Multicultural Branding with Ana Lydia Ochoa

Recently, I interviewed Ana Lydia Ochoa regarding multicultural branding and how business owners can integrate it into their marketing plan. Below are some of the questions that were included in the interview:

Please introduce yourself and the key areas of your expertise? How long have you been involved in this area? How can a business owner incorporate Hispanic or South Asian consumer outreach to their existing PR campaigns?

I have been involved in PR for more than 12 years and Padma Media and Marketing, Inc. was established in 2006. We currently work with Macy’s and many other clients wishing to reach the bilingual acculturated Hispanic and South Asian market. US based businesses can grow their consumer base by incorporating Hispanic and/or South Asian consumer outreach. The best was is to respect this consumer and creatively engage us with culturally-relevant messaging. The biggest misconception is to “translate” for your message to reach Hispanics. But not all Hispanics speak Spanish and not all Hispanic media is in Spanish. And US based South Asian print media is written in English.

What are some mistakes that business owners can make when reaching out to the Hispanic or South Asian Consumers?

Besides only translation materials in the hope of reaching Hispanic and South Asian consumer, other mistakes include the obvious dismissal of cultural relevancy or not incorporating more than one tactic to reach a broader, yet more niche consumer. Sticking to obvious tactics, i.e. Latinos like soccer, is old and non-creative. Hispanics play and watch other sports. From a female perspective, dismissing the Latina love of fashion and the financial power we have to purchase high-end products.

Please explain how business owners can measure success when reaching out to the Hispanic or South Asian consumer markets?

Measuring your success when creating ethnic outreach programs is not just measured by the dollars in your bank account. As an agency, we always include circulation figures, or, audience reached by our media coverage. When creating events, we not just measure the number of guests, but the quality of our guests. In other words, did we reach the desired demo (age, income, etc.).

What are some initiatives that business owners can do that will provide them with ways to maximize their reach Hispanic or South Asian consumers?

Anyone trying to reach Hispanic and South Asian consumers should try to mix various tactics to best maximize their efforts. Anyone trying to reach Hispanic and South Asian consumers should try to mix various tactics to best maximize their efforts. From PR/Publicity, to special event launches, and strategic brand or NGO partnerships, the right agency will create a plan that is specific to the needs of each client. And, when reaching monolingual Hispanic consumers, it’s important to have a spokesperson and media desk in place that has not only been translated to Spanish, but transcreated to reach us in a culturally relevant fashion.

Is there a wrong way or a right way to structure a business to reach this target market?

There isn’t a wrong or right way to structure a biz. But THERE IS a wrong or right way to reach ethnic consumers. Dismissing the potential growth opportunity that your biz has by investing in ethnic markets is the biggest mistake any biz can make. Industry experts, such as myself, are always available to consult on existing plans to aid biz’s on how to best reach ethnic consumers.

In the video below, facts are shared about multicultural trending in regard to money being spent with businesses.