Hispanic Consumers will help You WIN.

By Graciela El-eta / Univision Insights

During the recent Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) Executive Conference, the GMA, Nielsen and McKinsey unveiled a report entitled “Winning Where it Matters: A Focused Approach to Capturing Growth.” The report examines the financial performance, Nielsen in-market data, and self-reported business practices of more than 50 consumer product goods (CPG) companies in the food, beverage, personal care, home care and pharma categories.

The results identified five common strategies of “winning companies” – those CPG companies that have above-average financial performance and are well positioned for future growth. One of those five strategies? “Winning companies place forward-looking bets and are three times more likely to invest in emerging channels and the Hispanic market,” says the report. As a result, these companies grew sales to Hispanics 2.5 percentage points more than the category average, and had better Hispanic household penetration.

The report highlights three common denominators of a winning Hispanic strategy. They all support the idea of a Total Market Strategy, integrating Hispanic consumer insights into every step of the business planning process:

Tailoring products and marketing to Hispanics: Winning CPG companies are much more likely to develop Hispanic-relevant products and use bilingual packaging. They also recognize the power of Hispanic media and more than 90 percent plan to increase their spending in this area.

Partnering with retailers to create a compelling in-store experience: Winning companies cultivate relationships with retail partners that are focused on serving the Hispanic consumer. These strategic alliances allow CPG companies to tailor their sales strategies and create a more culturally relevant in-store environment surrounding their brands.

Building organizational capabilities and resources to win the Hispanic consumer: Winning CPG companies build Hispanic-dedicated business units at every function – including brand marketing, consumer insights, trade marketing, sales and distribution – and invest in necessary resources and talent. Nearly 80 percent of these winning companies track and measure their performance with Hispanic consumers on a quarterly basis.