Heineken Leads the Evolution of Hispanic Marketing
Executive Summary
Edwin Hincapie, Heineken’s multicultural commercial marketing manager, participated in a keynote interview at MediaPost’s Engage: Hispanics conference. In the interview, Hincapie looked forward at the next iteration of multicultural marketing, which he said is less about the data and more about the insights into how different segment populations relate to the brand. Brands should focus on being authentic, target consumers on a hyperlocal level, and, at the same time, understand that multicultural is becoming more mainstream.
Being Authentic
“With multicultural consumers, often we focus on the data instead of asking how they grew up and what was important to them.”
- Ask how the consumers experience an occasion. For example, young Mexican-Americans celebrate the holidays with a marathon of parties, from ugly sweater parties to traditions with family. Insights like these are useful for occasion-based marketing.
- Talk to people, not at them. Don’t act Mexican to talk to Mexicans; instead, know what your brand stands for in Mexico.
From Global to Local
“Heineken gives regions and local teams the right tools to win.”
- Heineken’s internal multicultural database helps the brand understand what tools should be employed in Houston, for example, and the demographics to be targeted.
- The brand identifies big opportunities in each local region, and then builds out a toolkit for the local teams. Teams in each region then decide how to use the tools.
The Evolving Hispanic Market
“At a certain point, it’s just life. People are growing up with this all around them, and people have more than one identity. The understanding of what it means to be Hispanic is changing.”
- Language should be a tactic and not a strategy.
- We are moving into a culture where multicultural products become badges because it’s a melting pot. In this stage, multicultural becomes general market.
Source
"Getting to Hispanic Marketing 2.0." Edwin Hincapie, Multicultural Commercial Marketing Manager at Heineken. MediaPost Engage: Hispanics Conference, 9/17/15.