Mervyn’s & Castells & Asociados Honored By SCBA.

Mervyn’s and Hispanic advertising agency Castells & Asociados scored big with their recent “Mervyn’s Back-To-School Sale” Spanish-language radio campaign, winning the “Best Spot of the Month Award” in English and Spanish radio from the Southern California Broadcasters Association’s (SCBA) General Sales Managers Council.

“One of the most important things to us in our general market and Spanish-language advertising is to connect with our guests,” says Lee Walker de Sarvide, Mervyn’s VP Marketing. “We developed our general market campaign around the nostalgic appeal of the Schoolhouse Rock music we all grew up with, and we wanted to find a connection that would work for our Latino guests as well. With the assistance of our partner, Castells & Asociados, we came across the music of Timbiriche, a band that Latinos are familiar with.”

Arturo Monroy, Castells & Asociados’ Sr. Copywriter adds, “The general market ads utilized platinum recording artist Smash Mouth to re-record some of the popular Schoolhouse Rock songs. Our strategy was to transcreate the overall concept of using a well-known band singing about learning, fun and school, yet make it relevant for Hispanic moms and kids. We decided that the popular Mexican band, Timbiriche, was our best option. No other band in the history of Mexican pop music equals the cultural impact on many generations as Timbiriche. Hispanic moms grew up listening to their music when the band was made up of then kids and today’s Hispanic youth follow grown artists like Thalia Sodi and Paulina Rubio, whom got their start as children in Timbiriche. Once the rights were obtained to use Timbiriche’s theme song, we adapted the lyrics to include the Mervyn’s Back-To-School sales message and recorded local talented children who did a great job imitating Timbiriche’s voices.”

“Radio is a very effective medium to reach Hispanic consumers and a music-based theme for radio spots makes perfect sense,” continues Rafael Ramírez, Castells & Asociados’ Executive Creative Director. “The musical focus also helped create synergy across media tactics like TV, which we also developed for Mervyn’s. The campaign allowed Mervyn’s to express that back-to-school is not just about shopping; it’s about fun for moms and fun for kids.”