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Hispanic CMO, presented by López Negrete Communications 2015 Edition industry associations believe, “through the entire strategic process and execution, with the goal
of enhancing value and growth effectiveness.”
Dávila notes, “The Total Market conversation is permeating widely throughout corporate America. Lots of companies are trying to figure it out, but the critical part is trying to get it right.”
While Total Market efforts can be extremely beneficial to a company, Dávila laments that it remains “a confusing terminology to fully understand and execute.” He says, “The difficult part is being able to articulate a well-thought-out blueprint and to take it through the strategy and execution process. The implementation of a total market approach does not eliminate targeted efforts to multicultural groups.”
This is a key concern expressed by Luis Miguel Messianu, Creative Chairman-CEO of Miami- based shop Alma. “Circumstances change based on client cultures, and the wrong approach to Total Market is when efficiencies outweigh efficacy. It is almost absurd to think that one approach fits all, especially with the rise of Programmatic.”
Messianu implores that the client-agent relationship is all- encompassing, and must be in order to achieve the success the client truly desires. “It is important to be seated at the table from the get-go. One must develop a strategic approach that makes sense for the brand, and to do so one must be ‘all-inclusive’, rather than Total Market, with their strategy.”
It takes some trial and error, Messianu admits. While Alma has taken this approach with client McDonald’s for a while, it is only now that client State Farm is doing so. Sprint, acquired as a client four months ago, is just ramping up its first Alma-produced efforts within a Total Market paradigm. “I don’t think we’ve cracked the code on this as an industry,” he says.
Yet embracing diversity and equality is something Dávila sees in more and more creative targeting Latino consumers. “A lot of our commercials are doing that,” he says. “Major-league companies are reflecting today’s America. They are successfully marketing in a multicultural nation.”
DEFINING ‘TOTAL MARKET’ STILL A CHALLENGE
Alex López Negrete, President/CEO of Houston-based shop López Negrete Communications, has been vocal about the various interpretations of Total Market that
have been seen across the industry.
“The Total Market definition is flawed,” he says. “Marketing to Latinos in English? It’s nothing new. It happened 30 years ago.”
López Negrete was challenged by this assertion, as publications such as HISPANIC magazine and Latina Style magazine had considerable difficulty from 1993-1995 in obtaining English-language creative targeting Latinos from automotive brands, in particular.
In Houston, English-language Latino-targeted ads date to the late 1980s, when his agency created bilingual creative for the city’s transit system. It wasn’t that much later that Nationsbank
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