UNO Hispanic Branding

Design Begins in the Street

2011-08-20T06:04:00.000-07:00

By Anthony Mazzotti

Uno co-founder Luis Fitch has a message for those in the design community: HIT THE PAVEMENT.

THE SITUATION
Many designers never get out in “the street” where consumers live, shop, and work to gain insight into who “the consumer” really is.

THE TECHNIQUE
Uno uses a market-segmentation system called “Filtros™” to segment consumers on factors like architecture, art, food, heroes, language, music, and religion.

THE BOTTOM LINE
In order to design for your clients, you have to know who they and become a part of their lives – understand how they think, what they like, and why they do the things they do.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and continued securing the roof shingles in place. It was early in the morning, and he and the men he was working with had already put in four hours as the community below them began their commutes into the city. In another hour he would be permitted to play his music from the small radio that sat next to his toolbox. He considered it for a moment and then decided it wouldn’t hurt to turn it on if he kept the volume low.

After adjusting the station, he reached for an energy drink and let the liquid do its work. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the light, cool breeze. A man with a notepad yelled up to him from the street below and interrupted his short break. The man asked him something about his drink. Why did he buy that brand? Why not coffee? Could he speak with him for a few minutes? “Yeah,” the man on the roof said. “I’ll give you a few minutes.”

The man with the notepad was Luis Fitch. And it was just another day at the “office” for the Uno co-founder.

“Branding and design do not happen in a vacuum, and they don’t start with advanced software tools and the latest computers,” Fitch said. “It all starts in the street” – the street where consumers live, shop, and work; where the products hit the shelves; and where the target markets respond – or not.

“You’ve got brand managers for these mega-corporations and agencies who bring in focus groups, and consultants, and designers – and not one of them has gone out into the street, to the stores in the actual communities and browsed the shelves,” Fitch said. “Not one of them has taken the time to talk with the consumers, the shoppers, on their turf, and actually tried to gain insight into who the real consumer is.”

Become Part of the Community
And therein lies Uno’s secret to landing the accounts of some of the largest brand names in America. Fitch doesn’t just help his clients market to the community, he becomes part of it. He gains insights and understanding into the target market that aren’t normally revealed by standard campaign methods.

When designing a package meant for the Hispanic community for a large client, Fitch went out into the streets and handed cameras out to moms, asking them to take pictures of their kitchens. “I had hundreds of photographs on my walls, and patterns started to emerge. This is not the kind of information you get in a focus group,” Fitch said.

The major brands are listening: Target Stores, Frito Lay, Coors Brewing Company, Mervyn’s Stores, and MTV are just some of the major brands that have engaged Uno’s services. And his methods have garnered national recognition, as Fitch was named one of Graphic Design USA magazine’s “People To Watch” in 2006.

Although Uno markets itself as “branding for the new majority,” Uno is transcending Hispanic markets as well. Target Stores engaged Uno to assist them in bringing wine-in-a-box to market. Uno worked with a top wine consultant, and with the understanding of Target’s consumers, developed a wheel that illustrated which wines would go best with common items, such as peanuts and pizza. “We were able to get major brands to help pay for the production of the wheel as it promoted their products as well,” Fitch said. “It was a big hit.”

You may know who your customers are, but do you KNOW your customers?

Know Your Customers
Melissa entered the Cub Foods store near her home, her two kids in tow. The youngest girl, Sammy, was still decked-out in the black and gold soccer uniform that has come to define her mother’s Tuesday afternoons. A glance at the time displayed on her phone reminded Melissa that Tom would be home shortly, and she still had to help get Sammy’s homework done, drop Cathy off to watch the neighbor’s kids, and make dinner before six tonight. Well, she considered, she wouldn’t actually make dinner.

She found her way to the frozen food section of a nearby supermarket and saw a new brand of tamales on the shelf. She and Tom had recently returned from a vacation in Mexico to trace their family tree, and the tamale package reminded her of the little shop at the corner near their hotel. She picked it up and observed that the writing was entirely in English. Still, everything about the packaging promised authentic Mexican tamales. The packages of tamales on the shelf below were written in Spanish and English, but the neon colors reminded her more of ice cream than tamales. No thanks, she thought. She put the package that reminded her of the little shop in Mexico in her cart. As she began to move toward the checkout, she took a step back and grabbed one more, for next Tuesday – just in case.

Six months earlier, a family approached Fitch with a dilemma. They had just emigrated from Mexico, couldn’t find work, and had only the sales of their tamales to make ends meet.

“What my clients had was authentic Mexican food,” Fitch said. “What they lacked was an understanding of how to increase their market share beyond the Latino community. And that’s where we came in. We developed a plan to target the fully acculturated, third-generation Hispanic market and designed the packaging for that particular market.”

“We started in one Cub Foods store and sold out. Then we went into a second store and sold out. Then a third, and sold out. Now we’re in every Cub Foods store in Minnesota, and my clients can barely keep up with demand, realizing more than $2 million in sales last year,” Fitch said. “With shelf space at such a premium, major brands wish for that type of success. And that success came primarily through the use of Filtros™, which helped us in our marketing to the acculturated market.”

Using Filtros™ to Understand the Customer
“Filtros™” was developed by Uno as part of their philosophy that one must truly understand the customer – in this case, the Hispanic customer. Similar to Claritas’ Prizm and ESRI’s Acorn segmentation systems, Filtros™ helps identify the habits of acculturated, partially acculturated, and non-acculturated Hispanics in America.

“The level of acculturation is a critical factor when segmenting the Hispanic market,” Fitch said. “We look at how far our client’s particular audience has come on the path toward integrating American values, habits, language patterns, and behaviors. This will have a dramatic impact on how we market to that segment.”

He explained further: “Non-acculturated Hispanics, for instance, prefer Spanish for all forms of communication and prefer traditional Latino brands and foods. Partially acculturated Hispanics use English for some modes of communication, and although they prefer traditional Latino brands, they’ve begun to recognize and incorporate American brands. Fully acculturated Hispanics have the highest levels of income, prefer English, and are very familiar with American brands and foods. Each of these groups has to be approached differently.

“No true Mexican is going to go to the frozen food section of a grocery store to look for tamales. But the third-generation Hispanic soccer mom from Edina will,” Fitch said. “And with major retailers having locations in Hispanic communities, partial Hispanic communities, and non-Hispanic communities, they really have to cover all the bases. That’s where Filtros™ really shines. We look at everything, from architecture, art, and food, to heroes, language, music, and religion. The whole picture.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what market you are targeting if you don’t understand that market. Designers, brand managers, and illustrators have to understand that,” Fitch said. “If you’re marketing a chocolate cookie for kids, then taste the chocolate. Get the reaction to the cookies from the kids on the street. Watch them open up the package. And then go back and design,” Luis stated. “My guess is that 80 percent of designers don’t do that. Sure, they create trendy and beautiful work with great design and typography, but are they identifying and solving problems?”

A few minutes turned into 20 for the man on the roof. Luis had learned that the energy drink’s packaging wasn’t a factor in this man’s purchasing decision. To his interviewee, they all looked the same. It wasn’t the price either, or the name, or the celebrity who could be seen drinking the energy concoction on posters and television. It was simply…the flavor. The group of men that gathered around him all agreed they wanted more flavors. Luis made a notation in his file and thanked the men for their time. Another day at the office, indeed.

Anthony Mazzotti is the principal of Page One Communications, a copywriting service in the Twin Cities with clients throughout the United States. He also serves as the communications director for Electrorack Enclosure Products of Anaheim, Calif. He has worked in sales, marketing, and information services for a number of software firms in California, as well as a private investigator for clients in the United States and United Kingdom. He began his intelligence work with the Department of Naval Intelligence by collecting intelligence about dissident groups in Europe and Africa. He is the author of a novel and screenplay and has been a speaker for Vistage, an organization of more than 10,000 CEOs and presidents. He speaks on topics ranging from business intelligence and market-penetration analysis to competitive intelligence and corporate investigations. He can be reached at anthonymazzotti@mac.com.

UNO in Vaseline Festival 2011

2011-08-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

Hablar de VASELINE DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL es referirse a tres días de inmersión en las actuales corrientes de la arquitectura y el diseño gráfico.

Para el asistente este festival representará más que la simple presentación de figuras sobresalientes en el ámbito del diseño gráfico y arquitectónico; éste representa una marea de conocimientos, experiencias y música que sembrará en cada uno de los asistentes el deseo de buscar y crear algo más allá

UNO presenting in México ( Sí hay, y Bien) México Diseña

2011-05-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

Luis Fitch at MCAD

2010-11-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

MCAD Event Calendar

Above: Event poster by Luis Fitch, UNO Branding, 2010. We are eagerly awaiting the upcoming public lecture by our esteemed guest Luis Fitch on November 1st, 6:30PM at MCAD, in Auditorium 150. Attendance is free and open to the public, all are welcome to listen to this internationally acclaimed Minneapolis-based designer share and describe his work.

Metropolitan State University announces new art exhibit

2010-10-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

Saint Paul, Minn.—Metropolitan State University Gordon Parks Gallery is pleased to present Ten Years of Hispanic Posters by Luis Fitch of UNO Branding.
The exhibit opens with a reception on Thursday, Oct. 14, from 4–7 p.m. and continues through Nov. 5. The reception will include a traditional Latin American musical performance (vocals and guitar) by Aldo Ramos between 5 and 6 p.m.
Gallery hours are Mondays–Thursdays, 11 a.m.–7 p.m.; and Fridays–Saturdays, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. The gallery is located in the Library and Learning Center, 645 East Seventh Street, Saint Paul.
Ten Years of Hispanic Posters by Luis Fitch of UNO Branding was curated by local artist and cultural activist Douglas Padilla. Regarding the exhibition, Padilla, has said, “Fitch’s posters speak to both Latinos and Anglos, to young and old, to hip and square, to rural and urban. His work references and modernizes Mexican cultural history even as it communicates contemporary Minnesotan Latino community life. His art bridges the distance between the overtly commercial and the quietly nostalgic. And when Fitch strikes out in a political direction, he creates work that is both ironic and refreshingly humorous.”
As part of Los Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations on campus, Fitch will present a lunch-time slide presentation regarding his work and the cultural significance of the posters. The talk will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 2 from noon to 1 p.m. in a room adjacent to the gallery. This event is free and open to the public.
-more-

For more information, contact Erica Rasmussen, gallery director, at 651-793-1631 or e-mail erica.rasmussen@metrostate.edu.
Metropolitan State University, a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, provides high-quality, affordable education programs for adults seeking baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees.

Luis FItch at Factor Clave in Queretaro Mexico

2010-09-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

Luis Fitch en el 1er Congreso Alterna Diseño en Chihuahua

2010-06-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

Luis Fitch en El Paseo de la Fama

2010-05-26T13:01:00.001-07:00

Luis Fitch presenting at Dejando Huella 12+1- http://www.dejandohuella.mx/

2010-01-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

Luis Fitch presenting at AIGA San Diego's 15th Annual Y-Conference. http://y-conference.com/y15/

2010-01-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

SAN DIEGO’S 15th ANNUAL AIGA Y-CONFERENCE:
Two Day Conference to Focus on Cross-Disciplinary
SHIFT within the Design Industry San Diego, CA (January 2010) – AIGA San Diego, the
professional association for design, will host the 15th annual Y-Conference March 26-27, 2010 at the
Joan B. Kroc Center for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego. The event is is expected to attract
over 400 design professionals from the west coast and around the country.
“Our industry is experiencing a cross-disciplinary SHIFT that will forever change the way we work,” says
Angela Hill, co-chair of the Y-Conference. “The focus of the 2010 event is how design professionals can
adapt and respond to this new set of rules and what it means for the future.”
Ric Grefe, the Executive Director of AIGA National will moderate the conference, which includes a
distinguished lineup of design professionals. Among them are Jakob Trollbaeck, founder of the
internationally renowned brand and motion design giants Trollbaeck+Company and Phil Hamlett, founder
of Compostmodern and the driving force behind the AIGA National Center for Sustainable Design.
The interactive format and affordable pricing of the Y-Conference add to the event’s appeal. Early
registration rates start at about $350 for AIGA members - significantly less than similar events that typically
demand rates ranging from $800 -$3500. Register by January 31, 2010 to receive the greatest discount.
The Y-Conference was originally created in response to the HOW Conference. “Equipping designers with
cutting-edge tools and tactics is an invaluable component of design execution” says Hill.
“The Y-Conference examines the trends in design principles and process that are shaping –
and re-shaping – the industry. We build on the HOW by focusing on the WHY.”
The scenic, coastal location and year-round forecast of a mild 72 degrees also doesn’t hurt. The event
attracts a diverse attendee base with about 60% of registrants traveling from outside of California. In recent
years Y-Conference attendance has grown to include satellite “lounge” venues that offer a laid-back, casual
atmosphere and impressive multimedia capabilities that ensure attendees don’t miss a moment of the
action.
To register online or learn more visit the Y-Conference Web site at: www.y-conference.com, e-mail
info@aigasandiego.org or call 619.233.5470.

Luis Fitch presenting at The 10th Congreso Creativo-http://www.congresocreactivo.com/

2010-01-15T11:30:00.001-08:00

Luis Fitch at www.pegamania.com

2009-10-22T18:24:00.001-07:00

Twin Cities Top Creative Minds By METRO magazine

2009-10-13T11:01:00.001-07:00

Luis Fitch at Plains Art Museum

2009-09-25T07:13:00.000-07:00

Plains Art Museum Presents
Day of the Dead Exhibition and Related Events

Fargo, ND – Plains Art Museum brings a full-size steamroller to its campus from 9 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4. It will be driven over printing plates to create large prints in front of the Museum building. An exhibition of the work made called Day of the Dead: Latino Artists Create Steam Roller Prints opens October 8 in the Museum’s William and Anna Jane Schlossman Gallery and runs through January 3.

In collaboration with ArtOrg from Northfield, Minn., the work of Luis Fitch, Alexa Horochowski, Gustavo Lira, Doug Padilla, Maria Cristina Tavera and Xavier Tavera, all artists from Twin Cities Latino art collective Grupo Soap del Carazon, will be featured in the exhibition. The prints will be coupled with an ofrenda, an “alter-like” installation common in Day of the Dead tradition, made by artists Maria Cristina and Xavier Tavera.

Colleen Sheehy, the Museum’s director/CEO said, “This is a spectacular art-making event and exhibition you won’t want to miss. These artists have designed the print imagery based on Day of the Dead traditions. This annual Latino holiday is held in early November to honor the memories of people who have died, ranging from family and friends to public figures.”

Additional events in conjunction with the exhibition are:
· Youth Steamroller Printmaking events, 9 to Noon, Monday, October 5, at Red River Area Learning Center School, 1100 32nd Ave. S. Moorhead, Minn.; and 4 to 7 p.m. at Centro Cultural de Fargo-Moorhead, 1014 19th St. S. Moorhead.
· Day of the Dead Celebration Reception, Noon to 3 p.m., Saturday, November 7. The public is invited to observe Day of the Dead at the Museum with the unveiling of the ofrenda in the gallery; play loteria (Mexican bingo) with local artist Lana Suomala; listen to music by DJ Chris Molina of Suficiente Sound; and enjoy fiesta hors d’oeuvres and punch. The event is free.
· Fiesta de Mujeres (Celebration of Women), 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday, November 14. This Fiesta observes the 20th Anniversary Celebration of Mujeres Unidas (Women United). It includes a buffet dinner, mariachi band, folk dancers and Latina Awards presentation by Mujeres Unidas. The Fiesta is co-presented by Mujeres Unidas and Plains Art Museum and costs $5 per adult and $3 per child.

The exhibition is sponsored locally by Open Magazine and American Crystal Sugar and co-sponsored by the Mexican Consulate in St. Paul, Minn., in observance of the Bicentennial of Mexican Independence and the Centennial of the Mexican Revolution.

Plains Art Museum is located at 704 First Avenue North. It is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a nonprofit, regional fine arts museum with plans to significantly expand its programs through its “Little artist in all of us” campaign. The campaign is raising funds for the Creativity Center for Lifelong Learning which includes the Fingerprints Interactive Education Gallery and working with Fargo Public Schools and other educational entities to build teaching studios. The campaign is also strengthening operations by enhancing the Museum’s endowment and visitor services. Museum programs are made possible, in part, by major funding from members of the Museum, The FUNd at Plains Art Museum, The McKnight Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature, the North Dakota Council on the Arts through an appropriation by the North Dakota State Legislature and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. More information is available at 701.232.3821 or at www.plainsart.org.

Luis Fitch presenting at UABC Annual Marketing Conference

2009-09-24T09:16:00.000-07:00

http://www.vivemkt.com/

Spanish language radio builds in Minnesota

2009-09-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

Spanish language radio builds in Minnesota
by Marisa Helms, Minnesota Public Radio

Listen to feature audio You've got to work a little to hear Spanish language radio in the Twin Cities. There's a smattering of programs on community stations. But, if you know where to look, there are now two 24-hour Spanish language stations going head to head for listeners.
Minneapolis, Minn. — One station has dominated Twin Cities Spanish language radio for the past quarter century.
"This is Radio Rey, La Ley, 63WDGY Hudson, St. Paul, Minneapolis," booms a recorded ID spot. "Radio Rey. It's La Ley."
Guadalupe Gonzalez La Ley. That means "the Law." The standard.

Radio Rey, or "Radio King," is the creation of Guadalupe Gonzalez. He came to Minneapolis from Mexico in the early 1970s to work in a die casting factory, but says he fell into radio.

"You know, America," he says. "Everybody's got a chance. This should always make dreams for everybody."

Today, many call Gonzalez a pioneer, the godfather of Minnesota's Spanish language radio. Wearing his trademark grey fedora, Gonzalez says it's easy to understand the station's success and longevity.

"The people like it. Not because it's real professional, but because it's been so many years," he says. "Twenty-seven years service (to)the people. We got real country songs, just simple things. We don't do nothing way high."

DJ Nancy
Radio Rey broadcasts from a small storefront on East Lake St. in Minneapolis. The door to the cramped studio is not soundproof. Gonzalez simply walks in while DJ "Nancy" is on air, fielding calls during a dance concert giveaway.

"This girl's really good," he whispers. "This is where we do a lot of talking and this and that. And tricks."

Gonzalez plays Mexican regional music nearly all the time on his AM station. It's the sentimental favorite of his listeners, 90 percent of whom are from across Mexico.

Gonzalez is dismissive of competition. He says other Spanish language radio stations have tried to make it in the Twin Cities, but fail because their radio signal is too weak and they can't get the advertising revenue.

But now there's a new AM radio station just a mile away down Lake St. It's got lots of energy, money, and dreams of prying open Radio Rey's lock on the market.

It's called "La Invasora." The Invader.

Alberto Monserrate
Alberto Monserrate is president and CEO of Latino Communications Network, which owns La Invasora.

"One of the main reasons we use the name is because it was a popular name in Mexico, and most of our audience is from Mexico," he says. "But we did want to play a little bit with the concept of us invading the airways in the Twin Cities, and have a little fun with that, too. That's probably how the competition took it, that we were invading."

Observers say La Invasora could well give Radio Rey a run for its money and challenge its market dominance. That's largely because the station has a deep-pocket investor in New York. And, the station's owner also owns Minnesota's oldest and biggest Spanish language newspapers and magazines, including La Prensa and Gente de Minnesota.

Luis Fitch owns a design and marketing firm that helps corporate clients gain a foothold in the growing Latino consumer market.

"From an outsider, I think I would be really, really concerned with them," Fitch says. "What LCN offers, it's a complete package. If I was an advertiser, I would like to negotiate bigger packages than just radio. I would want to say, 'What else can you do for me?'" Luis Fitch It doesn't cost very much to advertise on Radio Rey and La Invasora: $100 to produce a one-minute ad, and then $40 to $50 each time it airs.

In the biggest markets in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami or New York, you can't do anything for less than $200, and there's usually a requirement to buy multiple spots.

La Invasora's managers estimate the ad revenue for Minnesota's Spanish Language radio is about $1 million a year, but has the potential to grow to millions more as the market for Spanish language radio expands.

Marketing analyst Luis Fitch says advertisers who want to reach the Latino market should be interested in radio because it's hugely important to many Mexican immigrants living here.

Fitch says radio connects the community to cultural and political happenings, and many listen from when they wake up until they go to sleep at night. Fitch says most people listen four to six hours a day.

The majority of this target market are working at kitchens, at restaurants, they're working at hotels, they're gardeners, they're working on roofs. So they're always connected to radio.
- Luis Fitch, marketing analyst
"I'm going to generalize with this," Fitch says, "but the majority of this target market are working at kitchens, at restaurants, they're working at hotels, they're gardeners, they're working on roofs. And part of their entertainment is the radio. So they're always connected to radio. And radio's extremely, extremely important."

Given that listenership, it's not surprising the one thing both Radio Rey and La Invasora are focusing on is the current political situation.

As DJ El Vaquero talks to listeners about their favorite Mexican soccer teams from the La Invasora studio, Alberto Monserrate says the station is dealing with serious issues.

"It's usually the fun and games you're seeing now," he says. "But where we've really gotten the most response out of anything we've done is always been when we deal with the whole immigration issue."

Monserrate says his seven-month-old station was born with the current immigration rallies and recent boycott, called "A Day Without Immigrants." Both events aimed to raise the visibility of the economic and political muscle of Minnesota's Latinos.

Before the events this spring, Monserrate says station hosts exhorted listeners to show up and be heard at the demonstrations.

"It's a combination of something we felt we should do on the radio because it was very obvious that our listeners wanted it, and we felt we should be part of it ourselves," he says. "It's something our audience has responded like nothing else we've done."

La Invasora's competition, Radio Rey, also gave hours of airtime to promoting the rallies.

An estimated 30,000 people attended the April rally at the state Capitol. Many give Radio Rey and La Invasora credit for the big turnout.

The dominant English-language stations in the Twin Cities like KQRS and WCCO have little to fear from Radio Rey and La Invasora.

But Spanish language radio is undoubtedly a growing market. Clear Channel Communications has switched 33 of its stations nationwide to the Spanish language format. And the number one station in Los Angeles is all in Spanish.

Competition between Radio Rey and La Invasora is heating up. Radio Rey's owner, Guadalupe Gonzalez, recently learned his ratings are dropping. La Invasora, on the other hand, is talking about expanding its reach to the FM dial.

ID Design for Life (Part 2) PBS TV

2009-09-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

Life (Part 2) is an innovative PBS series by and about the whopping 26% of the American population who are 45 and older (and you know who you are).

Vote now!

2009-09-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

Poster for Mercado Central- Mexican Independence Day

2009-09-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

El Viajero Cheese promotion in NYC

2009-09-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

UNO announces the launch of six new Hispanic packaging designs for GAMESA

2009-07-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

MINNEAPOLIS, /PRNewswire/ -- UNO Latino Branding, an industry-leading Hispanic Latino packaging and promotions agency based in Minneapolis, MN, announced today that a newly redesigned line of children's cookies has hit store shelves across the United States. UNO was granted the opportunity to develop the new branding and packaging design for six popular GAMESA brand cookies (NYSE: PEP - News). GAMESA is the largest cookie manufacturer in Mexico and subsidiary of Frito-Lay North America.

Prior to undertaking the package rebranding and redesign, UNO Latino Branding partnered with GAMESA® to understand market challenges and expectations of GAMESA's core Mexican and Mexican-American consumers. Interestingly enough, the one driving factor in initiating the study was despite carrying a dominant market share in Mexico, GAMESA's core consumers tend to adopt other cookie brands when relocating to the United States as they become more acculturated.

A few key learnings that resulted from the field studies GAMESA and UNO Latino Branding undertook were that Mexican and Mexican-American consumers have a higher expectation of package design as they become more assimilated into the U.S. culture. Principal and Creative Director, Luis Fitch, at UNO Latino Branding states, "the core consumer still considers GAMESA cookies a high quality buy at a value-price and can easily find them from local neighborhood shops to general market grocery stores, however, the package design lacks in terms of what the consumer has learned to expect on grocery shelves next to other cookie brands." Armed with this insightful knowledge of consumer's expectations, UNO's goal was to redesign the entire line to increase appetite appeal and competitive value amongst other brands.

The children's line of GAMESA cookies has 6 core brands: Animalitos, Arcoiris, Arcoiris Naranja-Limon, Chokis, Lonchera, and Mamut. Each brand was introduced into the marketplace during different decades; therefore the package design reflected the sensibilities of the times of their launch. The product packaging lacked consistency in their character illustration, uses of appetite appeal and lacked unique ties of each cookie package to the Core Parent Brand: GAMESA.

UNO's objective and eventual solution was to unify the branding and packaging to give each of the six packages a sense of belonging to the same brand platform. Luis Fitch (UNO's Principal and Creative Director) and team established several branding rules and developed an enriching toolbox for these six brands and other GAMESA brand cookies to follow.

In conjunction with new branding rules, UNO Latino Branding was careful to keep many iconic elements that had immense brand equity. Maintaining the color palette for the redesign was extremely important to both UNO Latino Branding and GAMESA. However, UNO Latino Branding did introduce a blue wave to the package design intended to create a universal branding template on store shelves for the cookies. Additionally, the GAMESA logo, seen both as a G and a heart was incorporated into the package background in a very subtle way further branding the design.

UNO Latino Branding also took a fresh approach to each of the existing character illustrations. The same artist re-illustrated the characters and identified iconic key details that offered a more modern appeal. The fresh approach allowed the characters to be more engaged with the product and an opportunity to cross-promote with other products such as "milk and cookies" to come to life with the characters. Furthermore, UNO Latino Branding introduced a series of new characters proposing potential iconic status for brands that did not have an existing character.

Finally, in an attempt to reintroduce the GAMESA brand to consumers who have parted ways with the brand, UNO Latino Branding designed and incorporated important elements to side panels reinforcing the history, promise of tradition and strength of the brand. As well as, the back panel was redesigned to introduce the illustrated characters and give the consumers an interactive game forum. The consumer is reminded of the emotional ties held by the brand as well as a way for the consumer to interact and connect with the brand, focusing on a powerful combination to re-establish loyalty.

The newly redesigned packages now have a fresh, modern appetite appeal that has a unifying branding architecture to the same brand platform and stands out on the grocery store shelves. The new packages can be found in grocery stores across the United States.

Luis Fitch illustrates !Amigas Forever! book

2009-07-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

With the accelerated growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S., artist and designer Luis Fitch wants to ensure that this market is served with art centered primarily in Hispanic themes with a crossover appeal. He presents a fun and unique gift book that will appeal to Spanish–speaking readers as well as English–speaking readers who have friends of Hispanic heritage.

Latina friendships run intense and true. This bilingual collection of zippy quotes, classic literary snippets, and sassy comments on life is a tribute to these amazing friendships and to the deep roots that keep them anchored for a lifetime. The colorful and brilliant artwork of Luis Fitch captures and complements all the spice and zest that embodies these wonderful relationships.

This homage to a friend whose love, understanding, and encouragement have made life sweeter make a delightful gift for birthdays, special accomplishments, as a thank–you, or just because.

Luis Fitch at MIA

2009-07-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

Frontera Lake Street

Artists: Salvador Espejo Benitez, Luis Fitch, Alexa Horochowski, Douglas Padilla, Marcela Rodriquez A, and Xavier Tavera

Minnesota Artists Gallery

Frontera Lake Street was presented by Grupo Soap del Corazón (“spanglish” for “soap of the heart”), a group of artist and cultural activists devoted to the promotion of “border” culture in Minnesota. Grupo Soap produces and presents an ongoing series of exhibitions and projects that acknowledge, in particular, the Latinization of Lake Street in Minneapolis, with its mercados, taquerias, tortillerias, Latin record stores, night-clubs, boot shops, and salons.

Each of the “Frontera Six” has a unique history and perspective. From newcomer to second-generation immigrant, they have connections to Mexico, Argentina, and Chile, from tiny rural villages to frontera cities like Tijuana and Juarez, to the international urban center of Mexico City, now the largest city in the world.

Inspired by Mexican pop culture each of the Six invented and assumed the persona of an imaginary professional wrestler. Each wrestler was conceived with a distinct personality, stage name, mask, and costume. The Frontera wrestlers attended the opening of the exhibit; their capes and masks were hung on the gallery wall through-out the exhibit-events that celebrated the “high” and the “low” of art.

The artwork featured in the gallery installation at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts included tiny landscapes painted on corn, rice and other seeds by Salvador Espejo Benitez, depicting scenes of Minnesota on one side and Mexico on the other. Luis Fitch's mixed-media work illustrated the opportunities that have drawn Mexicans to Minnesota, as well as the risks they have taken to cross over. A Central American-style trinket cart by Alexa Horochowski was packed with saleable art miniatures, including hand-painted surrogate wrestling figures of the Frontera artists themselves. Douglas Padilla's intense symbolist paintings referenced the North and the South, connecting the Mississippi River with the desert. Chilean painter Marcela Rodriquez A. was inspired by her Latino students and the landscape of her homeland. Xavier Tavers's large-scale color photographs revealed Latinos as both visible and invisible.

Luis Fitch designs Hispanic checks

2009-07-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

Introducing Viva lo Nuestro (Celebrate What's Ours) art expressions from internationally renowned artist Luis Fitch. The Viva lo Nuestro checks are inspired by symbolic cultural icons of the Hispanic community. Luis Fitch brilliantly combines bicultural heritage and bold designs to create a truly spirited line that will add flavor to your checkbook!

Buy them NOW! at: http://secure.checksinthemail.com/product.aspx?lineid=395&productid=1743

UNO presenting at MN American Marketing Association

2009-07-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

Speech Topic: Authentic Mexican Festivities: Grassroots Marketing.

Experiential marketing can have a tremendous and powerful impact on Mexican consumers away from home. It evokes meaningful experiences providing a nostalgic emotional connection with cultural influences of authentic flavors, sights and sounds. Fitch will discuss how to engage and effectively deliver branding communications and experience design to tell an authentic story.