POWER OF SPECIALIZATION & STORYTELLING PERVASIVE THEMES AT 2017 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

According to AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing, having the right marketing specialists is the key to navigate big data, digital engagement and insights for successful marketing plans, but it’s how you weave culture and relevance into storytelling that makes brands matter to Hispanic consumers. During the 2017 AHAA Annual Conference in Chicago, the power of specialization and storytelling, better insights and research, and improved ROI data were pervasive themes.

“AHAA has led the vision in segmentation over the past decade with in-depth market studies and best practices showcasing the power of utilizing Hispanic marketing specialists that continues to grow brands’ market shares,” said AHAA Chair Linda Gonzalez. “Our speakers – visionaries from brands, agencies, research firms, media networks – reinforced this point during our conference. Multicultural marketing is here to stay, and coupled with powerful and culturally-relevant stories that inspire and evoke emotion, it’s the cornerstone for successful campaigns of today and tomorrow.”

The timeframe to capture consumer attention is smaller than ever, which is why having the right specialists to help brands identify and tell their stories in a culturally-relevant and meaningful way is critical in this on-demand world. In addition to discussing strategies to reach Hispanic consumers in this hyper-digital age, conference highlights included a spirited political discussion with conservative strategist Ana Navarro and award-winning journalists Anne Vasquez and Juan Carlos Lopez – “If four years of Donald Trump as a president doesn’t get Latinos to register to vote, nothing will!” quipped Navarro. Another breakout moment was actor Miguel Cervantes, star of the Chicago production of Hamilton, who talked about the role of culture and inclusivity in roles and punctuated his session with a high five with Marco Lopez from element L2: “Immigrants… We get the job done!”

What brought the house down, however, was the closing keynote by advertising legend and Chairman of DDB Worldwide, Keith Reinhard, who reinforced that creativity and storytelling matter in this digital age. While big data is important, it won’t replace big ideas, and his advice to conference attendees was to find the meaning of your brand and make your audience care. When discussing significant objects, he said, “If a well-told story can increase the value of junk, imagine what it can do for your brand.” This is true not only for multicultural audiences, but for everyone – the secret is finding your brand’s archetype and what is most relevant to each audience.

Other takeaway points during the 2017 AHAA Annual Conference include:

“The Hispanic community and culture is essentially in the driver’s seat. It is not only defining how we go to market today, but it is challenging us on how our ‘next generation of marketing’ will take shape,” said Dave Rodriguez, multicultural marketing director for The Ford Company during the 2017 AHAA Marketer of the Year session.

“The best people with insights come from the multicultural team,” said Kevin McLaughlin of T-Mobile & MetroPCS, during the client panel also featuring Coca-Cola and Kaiser Permanente.

“In God we trust; all others must bring data,” said John Santiago, CEO of M8.

 “Demographics tell part of a story but when you add attitudes, you build a more complete picture,” said Juan Ruiz, director of Hispanic insights at Mintel.

Former Starcom Mediavest CEO Laura Desmond said, “The best storytelling comes from what you know and what it means to you.”

“Be in authentic pursuit of the ‘never been done.’ Lean into unique perspectives and away from imitation… Find the obsession – what is the brand an expert on?” said Katie Manderfield of The New York Times’ T Brand Studios in reference to content generation.

“Once you have the concept, it’s necessary to have a great PR campaign connected with digital efforts. The power of people is critical – we had hundreds of brand ambassadors dominate the conversation,” said Alvaro Luque, CEO of Avocados from Mexico on the brand’s Super Bowl success.

To learn more about AHAA, please visit http://ahaa.org and follow all conference chatter on Twitter using the @ahaa handle and hashtag #ahaanextgen.

About AHAA: Founded in 1996, AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing is the national trade organization of all marketing, communications and media firms with trusted Hispanic expertise.