Strategic target marketing considerations and implications for the US Hispanic market

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Abstract: Hispanics, a highly diverse population in terms of geographical origin, education level and language usage, are the fastest-growing ethnic segment in the USA. Despite their growing economic power and cultural significance in the US marketplace, marketers are yet to address this market properly.

Utilising both secondary data and interviews with advertising/marketing industry experts targeting Hispanics, this paper presents an application of the strategic marketing process that takes into account the multiplicity of cultural factors influencing the success of targeted marketing campaigns.

The paper provides tactical implementations to execute a multi-cultural marketing strategy. Examples from successful digital campaigns targeting a variety of Hispanic populations in the USA are provided as Hispanics over-index in digital technology usage especially in the mobile category. A brief section on managerial implications for marketing practitioners is provided as well.

Keywords: multi-cultural marketing, Hispanics, digital marketing, marketing strategy

Mine Üçok Hughes is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at California State University, Los Angeles. She studies nonmainstream consumers, sustainability marketing and social marketing. She presents regularly at marketing conferences and her articles have been published in such publications as Journal of Product and Brand Management, Business Horizons, Qualitative Market Research and Advances in Consumer Research.

Tony Stovall is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Towson University. His research is broadly centred on issues of consumer wellbeing and consumer digital consumption habits. He was an assistant professor of marketing at Woodbury University’s School of Business in Burbank, California, from 2015 to 2017.

Ekin Pehlivan is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at California State University, Channel Islands. Her research focuses on advertising strategies directed at sceptical consumers, duplicity and ambiguity in marketing relationships, but she also works on the rising applications of consumer co-creation. Her work has been featured in such academic and practitioner publications as Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Business Horizons, Journal of Public Affairs and Journal of Product and Brand Management.

Rafael Cardona is a Marketing Professional with over 20 years of experience. His areas of expertise include account management, business development, media placement and operations, working both with advertising agencies as well as directly with clients. Rafael also spent eight years in national media sales at Viacom, where he managed a large portfolio of clients including Fortune 500 brands across multiple industries. He is currently an instructor of business at Glendale Community College and a guest lecturer at California State University campuses.