What You Might Not Know About Hispanic Marketing: A Conversation with Dr. Jake Beniflah

By Lisa Sussman,  Creative Marketing Consultant and Graphic Designer

Everyone is all abuzz about the fact that Hispanics represent the largest growth segment in the United States today. But how do we effectively seize on the opportunities that exist? That’s the question that Dr. Jake Beniflah, Executive Director for the Center for Multicultural Science and the moderator for Thursday night’s Impact of Culture on Marketing Effectiveness event, is trying to answer clearly and definitively. He is passionate about approaching these matters from a scientifically researched point of view and he’s ready to put it all on the table come this Thursday.
With its power panel of experts from Twitter to Kaiser Permanente, The Impact of Culture on Marketing Effectiveness, the sfAMA’s second annual Hispanic marketing event, promises to deliver an exciting exploration of the issues and questions that marketers currently face regarding cultural efficacy. In addition to Dr. Beniflah, panelists include: Jude Trapp, Multicultural Account Director for Pandora; Dr. Ricardo Villarreal, Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of San Francisco; Nuria Santamaria, VP of Multicultural Marketing at Twitter; and Beatriz E. Rojas, Sr. Director of Multicultural Marketing at Kaiser Permanente.

We spoke with Dr. Beniflah about this event, his recent study with Magna Global and what marketers might be surprised to learn on Thursday.

 

jake-beniflahQ: What do you think is the biggest mistake that marketers are making in regards to marketing to cultural segments?

JB: I think that there’s a lot of oversimplification that takes place. The biggest mistake that I see right now is marketers trying to find a universal truth, something that works across all segments strategically. That’s an efficiency model, but I think when you develop strategy it has to be effectiveness first and efficiency second. What’s going to drive your sales is purchase and efficiency doesn’t drive that necessarily. I think there’s an opportunity to develop something more effective.

Q: Tell us about the Magna study that you’re working on.

JB: The study that we just finished with Magna Global has the potential to change the way we measure Hispanic TV audiences across the board. We looked at TV viewership at a very granular level, and we saw big differences in what Hispanics watched between those that were foreign-born, US- born second generation and US-born third generation. Of the top 5 networks that the first generation foreign-born Hispanics watched, Univision and Telemundo were 1st and 2nd. By the time that they were second generation, the top 4 were all English language, Univision being 5th. By the time we saw third generation Hispanic, there were no Spanish networks being watched among the top 5 networks. If the media usage is different by generational level, why can’t we then target them by that metric?

Q: Why is it important for marketing professionals to attend Thursday’s event?

JB: Hispanics represent segments of growth for organizations. So companies are targeting them because they need them to grow their business. Therefore almost every general market agency and client will have to understand this very diverse and digitally connected consumer. My hope for this event is that we put everything on the table, no holds barred. There’s a lot to discuss.

 

TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE!!

Click here for details.

Impact of Culture on Marketing Effectiveness: sfAMA’s Second Annual Hispanic Marketing Event

 When:            THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015      6 P.M. TO 9 P.M.

Where:           Omni San Francisco Hotel

500 California Street – San Francisco, CA 94104

 

 

About The Author

Lisa Sussman is a designer that knows and loves marketing.
Her work centers on helping individuals, organizations and businesses to develop and communicate their brand.