Page 28 - HSMR2018

2018 Hispanic Social Marketing Report, presented by Being Latino
clients, including a tie-in to experiential events. Social is so intertwined with the 360-degree marketing that it is 100% tied in to other marketing.”
DRIVING FORWARD
With big client Toyota, Castells does thing with not only the spokesperson, but also ties their
social marketing efforts in to all experiential marketing.
For example, at a music event Castells’ agency comes up with a theme that ties in to whatever that is going on. “We leverage it right there — and do social straight from the event,” she says.
One example is the L Festival, a Los Angeles event that is one of the biggest in the Hispanic market. Castells says, “A whole booth is set up and we have influencers there. And, we have the Instastories. Everything goes across all platforms, including Snapchat. We do it both in support of our marketing campaigns, and then we do campaigns that are completely influencer-focused. We then do a theme around specific events.”
AdCastells just started a new campaign for Toyota, and it’s a telenovela series of sorts. All of the characters drive Toyota model vehicles, and just like a prime-time series it’s got a lot of plots and twists.
A newly launched World Cup version of the social campaigns is now making the rounds.
On an agency level, AdCastells is starting to bring its clients into messaging apps. But, with WhatsApp, WeChat and Messenger eager to monetize their respective platforms, the big question is “How?”
As Castells notes, there is participation and commentary, and very little brand sell. “What we do on those platforms are thematic and organic in nature,” she says. “It is conversation and it is linked to thematics, as opposed to any brand sell.”
Does this mean that there is an accepted boundary between being accepting, and being annoying?
“We weave, and it is never— especially on these platforms— not a typical ad. More and more, the challenge is to do things in a particular context. We will do visuals and do videos in a particular platform.”
Meanwhile, AdCastells has ventured into the world of augmented reality (AR) videos within a direct mail piece for Charter Spectrum. “We’re trying a lot of new things,” Castells says. “Preliminary results are extremely positive. Expectations were low because it is a new thing, but we are getting strong results.”
And, Castells is combining different mediums to make user interaction “more visceral and more engaging.”
That said, where do marketers stand with their multicultural social and digital efforts?
“Expanding platforms and the use of influencers are becoming more commonplace,” Castells says. “Social is a constant education.”