-By Armando Martin

Armando Martin

If your marketing plans are feeling dated, your merchandise mix is lacking luster, your corporate mavericks aren't the mavericks they used to be, the halo of your brand is fading, the overall shopping experience isn't as memorable or distinctive as you'd like, and growth has stalled, then it's probably time for fresh thinking and alternatives.

It's also time to ask: Where do I turn for future growth strategies? At least one crucial answer to that question ought to be the multicultural arena. How ethnic consumer segments can be goldmines, and how marketers and retailers might best equip themselves to start digging, was the theme in Miami this past summer at the Nielsen Hispanic Retail 360 Summit.

At this educational conference, (organized by Nielsen Business Media, including Progressive Grocer and Convenience Store News), retail executives were treated to an outstanding review of business cases, presented by industry leaders who shared their approaches to capturing a share of the growing pool of dollars spent by ethnic consumers. (I moderated the event, with help from Nielsen Business Media editors.)

If there's such a thing as a star-studded lineup at an industry conference, then the Hispanic Retail 360 Summit delivered the marketing all-stars. Greg Cunningham, director of multicultural marketing for Minneapolis-based Target, was the headliner, kicking off the event with a masterful review of that retail giant's successful work within the Hispanic community.

Cunningham and the other retailer and brand marketer presenters credited their companies' integrated operations, marketing, and merchandise mixes as a primary reason for their success. The level of sophistication and development of the multicultural programs showcased at the conference were supported by a body of evidence that left many of us green with envy. Without exception, presenters shared valuable information and opinions illustrating why they're such dominant forces in the industry.

Coca-Cola's Jose Espinoza, for example, demonstrated why Coca-Cola is such a force within the Hispanic community, by showering the audience with an impressive array of multimedia productions targeting the segment.

Valerie and Gary Berman, the wife-and-husband team that also runs Coral Gables, Fla.-based Si Change Consulting and Market Segment Research, made the complex easy and the serious fun while reviewing the results of their exclusive benchmarking study, Hispanic Retailing Best Practices, commissioned by Nielsen Business Media. The audience was eating out of their hands as they described the nuances of juxtapositioning as a marketing tactic, and how it applies to Hispanic marketing.

Corporate blessing

It was easy to see a recurrent pattern: Executives who've had the most success crafting and executing multicultural strategies had already aligned corporate support with their enterprises. This prerequisite was something that Terry Soto from Burbank, Calif.-based About Marketing Solutions emphasized strongly on day two of the conference.

Lyne Castonguay, a v.p. at Atlanta-based Home Depot, was eloquent as she broke down the home improvement chain’s commitment to reaching the Hispanic consumer. For example, Home Depot, collaborating with Behr Paint, deliberately customizes color palettes to meet the Latino taste for bright and bold.

Castonguay's full corporate title is telling: v.p. of multicultural merchandising, marketing, and supplier diversity. I have long advocated elevating the positions of the top multicultural officers within corporations as the best way to assure that good intentions turn into effective programs that deliver good results. Combining areas of responsibility under a multicultural umbrella would also go a long way toward securing lines of communication, support, and clout for a position charged with growing the multicultural area.

One of the highlights of the Summit is the annual Retail Excellence awards, which this year included 7-Eleven, Longs Drugs, Jewel, Hy-Vee, Best Buy, and Target.

Tracy Krotsgie from Jewel in Chicago nicely summed up these operators' winning attitude as she accepted her company's award: "It was a team effort between the merchandise, operations, and marketing groups to successfully activate Jewel's Hispanic effort."

This year's Hispanic Retail 360 Summit was a tour de force of the power of cultural cachet. In brief, here are just some of the insights I pulled from the content of the Summit:

Look beyond the expected. Transformational ideas are generally tied to innovation. Challenge popular wisdom by considering the changing "cultural graphics" in America, such as growth patterns, language shifts, or shopping trends, and how all of this impacts shopping behavior. Now more than ever, America is ready to accept new merchandise and marketing paradigms that are more inclusive of the broader ethnic market.
What's more, while the presenters were smart and informative, and the conference logistics went smoothly, it was the warmth and friendliness of the attendees, and their willingness to exchange ideas and share their own experiences in the multicultural arena, that provided the greatest value at the conference. I would suggest planning to join us next year, and participate in what's quickly becoming the industry’s top event.

Meanwhile you can still take steps to elevate your own cultural cachet by accessing the strategic ideas shared by the speakers, at  www.hispanicretail360.com. Click on the information center menu and then click on "Downloadables."

Armando L. Martín is managing partner at XL Edge. The firm is focused on Branded Retail helping retail clients and brands maximize their ethnic initiatives, having developed some of the largest multicultural programs in retail marketing and merchandising. He can be contacted at amartin@xledge.com.