McDonald's, Sears, Allstate leading the pack in marketing to Hispanic consumers

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To highlight the initiatives of McDonald’s, Allstate and Sears and, ultimately provide inspiration to other marketers, the Chicago Interactive Marketing Association hosted “The Census is In: Is Your Brand Ready?” on Thursday, May 12. Communicators from all three companies were in attendance and provided great actionable tips.

Considering that McDonald’s is a leader in the fast food industry, it’s fitting that it is a leader in social media marketing. Focusing on protecting the brand, promoting their products and growing brand trust, McDonald’s strategic use of social media is what makes the brand resonate with consumers. Some brands make the mistake of putting everything into just traditional marketing or just social media. Where McDonald’s gets it right is through a blend of both social media and traditional marketing measures.

So what specific tactics do they use to appeal to Hispanic consumers?

They make the brand experience a more social one by funding scholarships, Latin music tours and sports events. By sending select consumers to these events with Flip cams and uploading the footage to different social networking sites, McDonald’s is able to engage customers, who may otherwise not have the opportunity to participate. And most of their efforts don’t require large budgets because their social media efforts simply amplify what’s already going on.

Allstate’s social media initiatives are similar. They sponsor the Mexican National Team and relate this sponsorship to their brand with the tagline: ‘When you are well protected, you are almost invincible.’ And the Proteccion es la Jugada” (Protection is Our Game) campaign was born. Memo Ochoa was selected as the celebrity face of the campaign because of his resonation with Hispanic consumers. And through a mix of public relations, grassroots marketing, television, email and an interactive website, the Proteccion es la Jugada campaign has been a success.

Sears, like McDonald’s, has done exceptionally well in marketing to Hispanic consumers. Through Sears.com/espanol, SearsPR.com, and Sears.com/internacional, Sears caters to the growing demand for Spanish-language content. With Sears.com/espanol, the company targets Hispanics in the US, who prefer Spanish. The site is the mirror image of Sears.com, everything is listed in Spanish. Sears.com/PR is geared toward consumers on the island of Puerto Rico, while Sears.com/internacional ships to 90 countries around the world and what’s most unique about this site is the fact that buyers can pay for taxes and duties upfront. Aside from these targeted websites, Sears appeals to the Hispanic buyer.

Many companies can take a page out of the book of marketing to Hispanic consumers from McDonald’s, Allstate and Sears. With $1 trillion in spending power, this audience is one that should not be ignored.