Latinum Network Key Takeaways from Total Market Executive Roundtable Meetings. [INSIGHT]

Latinum Network just wrapped up two Total Market executive roundtables co-hosted by Discovery Communications and AARP.

There were several key takeaways that Latinum Network if offering HispanicAd.com readers.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM TOTAL MARKET MEETINGS

1. A New Era in Marketing Arrives: Total Market Strategies in a Multicultural Nation

There is a huge movement underway in corporate energy and mindset. Instead of distinguishing consumers by separate ethnic siloes and building separate “Hispanic or multicultural marketing strategies”, companies are transitioning to an integrated, comprehensive approach for marketing to a multicultural nation. Instead of talking about ethnic markets, marketers are talking about the diverse quilt that is “the cultural economy” as a whole. This becomes more than just a semantic distinction as investors realize that to be successful, consumer and business-to-business brands have to stop talking about marketing to “general market” with the leftovers dedicated to minority segments, and instead demand that companies capture all the dollars in the pie. This shift will have substantial, pervasive implications for the future of American business strategy, as organizations—and not just multicultural centers of excellence—make cultural competency and intuition an imperative.

2. A Uniquely Attractive Investment Opportunity, Even Outscoring BRIC in Several Important Ways

It’s well understood by now that the U.S. Hispanic market, and multicultural markets taken as a whole, can be characterized as emerging markets within a relatively mature U.S. economy. But it’s not enough to have a general understanding of size and growth – in fact, there are specific characteristics of this investment opportunity that market leaders recognize and are acting upon. First, it’s domestic and therefore without many of the risks of comparable international investments; it’s driven by population growth (“the good kind of growth”) which powers sustainable and long-term structural opportunities in the market; it targets the hottest segments and geographies which are growing 3-5 times as fast as the rest of the country; and it focuses on innovations which address changing consumer behaviors and “white spaces” in the market. And relative to the much talked about BRIC countries, the U.S. Hispanic market stacks up well – with comparable purchasing power and actually significantly higher population growth and GDP/capita.

3. Multicultural, Millennial, Digital… and the “Incremental vs. Integrated” Debate

The biggest challenge for companies – and the largest opportunity when overcome – is navigating the complexities associated with targeting distinct segments which are at the same time important parts of the whole market. Things like measuring “incremental ROI” of one segment which also contributes to (and is acted upon by) other initiatives are very difficult to do with precision, and become the main barriers to sustained commitment to U.S. Hispanic or multicultural investments. Add to that the exploding digital, social and mobile landscape – which by its nature cuts across segments and physical borders more seamlessly – and marketers are left to question exactly how to make multicultural investments, the proper allocation of dollars to digital, and even the very relevance of concepts like “incrementality” and single segment bets. In other words—has the steady drumbeat demanding incremental segment-level ROI actually hurt the overall ROI of companies’ marketing efforts?

4. New Analytic and Go-To-Market Frameworks Emerge: Latinum Network Accelerates Innovation through Collaboration with 85+ Market Leaders

Total Market organizations have internalized a fundamental paradigm shift in consumer relationships that is defined not by differences, but by common behaviors and needs that define the new mainstream. They also take a different approach to setting strategy, designing and resourcing the organization, investing in insights, and leveraging the strength of agencies and other partners. To capture all these learnings and provide a platform to accelerate innovation and collaboration, the Latinum Network has teamed with its more than 85 leading corporations and media companies to develop a brand new set of methodologies and tools to arm companies in building and executing Total Market strategies. Grounded in the proven practices of market leaders and harnessing their collective power to drive change, these new approaches are available to companies who want to participate and contribute their resources and expertise to continue to move the industry forward.