Univision and Pepsi: Leading the Way to Hispanics and Business Growth

Solis Vice President and General Manager of the newly launched Hispanic Business Unit atamp160PepsiCo North America Beverages is leading marketing innovationamp160and business development to help achieve ambitious business goals for the Hispanic community by 2020amp160 This is quotnot a center of excellenceamp160it39s a business unitquot she saidamp160 quotWe have a commercial objectiveamp160 This team is dedicated to growing Hispanic sales and it is a cross functional crossgeographical teamquotIn other words it39s very much a rational approach of tapping into a qualified target audienceamp160 quotI haven39t been working in the Hispanic area in some time so I bring a fresh perspectivequot Solis notedamp160 quotI39m a GM and I see the numbers that will help grow the business and I39m a marketer so I also see creating connection as keyamp160 But the bottom line drives it allamp160 When I saw the business case for investing in Hispanic that39s when I was convincedquotNow Solis is working to influence others amp160both internally at PepsiCoamp160and externally by partnering with multicultural advertising agencyamp160Alma DDBamp160 Sheamp160sharedamp160some impressive stats with other brand marketers in the room earlier in the monthAt PepsiCo the Hispanic consumer is becoming a key focus areaamp160 quotYou just start small then prove the investment out and then the investment grows because the belief growsquot she explainedamp160 quotOur vision is to become the most loved food and beverage company among Hispanics and this is going to require huge changequotWith generosity and enthusiasm Solis shared with attendees Pepsi39s fourpart roadmap to growth noting that No 1 is to shift from marketing accountability to total business commitment from the CEO to the front lineThe remaining steps includeBringing more rigor to the data and analyticsamp160 quotBeforequot she admitted quotHispanics were lumped into one group as a cohortamp160 But with 57 million US Hispanics they are as diverse as the population of the US itselfamp160 They show up differently soamp160we leverage both syndicated and proprietary data and analytics to better segment the cohortquotMoving toward clear business KPIs by brand and by category with score cards to keep track of successes and learningsMaintaining consistent investment and commitmentAn essential recognition is that that brands can39t target every Hispanic as that one cohortamp160 It39s no longer enough to assume language or time in country will be differentiatorsamp160 quotWhether one is acculturated or bilingual doesn39t really tell you the motivations or the degree of cultural affinity in a householdquot Solis saidamp160 quotDo these consumers tend to act on the traditions of their countries of originamp160 Do they tend to act behave consume more of the American pop culture traditions or are they 39fusionistas39 and do both at the same timequotAlma DDB has created a model to unlock ways to differentiate how the company talks to Hispanics across their portfolio of brands quotbecause brand Pepsi will engage with Latinos in a completely different way than brand Gatorade or than brand Starbucks etcquotamp160 Solis explainedamp160 Based on these insights Pepsi39s Hispanic Business Unit is initially focusing on the fusionista as they believe they best live the spirit of brand Pepsiamp160 quotThey39re 100 percent Latino they39re 100 percent American but they39re 200 percent unapologeticquot she addedamp160 quotThey are proud of who they areamp160 And they39re not the ones assimilating into the culture they39re the ones creating and pushing the cultureamp160 That39s what brand Pepsi does so these are the consumers that we want to go afterquotWith that focus identified the team designed a stealth move around the sport universally adored by Hispanics famp250tbolamp160 Pepsi runs a global famp250tbol campaign annually and is a sponsor of the UEFA Champions Leagueamp160 It also counts marquee players like Leo Messi as brand ambassadors bringing the game closer to fans amp160To leverage those players the company tapped their global assets and created a turnkey US Hispanic programamp160targeting fusionistas deployed in the mediaamp160and instore with high impact retail promotionamp160 The latter was an important complement to the media quotbecause it39s not just about having the television connectionquot Solis saidamp160 quotIt39s also about great 39retail theater39amp160POSamp160and assets that our retailers can actually give to their shoppersquot such as posters and other playerrelated giveawaysThe results quotreally exceeded our expectations because the sales started to shoot upquot she saidamp160 quotThis was the beginning of an upward trajectory for usquotUnivision is banking on these kinds of insights and results and the obvious recognition that it takes more than a oneoff program to get and keep business increasing by properly marketing to Hispanicsamp160 As Solis noted quotWhen you just get started and you just get that little win it creates a ton of momentumquotSo what39s next on the Pepsi planamp160 The company will maximize itsamp160presence with sports as well as live music and holidaysamp160 Solis summed up their efforts since attending Leading the Change one year agoamp160 quotAfter the conference and enjoying the Univisionsponsored Latin Grammy Awards I said 39Hey we need Pepsi to be front and center with music39quot she recalledamp160 quotSo Pepsi and Univision partnered at the November 15th Latin Grammysamp160as a showcase of the commitment that we have to this consumeramp160 The story doesn39t have an end but I envision this as a journey that39s going to get better and betterquotClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Univision and Pepsi: Leading the Way to Hispanics and Business Growth

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Univision and Pepsi: Leading the Way to Hispanics and Business Growth

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