Marketing of Cessation Products:

Reaching Latinos Effectively

By Pablo Izquierdo

STEREOTYPES OF HEAVENHEAVEN... AND HELLHELL

• The Cooks are French

• The Police are British• The Mechanics are

German• The Lovers are Italian• Everything is run by

the Swiss

• The Cooks are British• The Police are

German• The Mechanics are

French• The Lovers are Swiss• Everything is run by

the Italians

Cultural Perceptions Color The Way We Craft Messages

Or Why Marketing To Hispanics Is Not a Matter of Simple Translation

“Ready”

“Listo”

Understand Your Target Mindset

• Spanish is more persuasive than English even to bilingual speakers!– 5 times more persuasive, 57% better message recall†

• Research: Understand nuances for fact finding.– Polling vs. Focus Groups vs. Anthropological

• Recognize cultural differences:– Strong ties to family and religion; different approach to

health

† Roslow Research, 2004

Understand the Media Landscape

• TV continues to be a dominant force (92% vs. 80%)

• Radio shows much higher audience share (58% vs. 19%)

• Proportion of Latinos reading newspapers is still inferior (45% vs. 85%)

* Nat’l Assn Minority Media Execs, 2003

The Importance of the Unconscious

• Expectation of info-tainment

• Creative flair is welcome

• Connect culturally and emotionally

• Be sincere

• But…

…Please Refrain from Translating

• “Smells” and “feels” like it

• It can backfire…– Budweiser, el rey de la cerveza?– American Airlines, volar en cuero?– Bic pens are embarrasing “embarazoso”– Perdue Chicken is a “tender” lover

What Works

A Case Study of a Tough Sell:

Stopping Deaths at the Border

The Challenge

• Develop a comprehensive Border Safety campaign, aimed at curbing deaths along the border by Mexican illegal immigrants.

• Enormous communications challenge never attempted before by the American government

• Craft an unwanted message for an elusive target audience (illegal Mexican immigrants), make it extraordinarily persuasive and “export” it to Mexico.

The Solution

• Ethnographic research found that, among motivators for people to cross illegally, the most vulnerable was a “right of passage” for young Mexicans.

• We created “No Más Cruces en La Frontera,” a catchy slogan and overall theme with dual meaning (no more crossings/crosses on the border).

• We developed a twin set of creative executions called “Tumbas” and “Funeral” rooted in Mexico’s culture of death and using unique tools (such as Corridos). – Tumbas targeted what we call the “point of decision”– Funeral targeted the “change of mind”

The Results

• We tested the campaign in key Mexican states and in the U.S. border areas (all markets exhaustively vetted to match top points of origin of illegal immigrants in Mexico and destination in the U.S.)

• The test provided astounding results: – near 70% recalled the radio spots unaided. – almost the same (67%) recalled the content explicitly (mention of

death because of crossing the border). – The overall persuasiveness of the ads was measured at 60%

(convince someone to not cross the border).*

• The full rollout occurred this year but we expect the tipping point to occur long-term

* NuStats, 2004

Final Thoughts on Hispanics & Tobacco

1. Latino smokers do NOT blame the cigarette companies for their habit – they blame themselves.  

2. Latinos are particularly sensitive to third party issues like second-hand smoke because (while they might not care about themselves), they will care about hurting others, especially their kids.

3. Latinos think “generationally” and messages about the negative impact on their kids (habit forming, bad health) and “not being there” for the next generation can be key motivators.

4. Guilt is a powerful tool, but Latinos don’t feel guilty about themselves, they feel guilty about others.