Let’s Get Creative and Solve Some Problems

  by Louis Maldonado

While quickly adjusting to a work-from-home situation and revamping client marketing plans, many in our industry saw early signs of how the pandemic was disproportionately having a negative impact on the Latino community. Early data showed Latinos are more likely to be deemed as “essential workers” and less likely to be in jobs that could be performed remotely. We also saw that our community was half as likely to have computers in the home, which have become a lifeline for at-home learning and filing for unemployment and other assistance programs. While the Spanish-language media were working overtime to keep their audiences updated on the latest news and protocols for hygiene and physical distancing, only a fraction of brands that had COVID-19-related creative in the mainstream media had Spanish-language messaging. So, many agencies and media companies worked to help fill the void by keeping our clients abreast of the grave need and proposing ways to shift their messaging strategies to stay relevant while things were changing by the minute.

We at d expósito have pitched in to fight the good fight. Early on, we created Spanish PSA content for New York City agencies serving vulnerable communities.  We took to social media to help fill the void, and our creative team, led by Paco Olavarrieta and with designs by Yury Vargas and Carmen Quang, created a series of social media posts to help spread the word on social distancing protocols while addressing two observations noted about how people were reacting to CDC guidelines. First, many were strictly practicing social distancing so much so that they totally ignored anyone that passed them, so we worked to inspire a sense of humanity and community. Conversely, others were loosely following “shelter at home” orders and rationalizing why they were allowed to bend the rules, so we developed content that underscored the importance that everyone cooperate. We authored opinion pieces in the advertising trade media, with updates on how the virus was impacting the Hispanic Market and implications and opportunities for brands. We submitted ideas to the United Nations Global Call for Creatives, with versions in both English and Spanish. Lastly, we shifted to celebrating our 15th year of being in business –our own quinceañera– in a virtual manner this Cinco de Mayo, while postponing the in-person gathering to 2021.

Thankfully, many Hispanic agencies, media partners and trade organizations, like the Culture Marketing Council, have also quickly risen to the challenge. It’s clear we still have a long way to go because, unfortunately, it feels as if communities of color are in this alone. Now, we have just a glimpse of how Puerto Rico must have felt after Hurricane Maria and the recent earthquakes, where Puerto Ricans on the island and across the diaspora had to lead the rescue, relief and rebuilding efforts with the help of kind and empathetic individuals and organizations across the country. While not entirely alone, our industry will have to continue working with the broader Latino community to carry the torch so that no one is left behind, but there is no doubt we can do this. To borrow from the now cliché COVID-19-related advertising, while these “challenging and unprecedented times” are rather unique, we have overcome grave adversity before because “we are all in this together” and “there will be brighter days ahead.” So let’s do what we do best, get creative and solve some problems!

About the Author:  Louis Maldonado is a partner and Managing Director at d expósito & Partners, an advertising agency and integrated communications firm committed to helping clients win in today’s New America.