• Ad Age, Thursday, March 9, 2006 11:46 AM

Consumer products giant Unilever is increasing its Hispanic advertising and promotion budget by almost 50 percent this year in the company's largest-ever push for its Hispanic food brands. Plans include a program dubbed "Desafio del Sabor" (The Flavor Challenge,) in which participants submit recipes that must include Unilever products and will end in a televised cook-off on national TV. Ricardo Martinez, Unilever's director- multicultural marketing, said Latinos spend almost twice as much time preparing home-cooked meals as non-Latinos do. He added that the new effort taps into a belief among Hispanics that their food has "the best sazon [seasoning] or sabor [flavor]." Besides collecting recipes, Unilever is readying half a dozen mobile vans to go to big grocery chains and local Hispanic festivals. The effort will be backed by TV, radio, print and online advertising, plus public relations, promotions and in-store advertising, a Web site (desafiodelsabor.com) and a giveaway recipe book called Viva Mejor (Live Better).

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