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Trending Now! Adoptable Trends with Dieste

Find out more about Dieste and “Adoptable Trends,” their latest campaign for Dallas Pets Alive! Are you in?

DPA Adoptable Trends Campaign info graphic by Dieste

DPA Adoptable Trends Campaign info graphic by Dieste

To provide marketing solutions for multicultural markets is a challenge for most, especially when targeting people’s good will, but not for Dieste. Last year this award-winning multicultural marketing agency, together with Dallas Pets Alive! (DPA!) were able to help save dog’s lives through their campaign “muttbombing!” The response was so massive that got media coverage in every continent, except Antarctica.

Using the power of Instagram, selfies and Photoshop, they were able to help shelter dogs find loving homes. The campaign has been a success, with a $0 investment they helped increase the number of adoptions by 55% giving some well-deserving dogs a second chance in life.

This year Dieste has launched “Adoptable trends” – turning shelter dogs into trending topics – their brand-new campaign for Dallas Pets Alive that leverages social media and search to give new and unique names to rescued dogs and, therefore, improve their chances of being adopted. Of course, as we always admired their work and we have a huge soft spot for shelter pups, we decided to contact Dieste to find out more about their “Adoptable Trends” campaign.

The Adoptable Trends Campaign Unveiled

Q. We have been hearing a lot about your new campaign “Adoptable trends”. Could you share more about how the concept was created?

A. Shelter dogs face a harsh reality. They lack attention and online exposure for them to find a permanent home. This gave us the idea of naming the adoptable dogs after the hottest trending topics. Then, “Lemmon” became “Interrupting Kanye,” “Sadie” became the famous social media debate “What color is this dress” and by sharing about them on social media, they were able to trend and get their much needed exposure.

Q. The idea of redirecting the attention trends get towards the dogs is brilliant. But you did more than just help these dogs, didn’t you?

A. Well, yes, we wanted to give trending topics a social purpose and make shelter pups “trendy.”

Q. Tell us a bit more about your client’s cause.

A. There are 6-8 million dogs and cats entering U.S. shelters every year and only about half are adopted. The other half is not as lucky. On top of that some shelters euthanize animals after a few weeks. Our clients’ mission is to promote and provide the resources, education and programs needed to eliminate the killing of companion animals.

Q. And now that they are trending what have the results been so far?

A. These are partial results as the campaign is still “live.” The average Twitter engagement performance for the “Adoptable Trends” campaign has almost doubled (from 2% before the campaign to 3.7% during the campaign, as of now.) The average engagement on campaign related posts is of 6.2%. From February 14th to March 23rd, the #AdoptableTrends has reached 751,725 Impressions. Traffic to the site has almost doubled and we had four times more adoptions than with last year’s campaign.

Q. Truly impressive. Now, let’s talk about Dieste. What do you consider to be your core strengths?

A. Our core strength is as simple as a twitter post: Dieste develops creative solutions and services to grow our clients’ businesses.

Q. What differentiates you from other Hispanic Marketing agencies in the market?

A. Two things mark the difference. Our very talented people and the fresh approach we take to Multicultural Marketing. We call it Multicultural Marketing Re-imagined. We have a data-driven process that uses quantitative storytelling and genuine cultural insights to deliver results. No anecdotes. No stereotypes. Data.

Thank you, Dieste, for these extraordinary, powerful, and engaging campaigns. We look forward to seeing more of your fantastic work!!!

We thought these adorable pups deserved even more exposure, so we are featuring them on our site as well.

Adoptable trends campaign by Dieste

Adoptable trends campaign by Dieste

If you’d like to know more about turning shelter dogs into trending topics, visit Adoptabletrends.com or search in social media for the #adoptabletrends hashtag.

Hispanic Acculturation Secrets Unveiled

At the Governor's Mansion Claudia Goffan with Gov. Sam Brownback after Hispanic Day on the Hill

At the Governor’s Mansion Claudia Goffan with Gov. Sam Brownback after Hispanic Day on the Hill

Hispanic Acculturation secrets were unveiled at the Keynote Speech given by Claudia Goffan, Hispanic Marketing expert and Target Latino CEO, at Hispanic Day on the Hill and she reveals some of them on this article.

As you may be aware, the Kansas Hispanic & Latino American Affairs Commission, with the office of Governor Sam Brownback, proclaimed Hispanic Day on the Hill at the Capitol in Topeka, Kansas that this year took place on April 1st- a day wherein Hispanics from Kansas come together to obtain updated information on key policy and meet with their legislators at the Capitol, and I was called to deliver a keynote speech on Hispanic marketing.

First of all, I’d like to thank the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission with the office of Governor Sam Brownback for selecting me as their keynote speaker for such an important event for both their Latino and political communities. I was truly honored by the request.

I would also like to extend a special thanks to Adrienne Foster, Executive Director of KHLAAC and Mayor of Roeland Park, for organizing such an outstanding and highly attended event and for making me feel so welcome and introducing me to such a distinguished group of people.

I was positively impressed by Governor Sam Brownback who opened his home to us, for his eagerness to learn and understand the issues that concern the Kansas Latino community and Latinos in general.

I was overwhelmed by the impact my presentation made and the number of positive comments received from the audience. I hope the understanding of cultural differences and similarities continues as I see the impact it could exponentially have in the immediate future on the improvement of relationships with Latinos in Kansas and in the rest of the United States.

The audience was entertained and surprised when they found out that every 30 seconds a U.S. Hispanic turns 18 years old. Happy birthday!!! By the sheer numbers alone, the Hispanic market has become a key demographic, not just in states like California, Florida, Texas and New York but in Kansas as well.

The Kansas landscape has changed dramatically since the 2000 U.S. Census. The state’s Hispanic population grew by 59 percent over the past decade. There are over 301,000 Hispanics that reside in Kansas – the 17th largest Hispanic population share nationally- and more than 37% of them are eligible to vote (higher than North Carolina with only 24%). And while U.S. Hispanics have a purchasing power of $1.2 trillion as of 2012, Kansas Latinos purchasing power is $5.6 billion and Kansas Hispanic businesses generated $1.3 billion in 2012.

Hispanic households spend almost as much as general market households and they earn about 70% of what these earn. Therefore and in relative terms, Hispanic households spend more. (Hispanic households spend approximately $40,123 each year, compared to $46,409 for general U.S. households. This gap is shrinking at a very fast pace)

Unfortunately, many of America’s corporations – and it is definitely not limited to them – hang on to stereotypes instead of learning about the Hispanic culture and how it shapes the identity of Hispanic consumers and their communities. This disconnect makes it difficult for these companies to build trust, truly engage with, and begin to value U.S. Hispanics as viable consumers. After all, the ability to identify with an advertisement or a message is affected by identification with a society or the culture of that society.

And what is culture but a mental map which guides us in our relations to our surroundings and to other people? It may be tied to ethnicity on occasions but not necessarily so. Thus, the culture of people that live in the city will be different that the ones that live in a farm and so on. Understanding Hispanic acculturation becomes crucial to understanding the Hispanic culture tapestry that has been weaved in the U.S. and makes it different from the ones in their respective countries of origin.

Several years ago, I shared an article on the Hispanic Acculturation process and understanding segmentation on this same blog. Today, these circles still represent culture more than ever. Not segments. Not slices of the population. Cultures. Everybody in the Venn diagram below is Hispanic and depicting today’s reality that about 70% of Hispanics are bi-culturals (and bilinguals to a certain degree) why are we still debating on what language to address this population and not concentrating on what message will resonate better depending on the level of Hispanic Acculturation? Bi-culturals have two sets of cultures, two sets of maps with which to interpret behaviors, messages, thoughts and everything they do as members of a society.

Hispanic Acculturation Process

Hispanic Acculturation Process

Bi-cultural Hispanics have two sets of codes and they can switch between them just as they can switch languages but only one can be prevalent at a time. Culture works in the same way than language. It can even be mixed and matched, conjugated, re-invented. Understanding Hispanic acculturation is one of the elements to understanding U.S. Hispanics. But remember that no one knows their own culture fully and to understand culture, you have to understand other cultures and their similarities and differences.

Of course, these are just a few of the Hispanic acculturation secrets. I promise there will be more in the future. Meanwhile, I hope that what has begun here is a long lived effort and the example is followed by many others.

Thoughts of the Day

To be kind is more important than to be right

To be kind is more important than to be right

all the secrets in the world are contained in books

all the secrets in the world are contained in books

Next Quote? funny inspirational quotes on every post! | Latinos in Kansas to Have Hispanic Day on the Hill

Hispanic mobile consumers study

As Hollywood looks to drive waning movie ticket sales, their focus should be on the growing Hispanic population and their use of mobile devices throughout the movie-planning process. This insight comes from research within The Mobile Consumer: Hispanics, Movies & Mobile, a new report by multicultural marketing agency Briabe Mobile and MocoSpace, the largest entertainment destination on the mobile Internet.

Hispanics attend movies more frequently than other racial demographics, and they're using their mobile devices to find theaters, movie times and reviews.

Hispanics attend movies more frequently than other racial demographics, and they’re using their mobile devices to find theaters, movie times and reviews.

Based on the results from a June 2011 survey of MocoSpace users, the study revealed Hispanics attend movies more frequently than other racial demographics, and they’re using their mobile devices to find theaters, movie times and reviews.

Hispanics are known to be a driving force for tickets sales. A recent Nielsen study found Hispanics make up approximately 15 percent of the U.S. population, but they represent 28 percent of today’s frequent moviegoers. This study echoed those findings, but also had key findings about Hispanics’ movie-attending habits.

Key findings for Hispanic mobile consumers include the following:

  • 75 percent of Hispanics go to the movie theater once a month, 25 percent see movies three times a month. This is more often than all other polled ethnic demographics.
  • Hispanic Americans use their phones for almost every part of the film-discovery process. 72 percent use their mobile devices for overall movie planning. Of those:
    • 65 percent use their mobile devices to find showtimes and locations
    • 39 percent use it to view trailers
    • 35 percent use it to discover movies
    • 28 percent use it to get reviews
    • 14 percent use it to buy tickets
  • 55 percent use their phones to access movie information within the four hours just prior to seeing a movie.

Not only are Hispanics using their phones to seek out movie information, the report found they’re influenced by mobile advertisements, too. One out of four interviewed said they look to search and mobile banner ads when deciding what film to see. After viewing a film, 55 percent of Hispanics said they discuss their opinion of the movie on social networks.

72 percent of Hispanics use their mobile devices for overall movie planning | Hispanic mobile Consumers Study

Hispanic mobile Consumers Study | 72 percent of Hispanics use their mobile devices for overall movie planning

Photo credit: VentureBeat

you are entitled to your informed opinion

you are entitled to your informed opinion

Sears Goes Social with Hispanics

Sears recently announced several social media efforts aimed at the Hispanic market, including new Facebook and Twitter programs. (It already has three separate Hispanic Web sites, including SearsPR, launched last year, which ships merchandise only to the island of Puerto Rico.)

Sears Goes Social with Hispanics

Sears Goes Social with Hispanics

Marketing Daily caught up with Oscar H. Castro, director/general manager of international e-commerce, for more details on how the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based retailer hopes to woo the rapidly growing, social-media loving Hispanic market:

Sears Goes Social with Hispanics

Q: How do Hispanic shoppers differ in terms of social media use?

A: Social media is such an important channel for us right now; Hispanic growth on Facebook is eight times larger than the general population, and we know that Hispanic consumers spend more time on it each week as well. So for us, it seems the best thing to do is work with that higher level of engagement. We’re not creating these forums to push products so much as to build stronger relationships. And it’s pretty exciting. In two weeks we’ve gotten 16,000 fans, and a great level of engagement.

Q: But does that mean there is also an increased appetite for retail in social media?

A: Yes, I think Hispanic culture really is different about shopping. It’s much more of a family activity; the whole family goes out to the mall. They are more social about shopping, in general. They want to have more conversations. We want to join the conversation.

Q: Are there gender differences?

A: Well, younger Latinas are more likely to shop online than older women, or men. But other than that, there are not a lot of major differences.

Q: Is it effective for a marketer as large as Sears to focus on a single Hispanic market, when there are so many submarkets?

A: There are so many differences, and that’s what makes Hispanic marketing so difficult. Facebook is a great equalizer, and you can have general conversations with broader appeal. But there are many cultural nuances. What works for a Dominican audience may not for a Mexican one. So some of our efforts are extremely local.

We launched SearsPR.com last year to serve only the Puerto Rican market. We use local terminology, and a completely separate marketing program. Sears offers 290 million products online, and of course, our mission is to help our customer find things anytime, anywhere. But there are items on this site you can’t find in the continental U.S.

Q: Why so many different initiatives?

A: This market is large and projected to grow even further, and we are leaders in it. It’s not going to be a niche market, it’s going to be the U.S. market. And I can’t think of too many brands that have been very effective. McDonald’s now leads with its diversity insights, and Coca-Cola has done a great job in the Latino market. And I think we’ll see more Latin brands crossing over into the mainstream — like Corona beer.

A reminder

A reminder

Why Marketers Should Care About Reaching Latina Bloggers

Speaking about Latina Bloggers is Elianne Ramos is the principal and CEO of Speak Hispanic Communications and vice-chair of Communications and PR for LATISM.

Elianne Ramos is the principal and CEO of Speak Hispanic Communications and vice-chair of Communications and PR for LATISM.

The first gift of the season goes to my dear friend, Elianne Ramos.:)  Elianne is an incredibly talented, knowledgeable, and hard working human being, she is the Principal & CEO of Speak Hispanic communications and vice-chair of Communications and PR for Latinos in Social Media (LATISM.) She is constantly on the go, generating great ideas and positively impacting the U.S. community. As if this wasn’t enough, she was the vice president, creative director and founder of i3 Creative Group, managing production teams working concurrently in the United States, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina. In over 15 years of  creative direction, copy writing, public speaking, public relations and TV commercial production experience, Elianne has developed broadcast, multimedia and social media campaigns for high-profile clients. Her writing has appeared in numerous books and publications including the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and now, for the first time-ever, on the Hispanic Marketing blog.

Please, enjoy Elianne’s article. Elianne, this one is with all of the Target Latino love.

Why Marketers Should Care About Reaching Latina Bloggers

Even with the well-documented explosion of the Hispanic market, Internet sources like Technorati, which by 2008 was indexing 112.8 million blogs, have never touched upon the topic of Latinas and blogging. With the release of the Latinos in Social Media’s Latina Blogger Survey, though, it is now official: Latina bloggers are increasing their numbers and spreading throughout the blogosphere.

The intrinsic characteristics of blogging, where the private becomes public and communities rally together around common interests, make it the perfect platform for Latinas to voice life from their viewpoint … in in two languages, no less!

Beyond the obviously good news that these bloggers now provide us with a new outlet for furthering our brands’ messages—what with ever-shrinking minority-outreach budgets—the implications of this Latina blogger explosion for PR and marketing professionals are many:

The Good

• In Latino culture, where word-of-mouth and group interaction are second-nature, the trustworthiness of a blog post wrapped in a culturally relevant package can certainly influence the value of a brand in the eyes of their thousands of followers.

• These bloggers provide us with micro-niche audiences and more targeted outlets for furthering our brands’ messages. Stories published and promoted online have the potential to reach a greater number of people in very little time. In this context, a Latina blogger outreach program puts us in an ideal position to secure widespread coverage for our clients.

• Most Latinas blog in English, followed closely by Spanish and peppered with Spanglish, which means that their potential reach is amplified. Their choice of language in this case may be more about connecting with their readership, not necessarily a reflection of the language they speak more fluently. The key is listening and doing your homework in order to find the perfect fit.

• Latina bloggers are actively engaged in social media, and they tend to belong to tight, supportive communities online. Besides the fact that your message will reach well beyond the scope of the blog, this also means that other influencers in their communities will help disseminate it.

• Their culture infuses their writing but does not rule it.  Contrary to expectations, Latinas blog about numerous subjects, which opens up possibilities for different types of brand engagement.

• These Latinas are at the epicenter of merging worlds: between traditional and modern roles, between English and Spanish, between American and Latino cultures. They will bring a fresh perspective to your message, one that most closely reflects the Latina experience in the US.

The Bad

• Brand credibility: With consumers now doing research online and even generating their own content, consumers are less likely to believe a product review that blatantly comes from a sponsorship.

• Relative lack of control over the message: Know that consumers will be getting and act on impressions about your brand from less than perfect sources. Bloggers are not necessarily a self-regulating bunch, at least not yet. The fact that they can and will write whatever they want in their blog might create public relations issues. Just be sure to monitor their blogs, so you can address any issues or comments and give your official brand perspective, if need be.

• Saturation: With the fast growth rate of this segment, the Latina blogger market is likely to become saturated fast, which means their individual reach will, at some point and with few exceptions, start to diminish. This being a relatively young blogging community also means that the time to reach out to them is now.

The Ugly

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cracking down on so-called “Blogola” by regulating blogger/advertiser relationships. The rules were updated December 2009.

The new rules include the fact that now bloggers must disclose material connections with a brand: whether they are receiving payment or free products and the kind of relationship they have with the company. What’s more, now both the brand and the blogger are subject to liability for misleading or unsubstantiated representations made. This means that the potential of a company being held responsible for approving unfounded claims—not rare in this realm—is a very real one. While the FTC regulations are beginning to be applied, the blogger outreach game is still an evolving one. The main things to keep in mind seem to be transparency, clear objectives and open ears: a willingness to listen and adjust, if need be.

Though a blogging campaign may be a godsend of great, relatively inexpensive publicity, remember that it is also —or should be—part of a larger communications/PR plan. Make sure all other elements of the campaign support your Latina blogging outreach and vice versa. If you do it right, Latina blogueras will rally behind your efforts with the same pasión they pour into their Web writing every day.

What has been your experience in reaching out to Latina bloggers? Please share in the comments below.

inspirational quote

inspirational quote