Commentary

My 'AHAA' Hispanic Marketing Moment

  • by , Columnist, January 12, 2017

This week, I was honored to be named to the board of AHAA, the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies. Having co-founded a Hispanic advertising agency over 15 years ago, I see the opportunity to serve on AHAA’s board as a huge aha moment in my Hispanic marketing career.

This opportunity enables me to give back to a market and industry that has given me and our agency so much. Founded 20 years ago, AHAA has an impressive 45,000 members and strives to “bring Hispanic inspiration and innovation to every marketer in the U.S.” I am inspired by this mission and look forward to advancing it with my fellow AHAA board members across several key areas.

Evangelize the Hispanic Market

The Hispanic market has come a long way, but we still have work to do. Fortunately, the majority of conversations with marketers have shifted from “you should be marketing to Hispanics” to “how to best market to Hispanics” — but there are still plenty of marketers out there who need convincing. Across industries, the data is clear: For brands to grow, they must win with Hispanics, and I look forward to continuing to tell this story with AHAA to anyone who will listen.

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Advance Hispanic Marketing Best Practices

Now that most marketers are focused on how to market to Hispanics, the hard work has actually begun. Over the years, we have seen different Hispanic marketing models, from a siloed approach where Hispanic marketing was independent from general market advertising to Total Market, where all marketing, regardless of target, is integrated into one cohesive initiative. Needless to say, there are many ways to execute successful Hispanic marketing programs, but successful programs have the following things in common:

  • Executive buy-in and long-term commitment
  • A clear identification of the opportunity, commensurate investment levels and corresponding KPI’s
  • An intimate understanding of the consumer(s), grounded in sound insights
  • Creative that connects with the consumer across the right channels
  • A methodology and commitment to continuously measure KPI’s and ROI

Hispanic marketers have increasingly been given a seat at the corporate marketing table. Now it’s time to use those seats to educate clients on how to do Hispanic marketing right and to show how Hispanic marketing can drive real growth and ROI.

Inspire and Educate the Future Generation of Hispanic Marketers

Great Hispanic marketing requires great Hispanic marketing professionals, period. Smart companies and agencies will make hiring and training executives and marketing professionals who understand Hispanic marketing a priority. We need to move to a place where the next generation wants to learn Hispanic marketing, a place where Hispanic marketing knowledge is a desired skill-set that is compensated appropriately.

As an industry, we need to ensure that the next generation understands the professional opportunity represented by Hispanic marketing, is inspired by Hispanic marketing, and has the tools and resources to become successful Hispanic marketing professionals. AHAA is an ideal platform for this and I look forward to helping inspire and educate the future generation of Hispanic marketers.
As I begin my journey as an AHAA board member, I look forward to working with our clients, employees, partners, and other AHAA members to create many more aha moments.

2 comments about "My 'AHAA' Hispanic Marketing Moment".
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  1. Dr. Jake Beniflah from mitú, January 12, 2017 at 11:12 a.m.

    Lee, congratulations! You have earned this and I strongly believe your digital point of view will help the industry move in the right direction. Couple of Qs to solve: (1) What can AHAA do to help clients see the value of digital when roughly 80 percent of all hispanic spend is in Spanish language TV? (2) When and how will AHAA evolve to be total market and begin to play in the GM media sandbox? Glad to know you're there, and look forward to see you thrive!

  2. Lee Vann from Captura Group, January 12, 2017 at 12:30 p.m.

    Thanks for the comment Dr. Beniflah- Your questions are definately at the top of my list and AHAA's and I am confident that we will make positive strides to address both in the near future.  Your input and collaboration now, and as we move forward are greatly appreciated.

    Gracias!
    Lee

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