U.S. Hispanic PR 2.0 – Social Media Analysis Page 2

Which brands are ‘getting it?’

Dozens of brands have adapted accordingly to the Social Media phenomena and doing so has not only allowed them to engage their consumers’ with their brand but it is also gaining them insight on what consumers really think about their brand. Among the many strategies employed by companies that want ‘in’ on the Social Media phenomena, implementing a Facebook page for the brand, developing a Spanish-language interactive Web site with a blogger community, and incorporating another brand that is attractive to the target market are among the most popular and effective.

An example of a brand that ‘gets’ it is Pepsi. In an effort to strengthen its U.S. Hispanic market share among young adults, Pepsi joined forces with Yahoo Telemundo to create PepsiMusica.com http://PepsiMusica.com . The interactive site hosts entertainment news, downloadable content including music and blogs in a bilingual format. Their online strategy and Web site is one of the key things associated with reinforcing Pepsi as the number one soft drink among Hispanic teens and young adults. The PepsiMusica site attracts hundreds of unique visitors per month and routinely engages its followers in contests, events and opinion forums, proving that young Hispanics like to be engaged via online entertainment content. As one Hispanic teen put it, “Going to PepsisMusica.com is like opening the latest issue of Teen People. It’s my one-stop source for entertainment news.”

Another brand that ‘gets it’ and targets Hispanic Baby Boomers is Kraft. Not only do they get it, but they are poised to not be left behind by the online world. Kraft’s Hispanic marketing division is leaps and bounds ahead of other industry competitors with its Spanish language and interactive Web site ComidaKraft.com. The site is routinely updated by Kraft as well as middle-aged Hispanic moms who visit the site on a daily basis to download and share recipes with other moms. In addition to having a strong hold on Hispanic moms who speak English and Spanish, Kraft continues to have a foot forward with Social Media and online communication trends. Just recently Kraft launched an iPhone application named the iFood Assistant, which allows consumers to view all kinds of recipes with the touch of a button. Other brands like Home Depot and Sprint are following suit when catering to Hispanics’ preferences and use of online and Social Media. Each company has recently announced changes in their online presence from language content to the creation of Social Networking communities.

A thoughtful Analysis – Key to Success

The key to developing a results-driven Social Media online news campaign is to carefully analyze where your U.S. Hispanic consumers are in the online world and who is influencing them. It’s clear that while U.S. Hispanics are rapidly increasing participation in the online world, each segment has different levels of exposure, interests, trust and are influenced by diverse sources of online news media. If your brand is flirting with the idea of going online via Social Media strategies, begin by analyzing which U.S. segment you are targeting, who is influencing them and finally, make sure to pay close attention to brand leaders in the online world as they may be implementing strategies that will generate tomorrow’s online headline news.

As a result of the vast array of U.S. Hispanic online and social media news channels, U.S. marketers must carefully select which would be ideal targets for the campaign. An online news and Social Media campaign would vary substantially depending on what regions you are targeting, what language you want to communicate with consumers in, who are the influencers with and what the brand’s attributes are. Dozens if not hundreds of blogs, forums and news media outlets exist that need to be analyzed before sending them news on your brand to grant. But once you get who they are – your online buzz will increase virally, and so will sales.