Cha-ching!

On the heels of wide industry recognition at the recent celebration of the ADDY Awards, officers at San Antonio-based The Cartel Group received positive news from their clients, demonstrating, in their view, that innovative and culturally-relevant campaigns pay off for clients who do business in the U.S. Latino and multicultural marketplace.

While general market recruitment figures for the U.S. Army continue to lag in the midst of a war environment and a healthier economy; recruitment rates for U.S. Latinos continue to outpace those of all other minorities and, in some local markets, of Anglos as well. This, according to an October 2004 article in Diversity Magazine and to a recent article in LatinoLoop. Cartel’s “Yo Soy el Army” (I am the Army) campaign offered a uniquely distinct and culturally savvy message to Latino audiences from the Army’s English “An Army of One” tag, which was discontinued for the general market campaign this past January.

Cartel’s “Inconfundible” Latino campaign for Client Dr Pepper, a brand owned by international beverage conglomerate Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages, continues to deliver increasing market share for the brand in a segment where, according to Wall Street analysts, sales are lagging.

When Cartel became Church’s Chicken Agency of Record across all market segments in March 2004, the agency’s proposed “We got the Crunch” tag strongly resonated with the Quick Service Restaurant’s marketing executives and franchisees. The real test came as the campaign was executed nationally and in Puerto Rico, in both English and Spanish. Since then, after various new product introductions, including Cartel’s recent Spicy Chicken campaign, Church’s Chicken crossed the billion-dollar mark in annual restaurant sales at the end of February.

“We are tremendously proud of the work we do for our clients and consider ourselves their partners. Whether they are local or national, we work in tandem with our clients to achieve success,” said Jesús Ramírez, Brand Strategist and co-founder at the independent agency, whose new book, The Olé Degree -a business allegory about the blind side of Marketing- was published in February.