Julie Diaz-Asper is Founding Partner & CEO at Social Lens Research.
Multicultural marketers have started shifting their ad dollars to mobile marketing. Given that Hispanics are 10% more likely to own smartphones, spend 1.5 hours more time watching online video and are 11% more likely to access the Internet on mobile, it’s important that Hispanic marketers get mobile marketing right.
This month at #LATISM ’14, I moderated a panel on the important role content and social strategies play in engaging mobile-first and Hispanic-focused marketing efforts, as well as the types of messages that will be most effective.
Here are 4 key takeaways from the panelists:
1. A digital content gap exists
There’s a lack of compelling content for more acculturated or digital Hispanics. Within the digital space, it’s challenging to find and reach this audience given the limited content that is exclusively created for Hispanics. A few start-ups have built businesses to address this gap, such as MiTu which is a Multi-Channel network who has built a Latino YouTube network and is creating web series with big players like Univision and Discovery Familia.
Ulysses Alvarado founded TuVisión Canal to fill the entertainment content gap for Hispanics. TuVisión is a platform dedicated to sharing content created by Hispanics for Hispanics.
[comillas] There are over 528 million Spanish Speakers worldwide, which 259 million are currently on the Internet. Tech companies believe translating their interface will serve the need. We all know that is not true. To fill the void, Tu Visión Canal is committed to establishing itself as the new, worldwide voice for Latinos for sharing professional and user generated video, music, on-demand movies and community via our online and mobile interactive portal.[/comillas] Ulysses Alvarado CEO & Co-Founder of Tu Visión Canal.
2. Companies need to translate ads for both culture and language
Companies are still relying too heavily on language translations versus crafting ads that resonate culturally with Hispanic audiences. Brands that invest in insight and understand Hispanics will stand out from the competition.
One great example is All State who leveraged research insights that showed Hispanics as being more inclined to blame bad luck or fate on accidents. All State casted a distinguished looking gentleman to “personify” bad luck in it’s Soy La Mala Suerte ad campaign. During the World Cup, All State offered fans an opportunity to send the rival team bad luck (watch promo here). This was a clever way to make the campaign more interactive, social and mobile friendly.
[comillas]Culturally relevant digital ads are more appealing to Hispanic millennials. And because most Hispanics are highly engaged with mobiles and social media, it’s pivotal that brands add culturally relevant elements to campaigns in every kind of media platform. Crafting the right expressions, paying attention to nuances and variations of a language such as Spanish, looking for symbols that the audience can relate to are crucial elements to compete in a growing cross-cultural advertising market. Know the complexities of your audience.[/comillas] Victor C. Soares, Editor, Sensis
3. Create engaging and rewarding mobile experiences
Mobile offers brands the opportunities to create unique, in-the-moment experiences. Mobile-dominant Hispanics spend many hours consuming content and playing games. In order to compete, ads will need to match the level of entertainment or value of offers (special deal, exclusive.)
MocoSpace got started in mobile before other social networks added mobile interfaces and has grown to 45 million users. 38% of their users are Hispanics and they have crafted social and immersive experiences to better reach and engage audiences.
[comillas]We are certainly aware that our audience is highly engaged on mobile, and the Hispanic segment of our members really highlight all that you can do from your smartphone. Our members log in to play games and chat with their friends, but do not shy away from watching a video in a rich media banner, interacting with sponsored content, or adding a well-known logo to their collection of badges on their profile.[/comillas] Allie Beauchesne, Director, MocoSpace
4. Analyze data to find opportunities:
Hispanics are leading mobile adoption for more advance purposes, from mobile commerce to running a business. Key opportunities exist to leverage niche uses to better target and reach this audience. Key to that is better understanding your niche target Hispanic and crafting messages that resonate.
[comillas] With this growing world of data consumption and the analytics behind it, it is important to read between the lines to find these clues as to what resonates with the target community or demographic. Using a combination of cultural research, independent testing and data analytics will serve to communicate the message in a clear way to the consumer. Spanish is a language with many dialects, depending on the target audience, the marketer may want to consider the options in language and dialect.[/comillas] Nydia Gutiérrez, associate, Dewey Square Group.
In the End: We are still in the experimental phase
The consensus of the panelists is that mobile is still in the experimental phase and that organizations will need to increase their investments in order to take full advantage of the opportunities that mobile provides.
Julie Diaz-Asper has spent more than two decades helping large organizations including American Express, Booz Allen and AARP innovate and pursue new market opportunities. In 2010, she launched GigCoin, the platform functions as a live panel facilitating on demand research for usability, surveys, niche community recruitments and social research contests. She launched Social Lens Research in early 2012 to offer more robust custom social research services including surveys for good programs, social research contests, mobile research and private community management. Since launching GigCoin and Social Lens Research she has worked with a wide range of customers including Google Multicultural, Univision, Consumer Reports en Español, Cabot Cheese, Mobile Future, Mobomo, CX Act, HITN, MocoSpace and Inspire.
