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Ricardo L. Valencia
July 01, 2006
The senior vp and head of diversity markets of ING is determined to change the way Hispanics think about life insurance and retirement. As ING debuts this summer as presenting sponsor of the Juntos en Concierto 20-city tour, Valencia — comfortably switching between English and Spanish — speaks withMarketing y Medios Editor Laura Martínez about ING’s plans for the U.S. Hispanic market.
Q: ING in May announced that it had partnered with Live Nation to become the first-ever presenting sponsor of Juntos en Concierto 2006, a 20-city tour featuring Marc Anthony, Laura Pausini and Marco Antonio Solis "El Buki." How on earth did you convince the management at ING to sponsor such an event?
A: I went to Juntos in 2005, in Atlanta, and simply me enamoré. While looking at the crowd, I thought: These are my customers! This is my culture. Then I thought, next year, I will own this event.
Q: And you did. Did your boss know who "El Buki" was?
A: Not at all. He knew who Marc Anthony was.
Q: The U.S. Hispanic population is 43 million strong and growing. Who exactly is ING trying to reach?
A: We know that 40 million Hispanics are not going to be our customers. But there are pockets of wealth within the marketplace, and those are our ideal target.
Q: How do you segment the marketplace?
A: We do so based upon income, education and investable assets. We like to say that ING is focused on the mass-affluent. This means people with an income level above $75,000. I believe that it is still a single-digit number — anywhere between 9 percent and 11 percent [of the U.S. Hispanic population] — but nobody is talking to them. So that's the perfect opportunity for us.
Q: Is Juntos the right venue to reach that segment?
A: Juntos reaches our target market — third- and fourth-generation Hispanics with an income above $75,000 a year — but it's also great to reach a younger crowd, those who aspire to a better life in the U.S. It makes perfect sense.
Q: What products is ING interested in pitching to U.S. Hispanics?
A: We want to focus on life insurance and retirement plans, among other things. And to do this we have to start by understanding and educating the community.
Q: Educating?
A: Buying a life insurance policy is nearly against culture in Latin America. Many people think, "Why would I save up so that when I die my wife can go and marry someone else?"
Q: So, what's the answer to that?
A: The answer is: Well, because you want to put your kids through college, right?
Q: ING does not yet have a Hispanic agency of record. Will you be looking into hiring one to help spread your message?
A: Yes.
Q: What would you seek in a shop?
A: Our need is twofold. One is to reach the end consumer, of course. The second is to reach our distribution channels, which are principally made up of non-Hispanics. We will need to tailor a message for insurance agents who know the statistics [about Hispanics] but still are not willing to change their business. We will need a message and media to reach those individuals. And that's a challenge.
Q: How much money is ING committing to this initiative?
A: I cannot disclose figures, but it is sizeable. The company is not taking away budget elsewhere to put in the multicultural practice. We are growing our overall marketing budget.
Q: What is your ultimate goal in this position?
A: The end goal is that ING doesn't need a diversity practice to address its consumer needs. Ideally, I am working myself out of the job, because once the U.S. financial services industry understands the power, magnitude and potential of the U.S. Hispanic market, the industry will treat it as it treats the general market.
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