Prior to the drop in the economy, major brands were making smart spends across all platforms to find ways to activate and grow marketshare with the growing Hispanic audience in North America. Like the female decisionmakes, the Hispanic audience has become more powerful and more brand loyal in the past five years than ever before, and the rise of powerful entities like ESPN Deportes and Telemundo and Univision support that growth. However with the cutback in spending, a good deal of that activation in the Hispanic community was curtailed, with the thought that many brands had to spend where they knew they would get immediate results as opposed to where they could build from. However recently, a growing number of brands who have had success in the Hispanic marketplace have started to expand into mainstream sports and entertainment, with the reason being if their brands have reached solid marketshare in a Hispanic audience, then it is time to access the larger Anglo fan base with a solid product. The latest example is Cerveza Tecate, which is now stretching its market from beyond the ESPN Deportes spend it has had success on to a larger ESPN audience. The move makes sense for brand slooking to capitalize on a downmarketplace to grow, as efficient and creative opportunities now abound. So for brands to look to stretch their borders, especially when they have staked a claim in a tough market and communicated effectively, the opportunity is now. Will it work for every bran. Perhaps not. But for those brands that have natural crossover appeal, going from an “ethnic” spend to mainstream may just be easier than for mainstream brands looking to grow “ethnic.”
Some other good reads…the LA Times had a good piece on how yoga is becoming the exercise of choice amongst the LA Dodgers...wsj.com had a good piece on how baseball writers are worried about the future, and what they are trying to do to address a shrinking market…and the Washington Post had a good piece on how former President Bush is adjusting to life as a private citizen.
