumption) growth on cell phones, food at home, apparel, and housing.

If all of that data does not compel you to seriously consider the Hispanic market for growth, take it from Captura Group and our clients. We are seeing, first-hand, sustained growth and success from brands who are partnering with us to tap into the Hispanic opportunity.

2020 will be the year of the Hispanic voter

In 2020 not only will we have a presidential election, but also the Census, both of which will highlight the significance of the Hispanic voter.  Here are some supporting data from The Hill:

• 2020 will mark the first time that Hispanics will be the largest racial or ethnic minority group in the electorate, accounting for just over 13 percent of eligible voters — slightly more than African-Americans.
• The Pew Research Center said that there are a record 32 million Latinos eligible to vote in 2020. That is an increase from 27.3 million in 2016.
• 2020 presidential candidates must speak to Latino aspirations, hopes and dreams, not just their fears. Latinos believe this country, their country, is better with them in it.

Not only will Hispanics play a key role in determining the 2020 presidential election, they will also be a significant story of the 2020 Census.  Now that the supreme court has ruled against including a citizenship question on this year’s Census, the 2020 count is positioned to most accurately represent the entirety of the U.S. Hispanic population.

What we expect is that the 2020 Census will find that the U.S. Hispanic population will eclipse 62 million individuals or 19% of the U.S. total population.

2020 will be the year of the Hispanic Fiesta

This year’s Super Bowl will be a huge ‘Hispanic Fiesta’, but courageous and smart marketers will have even more to celebrate in 2020.

Marketers who invest in the Hispanic opportunity for the long run, secure upper management buy-in, partner with multicultural marketing experts and leverage cultural intelligence to develop and execute a strategy to connect and reach U.S. Hispanic consumers will be rewarded with growth. Now that’s something to truly celebrate.

1. Multicultural is not a Segment. In many cases, multicultural market segments can make up 40% of a brand’s total consumer base. Based on this and a myriad of other facts, the marketing industry is waking up to the fact that in order to grow, brands must not pigeonhole multicultural into segments, placing them in silos and swim lanes, rather view multicultural as an imperative to integrate into a Total U.S. Growth Strategy. We should be well past the point where we need to build a case for investing in a market that a) is approaching half of the total today at a national level; b) already comprises the “minority majority in many DMA’s; and c) will make up much more into the future. 
2. Size the Prize and Then Right Size the Investment. Opportunity alert. Research demonstrates that brands are spending only 5% of their total media budgets on multicultural media while multicultural segments can represent 40% of the target audience universe. There is a clear opportunity for brands to speak to multicultural consumers who are otherwise being overlooked. Brands at the conference that are winning with multicultural consumers cited that the key to their success is having a long-term focus on multicultural markets that is supported by senior leadership. These successful brands are led by passionate individuals who clearly quantify the size of the prize today and tomorrow and, most importantly, allocate budgets that are commensurate with the opportunity. 
3. Test and Measure the Impact of Multicultural. We all know that marketing must demonstrate a quantifiable return on investment, and this is no different with multicultural marketing. After all, we can’t manage what we don’t measure. At Captura Group, one of the first components we prioritize within any multicultural marketing program is in setting up a holistic dashboard to help our clients measure across multiple KPIs. We heard the same from brands at the conference. Those driving growth with multicultural consumers are systematically integrating multicultural metrics into the way the entire organization measures success. The ANA has also led several initiatives to improve the ability for brands to surface culturally relevant insights, test creative and measure the impact of multicultural marketing. One example is the ANA AIMM’s new Cultural Insights Impact Measure (CIMM) which measures the impact of culturally led creative. Captura Group is proud to have participated in the initial pilot for CIMM and had a culturally relevant creative test in the top 25th percentile. We see this as rich validation for how insight-led creative drives better consumer response and how this response can be empirically measured.
   
4. Integrate Multicultural Marketing with the Total Campaign Idea. There was a spirited discussion at the conference about the evolution of the “Total Market Approach”. Total Market varies from brand to brand, but most often it consists of campaigns that have an overarching commercial idea or brand truth that resonates with the the broad consumer landscape while allowing the expression of the brand truth to culturally and linguistically resonate with multicultural consumers. In this way, the campaign can achieve maximum impact and consistency, as it can engage all consumers across multiple touch points. This approach may mean that a brand expression or articulation may sound a bit nuanced or even different in order to be relevant to U.S. Hispanic, African-American and Asian-American [and many other] audiences – the point is that this is “all good” and reflective of what the total market has evolved to become.
   
5. Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable – Before we talk about culturally relevant creative, GRP’s, spillover, clicks or impressions, we need to focus on the human side of multicultural marketing – where competencies intersect with commitment. Many speakers at the conference made it clear that more marketers need to start having honest conversations about the diversity needed within their organizations (both internally and with agency partners) to reflect the markets they are pursuing for growth. But it doesn’t stop here. “Diversity” is getting invited to the party. “Inclusion” is getting asked to plan it and fully participate in it. The right balance of diversity and inclusion can help to overcome the unconscious biases and microaggressions that commonly create barriers to multicultural marketing success. Instead of merely saying “we want to grow with multicultural audiences,” marketers need to be prepared to change both their “thinking” and “doing” paradigms to start allowing differences to be celebrated, elevated and ultimately converted into marketing that connects with consumers on a deeply human level.

I wish you all a very happy holiday and hope these takeaways will inspire you to be part of the movement that drives multicultural marketing to become mainstream marketing. Here’s to a prosperous 2020!

This year, I was delighted to see that multicultural marketing and diversity were top-of-mind among the many marketing executives in attendance. This was music to my ears. Not only because multicultural is my passion and a topic that our leadership at Captura Group has been blogging about for over a decade and a half, but also because it is a recognition of the demographic, social, and economic reality all around us. As PRNewswire reported a mere few weeks before the ANA conference, Multicultural is the mainstream, and it is where brands need to be investing. Here I’d like to share five key takeaways from the conference and what they mean for us as marketers.

1. Growth cannot happen without multicultural
Diverse and inclusive marketing practices have been officially recognized as an imperative for growth, with many stating the majority of all of their future brand growth will come from multicultural segments.

The trendlines are clear: multicultural segments are growing. By 2060, Hispanics will represent almost 30% of the U.S. population. With 72% recent growth, Asian-Americans are the fastest-growing segment. At $1.8 trillion in purchasing power, African-Americans are the trendsetting segment among young consumers. And if projections that go 20+ years out are not enough to motivate marketers to invest today (after all, many of us plan to hopefully be retired by then), consider the fact that as early as 2014, the multicultural future has already arrived in many states and major metropolitan areas. The multicultural population is currently over 50% in Hawaii, District of Columbia, California, New Mexico and Texas, with Nevada, Maryland, Georgia, Arizona, Florida and New York approaching majority multicultural status. Nearly all 25 of the most populated counties in major DMAs like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Miami are already a multicultural majority. Because these geographies tend to be imperative for helping a brand achieve its overall growth objectives, a multicultural marketing strategy that covers these areas – whether through a national or localized level – also becomes imperative.

2. Multicultural needs to be fully integrated at all levels
Multicultural insights and strategy should be integrated into core strategy from inception to execution to measurement. Briefing MC agency partners months after the general market brief has been created will not produce effective results.

The operative word here is “integration” – of all stakeholders from the beginning. Multicultural insights and expertise need to be baked in to any strategy, rather than added post-strategy lest multicultural be relegated to tactical and ineffective executions that jeopardize growth.

3. Advertisers must right-size their investments
Multicultural segments represent close to 40% of the U.S population, yet, 50-60% of advertisers spend less than 1% of their ad budgets to target multicultural audiences.

There needs to be parity between your organization’s multicultural audience and its investment, if you wish to attain any growth. This is where the rubber meets the road!

4. Diversity inside and out
Effective multicultural marketing goes beyond the campaign. It’s about leveraging internal and external experts who also reflect the communities being targeted and who can uniquely identify the best influencers, platforms, etc. for engagement.

Simply developing in-language or in culture advertising campaigns is not enough. Leverage the depth and breadth of what your entire multicultural ecosystem has to offer: build the right team, reach out to the right influencers, leverage the audience-appropriate tools, etc. It’s about leaning into diverse human capital for competitive advantage.

5. Multicultural engagement comes from human interactions
The best multicultural marketing is about humanizing the brand for growth, taking into account deep empathetic and emotional needs of our consumers in order to drive brand relevance and business impact.

This is all about human and emotional connections. While demographics, online platforms and other tricks in your toolbox will help you reach multicultural segments, “reaching” does not automatically mean “connecting”. Your brand will only engage through authentic, human, shared values.

We hope you can use these five takeaways to drive your 2019 growth plans and incorporate them into your strategies starting today.

Happy holidays from everyone at Captura Group!