What: H Code Founder & CEO Parker Morse spoke with Portada-Online about the challenges and benefits of marketing to Hispanics in the U.S. and Latin America.
Why it matters: H Code takes a digital approach to reaching Latinos, via media, social, creative and branded content. This is possible today on a large scale in ways not available just a few years ago.
Everything we do here at Portada focuses on how leagues and brands connect with Hispanic audiences through the lens of sports. One company with offices in five U.S. cities as well as San Salvador, El Salvador, that has the same obsession on a broad scale is H Code (@HCodeMedia), which looks for ways outside the broadcast space to help make those connections happen.
CEO Parker Morse, fresh off H Code’s announcement last week of its acquisition of digital lifestyle platform HipLatina, shared some of his thoughts on how his firm views the Hispanic marketplace and how it helps target them. He also talked about the future of marketing in a recent Portada interview.
Portada: What were some of your motivations in creating H Code?
Parker Morse: “We created H Code because we saw a need to bring general market best practices to the underserved US Hispanic marketplace. Outside of major broadcast Hispanic companies, there was not a single destination to reach US Hispanics digitally, at scale. Since our inception, our focus has always been on creating innovative digital approaches to reach this audience, whether that be through media, social, creative or branded content. We are the experts in digital US Hispanic, a one-stop-shop for agencies and brands looking to execute digitally.”
Portada: What are some of the factors that make marketing to Hispanics in the world of consumer mobile distinct from other segments?
P.M.: “Two things we know for sure about this audience: 1) They’re young 2) They’re mobile. What’s different about them is that they’re growing, so much so that US Hispanics account for about 56% of the population growth. When you combine these factors, you’ll find that not only are they outperforming the general market when it comes to mobile, but that they’re more engaged – with higher than average performance metrics when it comes to both media (high-impact) and social media engagement. Beyond that, they’re highly receptive to in-culture messaging. Companies that can get this unique set of factors right will stand to succeed with US Hispanics by extending a true connection between their marketing message and the US Hispanic audience.”
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Portada: How have companies leveraged interest in soccer in general and World Cup in particular in their multicultural marketing efforts?
P.M.: “We’ve seen companies run the gamut when it comes to their approaches in speaking to this audience. From digital ads, influencer campaigns and even video, companies have become quite savvy in their approaches when it comes to multicultural marketing. The key is to reach the right person, on the right platform at the right time. We strongly believe that in-culture marketing always works best, so we work with companies to ensure that the messaging that they’re putting forth makes sense and is guaranteed to resonate.”
Portada: What are some examples of initiatives from H Code’s partners that have been effective?
P.M.: “We recently ran a campaign that capitalized on US Hispanics’ love of soccer. The campaign included content creation, end-to-end production including talent vetting, selection and management, custom creative, high impact media, amplification of all content and distribution within our family of over 300 publisher sites. This type of intricate activation really helps brands connect with audiences in a way that they haven’t been able to until recent years.
For the first time, we’re able to link the right people with the right message at the right time across all platforms and devices. Our proprietary data set of over 23MM allows us to target and reach the right audience aligning the brand’s goals and creating unique, memorable experiences for users. In all, these types of fully integrated marketing experiences are the best approach when it comes to reaching US Hispanics.”
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Cover Photo by Fauzan Saari on Unsplash
