Brands Joining the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration (Sept 15 thru Oct 15, 2016)

Hispanic Market Advisors®, reminds brands that,

“The Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, which takes place every year from September 15th to October 15th, is a great opportunity for innovative brands to learn more about the Hispanic community and join the celebration with the right approach.”

Here are a few executable ideas on how to celebrate diversity and honor the Latino culture, while scoring a few points for your brand:

1. Acknowledge your Hispanic employees for their contributions

Brands that recognize the contributions that come by employees from different cultures and backgrounds tend to do better in the long run for diversity strengthens the workplace and can have a number of benefits, including improved understanding of the marketplace, enhanced creativity and problem-solving ability in teams, and better use of talent. The US Army, for instance, has a dedicated website dedicated to Latinos www.army.mil/hispanics/ and is celebrating the many different cultures that make up American society with a series of articles and stories.

2. Integrate diversity into your business

Brands must consciously embrace diversity which does not mean organizing a merengue class for their employees or go to a happy hour event on 5 de Mayo, although that can be fun. To integrate diversity into your business requires knowledge of customers’ culture, buying habits and preferred methods of communication. During the Hispanic Heritage Month, it’s opportunistic to start developing a holistic and deliberate hiring strategy to increase workforce diversity. “If the pool of qualified candidates doesn’t reflect the demographics of your region or the clients you serve, you may need to expand your search beyond traditional hiring sources.” (staffone TRUSTED HR SOLUTIONS)

3. Join Hispanic Organizations and Minority Business Programs

Becoming a corporate partner with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, sponsoring one local Latino event, or joining a Minority Business program such as DiversityFran (formerly known as the MinorityFran program) can be all magnificent ideas. Maid Right Franchising has the “Maid Right Latino” initiative and is growing emerging markets in local communities by proactively recruiting into their franchise system Latino entrepreneurs who want to start their own business. As Jose Torres, from FranNet of South Florida wrote in an IFA article, “connecting to Hispanic consumers through Hispanic Franchisees” can be a smart move for those franchises that truly understand the value of diversity.

4. Establish strategic partnerships with Multicultural Agencies

Ethnic and multicultural agencies understand the nuances of the Latino market. Hispanic consumers growing purchasing power reached $1.5 trillion dollars in 2015, according to Nielsen, and Latinas are a driving force behind Hispanic purchasing power in the United States. Latino marketing agencies (or multicultural agencies) can help brands their products and services reached the Hispanic population which is expected to represent 19 percent of the total U.S. population by 2020.

Everyone wants a piece of the pie! Some brands have a serious commitment to connecting with the Latino community and continue to engage the Hispanic market effectively. Other brands, though, still remain cautious (or erratic) in their approach, for they either lack of knowledge or information, or undermining the nuances of the Latino culture. Partnering with a Hispanic Marketing or Multicultural Agency can help support cost-effective Hispanic initiatives aimed at connecting brands with the Hispanic consumer.

5. Communicate to your stakeholders why and how your business embraces diversity

You may want to encourage your Diversity Program Manager or Public Relations Director to consider:

• Creating a microsite that celebrates the Latino culture – Consolidated Credit launched CelebrandoLaHispanidad.com to honor the Latino culture and connect with the Latino community
• Sending a bilingual press release announcing that your company is joining the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration (mention list of activities). Hispanicize Wire and MarketWired offer press release distribution services that are distributed to Hispanic Top Metro areas in the U.S.
• Translating your web properties to Spanish. Refer to English to Spanish Website Translations
• Creating a Facebook Live Event or Google Live Event (YouTube streaming) to discuss the Hispanic culture with your audience—engaging with them starts with listening to what they have to say!
• Contributing a unique article to your local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce or other Latino business association relevant to your business.
• Matching your brand with top Latino celebrities and trend-setters to reach Hispanic consumers through endorsements. Judi Castro and Chiquis Rivera are co-owners in BeFlawlessSkin.com, a Cruelty-Free Cosmetic brand, that are connecting with Latinas effectively through instructional videos (Flawless Friday’s) produced with known celebrities as special guests.

To conclude, it’s safe to say that all markets eventually become saturated which makes it difficult for even established companies to grow. However, growth opportunities will always exist for those organizations who are prepared with multicultural connections given that today’s marketplace is becoming more diverse in nature. The Hispanic Heritage Month celebration can be a great platform to kick off or solidify those efforts that brings your brand closer to the 50 million-case opportunity ….