Chicago
Shop Expands Into Hispanic Market
Marketing
y Medios
4/6/06
By Aaron Baar, Adweek
CHICAGO - The Marketing Store has launched a Hispanic division
called The Marketing Bodega to work with traditional advertising agencies seeking
to reach Hispanic consumers.
The introduction represents an effort to tap the $700 billion
in domestic Hispanic buying power, a number expected to nearly double in the next
five years, according to research firm Santiago Solutions Group.
"Right now, there's a huge gap in the industry between
traditional agencies and the integrated marketing efforts that happen on a local
level," said John Burn Marante, managing director of The Marketing Bodega,
which is based in Chicago. "We need to get close to the Hispanic consumer
to drive brand conversion."
Its own creative and account management teams will staff
the unit, including creative director German Chavez, who recently joined from
Publicis Dialog in Mexico, Marante said. The Marketing Bodega's client list includes
McDonald's Corp., Coca-Cola's Dasani and Sprite brands and Miller Brewing Co.,
he said.
"The Hispanic and Latino cultures are not the target
but rather the inspiration that provides the strategic creative direction for
Bodega," said Clive Maclean, president of U.S. agency services for The Marketing
Store, in a statement. "Marketers understand the importance of going beyond
the numbers and obtaining substantial results by creating a human connection that
The Marketing Bodega's creative teams will bring to their business."
Marante illustrated the difference between the traditional
promotional agency's work and a Hispanic specialization with an example of a Puerto
Rican immigrant. She may go to the grocery store for ground beef, he said, but
when she seeks a tamarind or other exotic ingredient, she's more likely to head
to a local bodega. He equated the specialized attention from the local bodega
to The Marketing Bodega's style of service.
Traditional agencies of all stripes have been paying more
attention to the Hispanic market in recent years. Mindshare Interactive in February
launched Redes, a Washington, D.C.-based offshoot focused on the U.S. Hispanic
market. That same month, the Miami-based Hispanic arm of Interpublic Group's Hill,
Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos rebranded as Abece to further define itself in the
marketplace.
Advertisers spent $4.2 billion in U.S. Hispanic media last
year, an increase of 6 percent over 2004, per TNS Media Intelligence.
Prior to joining The Marketing Store, Marante has worked
on the client side as marketing director for Heineken in Latin American and the
Caribbean, and as a general manager for Diageo.
The Marketing Store, an independent promotional and marketing
agency based in Chicago, has about $500 million in billings, with offices in the
United Kingdom, Sao Paolo, Brazil, Toronto and Sydney, Australia. Its clients
include McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Miller Brewing, Nissan, General Mills, Best Buy
and PetSmart
