 |
| | | | | REPRINTS
|
Ad Push to Get Latinos Wired to Their Cells
From nifty features to TV air time, wireless carriers add flavor to their plan offerings
October 01, 2004
By Mindy Charski
While waiting for customers to browse his sunglass kiosk in a Dallas mall, Marco Sierra likes to play a game called Bush vs. Kerry Boxing on his Samsung mobile phone. Sierra, 33, purchased the game for about $3, and it's only one of a handful he has downloaded. He also paid about the same for a ring tone he likes, the Bad Boys theme song from the television show Cops, and every month $15 of his nearly $100 wireless bill goes toward Internet access. Last year, he left Sprint PCS for an attractive two-phone rate plan from Cingular, but he didn't like his service and after only a few months returned to Sprint.
The mobile purchasing habits of customers like Sierra demonstrate why wireless companies can't afford to ignore Hispanics when it comes to product offerings or advertising. Hispanic consumers are more likely than general-market consumes to spend more on wireless bills, switch carriers, ditch a land line in favor of a mobile phone, and pay for nifty features and services.
"When you look at the demographics of that market and how it's growing, it doesn't take long for you to realize this is a segment that will contribute to the company long term," says Verizon Wireless spokesperson Brenda Raney.
Moreover, Scarborough Research finds Hispanics spend more on their monthly wireless service than the national average — $67, compared with $62. Those interviewed in its April survey were 18 percent more likely than all wireless subscribers to say they plan to switch carriers in the next year, according to the study. Interestingly, 5 percent of Hispanics who participated in a spring study by Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research said they use only a wireless phone — more than any other ethnic group — and that number is expected to nearly triple in a year.
Why the love affair with cell phones? Reynaldo Caudillo, vice president of ethnic marketing at Insight Research Corp. in Boonton, N.J., traces one reason back to their Latin American countries of origin, where wired phones were considered luxuries for the wealthy. "Many Hispanic immigrants were more familiar with wireless technology than having a wired phone in the home, and that has carried over with the immigrant population," he says.
Hispanics also place a high value on communicating with their families, adds Alisa Joseph, vice president of advertiser marketing services at Scarborough, which is part owned by Marketing y Medios parent VNU. Spending levels on telecom in general, including long distance, are high among Hispanics, she says.
Today, all of the major carriers in the ultracompetitive wireless category have some kind of ad push geared toward the segment. In terms of television advertising from January through July of this year, Verizon Wireless leads the pack with $15 million, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. AT&T Wireless follows with $14 million, and Cingular and T-Mobile both spent $7 million.
In a sign of healthy activity for the segment, a number of Hispanic ad accounts went up for grabs in the past 12 months. In October, Nokia hired Del Rivero Messianu DDB in Coral Gables, Fla., as its first Hispanic agency of record. "Nokia has finally discovered the wealth of opportunity," says shop president and CEO Eduardo del Rivero. "And I think it's going to pay off." Seven months later, DRM picked up Alltel's Hispanic account. That same month, Cingular hired Mendoza Dillon of Irvine, Calif., to handle its work. And in June, Verizon Wireless hired Viva Partnership in Miami and San Antonio to handle its Hispanic media chores.
Not surprisingly, the players take different approaches to reach the Hispanic consumer. Forrester says Sprint PCS is among the most successful in appealing to the Hispanic population, with the segment making up about 9 percent of its base. (AT&T Wireless has the same percentage.) Yet, Sprint largely relied on point-of-purchase and collateral material until June, when it began a print, radio and outdoor campaign, says Soledad Gonzalo, account supervisor at BVK/Meka in Miami, which has handled Sprint's Hispanic work since 1999. The new effort, which is running in spot markets, includes the general-market message of "fair and flexible" but largely stresses Sprint's international calling plan.
"We use the fact that many [Hispanic consumers] are immigrants, and even the acculturated have close ties to their countries of origin," Gonzalo says.
Verizon's Hispanic efforts also align with the carrier's general-market image advertising. A Spanish-speaking "test man" appears in ads from Southfield, Mich.-based GlobalHue, which handles the carrier's creative duties. But Verizon likes to push certain products in markets with high numbers of Spanish speakers, including its North America calling plans that enable users to place calls in parts of Mexico without incurring roaming or long-distance charges.
It's not just carriers and phone manufacturers who see the dollar potential in Hispanic consumers — content players also are jumping in. Last month, Miami-based Sportsya and Mexican company Medio Tiempo launched a service on Cingular, Verizon and AT&T that lets consumers receive text messages about Mexican soccer for 30 cents each.
In addition, content provider AGmobile, for example, has teamed up with Univision to offer Univision Móvil on Verizon. The service started last month and includes ring tones, news, greeting cards and games that can be purchased through the phone. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company plans to expand its offering to other carriers, according to vp of marketing Nicholas Montes, who joined the company in August from Verizon, where he was director of multicultural marketing.
Montes says there's a "huge market opportunity" for this kind of content. Indeed, Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester found Hispanics and other minorities are more inclined to pay for such services as picture messaging and ring tones than Anglos. That's consistent with the fact that Hispanics are early adopters of technology in general, says Forrester researcher Charles Golvin.
"The reality is Hispanics are definitely downloading this information, and we need to provide them with content they're looking for," Montes says. "I wouldn't be surprised if they lead efforts for companies to come aboard and make sure they are addressing [Hispanics'] wireless data needs."
|
| | | | | REPRINTS
Copyright 2007 Marketing y Medios |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
QuickLinks:
1-click access to topics in this article.
|
|
|
|
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
|
