• by Christine Montenegro McGrath , July 12, 2011

One of the most common questions I get from our brand marketers as they begin a marketing campaign for Latinos is "who should I target, Acculturated, Un-acculturated or Bi-Cultural Latinos"? Another one we often hear is "How should I think about Acculturation?" My advice is DON'T!

Acculturation is a tricky concept and can lead marketers down the wrong path if it is used incorrectly. In the past it was often used as a proxy for "when do I no longer need to have a dedicated Hispanic marketing effort"? The idea was that eventually Latinos would only consume English-language media and we would not need a separate Spanish-language campaign. Acculturation can also make marketing to Latino consumers seem overwhelming, complicated and not worth the effort. This misses the point entirely and precludes marketers from going after one of the most significant growth opportunities in North America today.

As a veteran marketer at Kraft Foods and the senior director of our Latino Center of Excellence, I was eager to discover the acculturation model that would make it easy for our brands to understand the Latino market and seize the opportunity. After I spent time with Latino consumers and made a true connection, I had my "aha" moment. By immersing myself in their daily lives, meeting their families, being in their homes and listening to their stories, I began to understand their challenges, frustrations, joys, and needs. It struck me that many of the themes were consistent with the general market.

However, I experienced the cultural lens through which Latinos view the world and I began to understand the deep values that influence everything in their lives. I started to see so many growth opportunities for our brands to delight these consumers. This was no different than the work I had done in the general market. So the key learning for me is: great marketing begins only when we build an intimate understanding of our consumers as people without minimizing them to segments or labels. In short, there are no shortcuts.

Now I advise our brands not to fixate on acculturation levels, but to focus instead on a holistic understanding of their Latino consumer and the consumer need they are trying to address. Once you have this lens and know the drivers of consumer behavior, it becomes easy to nuance the brand's communication strategy to be culturally relevant to the Latino consumer. This approach has proven very successful: our brands that have adopted it have grown rapidly among Latinos and have made Latino marketing a key growth driver for now and for the future.