Politicians Should Avoid These Three Marketing Pitfalls, Advises Hispanic Group

USA - English

• Latin America - español

MIAMI, Dec. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Hispanic Group, an independent, minority-owned advertising agency with expert knowledge of reaching Latinos, advises politicians to avoid basic marketing pitfalls when courting the Latino vote.  The agency claims that political campaigns aimed at Latinos have been all about mudslinging and have missed the mark in terms of communicating goals.  The hot topic this past election shouldn't have been immigration, but rather communication.  Both parties should've made a more concerted effort to connect with Latinos, and that goes beyond just speaking in Spanish.  It's not a matter of language-- it's lingo. 

A full-service agency that caters to the Latino market, Hispanic Group claims that in general candidates don't communicate what they will do if elected and instead point the finger at what the opponent is doing wrong.  Politicians have gotten used to the vicious cycle of backbiting and fear tactics, and fail to outline proactive goals to turn this country around on all levels of government. 

"I haven't seen a solid strategy to reach Latinos this past electoral race, only bad translations of general market initiatives," said Jose Luis Valderrama, President and Founder of Hispanic Group.  "Beyond Latino and non-Latino, candidates need to communicate humility, sincerity and clear goals to voters."

Of the 50 million Hispanics in the U.S., approximately 21 million are eligible to vote, though only 10 million of them are registered.  Of those, even fewer turn out to vote.  How to overcome the tide of apathy and get half of the foreign-born citizens to vote, is what both candidates have been desperately trying, albeit miserably, to do.

The candidates on the ballot this past November were engaged in anti-publicity campaigns, by not asserting their platforms and trash-talking the opposition.  If you're trying to promote a brand—in this case a candidate—you need to stress the benefits, not the pitfalls of the competition. 

From the standpoint of an advertising campaign, both candidates committed these basic communication pitfalls:

1. The product does not meet the expectations promised the consumer.
2. I should buy your product, but the competitor may do me harm.
3. If you don't buy my product, you will be worse off.

What can future political aspirants do differently?  For starters, they can follow the example of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, PPK, in Peru who was trailing in fifth place with just four percentage points during the 2011 elections.  In six weeks, he climbed his way to third place and just two points shy of the second place finisher.  If he had just one more week he would've gone to a second round vote and even possibly won the election in Peru.  How exactly did he do it?  He promised change, reiterated his positive attributes and created the first mascot in the history of a political party in Peru.  PPKuy, a larger-than-life guinea pig, drew crowds and gained major appeal among younger voters, who flocked to support PPK. 

A well-managed political campaign, similar to a well-executed advertising campaign, can have a positive outcome on influencing decisions.  Latino consumers and voters are similar in that they are savvy and tend to be among the most loyal, sticking by their product—or candidate—to the end.  As an agency that specializes in the Latino market, Hispanic Group knows firsthand that Latino voters will choose solutions and substance, over scorn and bad-mouthing any electoral cycle. 

About Hispanic Group

Hispanic Group, an independent, minority-owned agency that specializes in customized communications solutions across all disciplines of advertising, traditional, digital and social media, branded content, direct response services and experiential marketing to the varied and fast-growing segments of the Hispanic population, has been working with Latino consumers and brands for more than a decade.  Hispanic Group has expert knowledge of how to craft meaningful messages to reach Latinos centered on the concept of ultrasegmentation, a term they coined.  The theory consists on filtering demographic information on Hispanics in the U.S. to offer customized advertising solutions that garner maximum reach and frequency. 

SOURCE Hispanic Group