Social media isn’t a fad!  It’s a marketing and connectivity revolution.

Social networking sites brim with opportunities for advertisers to engage the consumer and initiate new forms of dialogue – it’s just a matter of figuring out how.

1. Social media and Hispanics = Buzz worthy topics.
2. Developing a solid social media strategy = Buzz kill.

When it comes to tackling the web and understanding the relatively recent phenomenon of online social networking, there’s no set or defined best approach to getting a message across.

Specifically zeroing in on the Hispanic population presents an even greater challenge. We know Hispanics are online – by the millions in fact – but who are they?  What information are they seeking?  Do they prefer to be engaged in Spanish or English? And can they be appealed to online?

Here’s a peek at the stats:

Major Factors Affecting Hispanic Internet Usage

Education –> completion of H.S., college degree

• 10% of Latinos have a college degree, and of that small group, 89% are online
• 50% of Latinos have finished high school, and of those, 70% use the internet

Language –> English vs. Spanish dominant

• 78% of English dominant & 76% of bilingual Latinos use the internet, compared to 32% of Spanish-dominant Latinos

Younger Latino demographic

• 67% of Latinos age 18-29 use the internet
• Latinos are a young population with nearly twice as large a share of adults under 40 than whites

Socioeconomic status –> income

• 9 in 10 (88%) Hispanics with an income greater than $50,000 are online
• 72% making between $30,000 & $49,999
• 39% making less than $30,000

Nativity/Generation —> 2^nd & 3^rd generation

• 76% of U.S. born Latinos use the internet versus 43% of foreign-born Latinos
• 2^nd generation Latinos are the most likely group to go online. 80% of 2^nd gen. Latinos use the internet

Source: Pew Hispanic Center

Hispanics & Social Media

From a quick look at the statistics, we can see that many Hispanics online are young, educated, and prosperous.  This exact demographic is computer savvy and connected to the world of social networking.

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, provide users with a way to stay in touch and share things that interest them. Targeting the Hispanic market through social media may be the perfect conduit to reaching Latino youth.

Youth Online
- Ethnic minorities visit social networking site more often than non-Hispanic whites.
- Younger people are more likely to adopt new technologies, especially those encouraging social connectivity.
- Hispanics tend to hold more collectivistic values and look to one another for help in making decisions.  Ethnic minorities are more likely to
use social networks as a means to stay in touch with geographically dispersed family and friends.

Facebook and MySpace
- According to the 2009 Ad Age Hispanic Fact Pack, 41% of online Hispanics visit both Facebook and MySpace regularly.
- There are about 1.4 million Spanish preferring Hispanics in the US who have Facebook accounts (reported in July), significantly more than
the 1 million reported in May.

Source: Ad Age Hispanic Fact Pack

To illustrate how social media can be an effective marketing tool, take a look at this case study:

Case Study – Using Social Media to Engage Consumers

This study was released in July of 2009 by WetPaint and Altimeter.  It looked at 100 top brands and how they were using social media to strengthen their brand image and develop a new connection to the online consumer.

“…companies who measured as having “the greatest breadth and depth of social media engagement” grew revenues by 18% over the last year, while the companies that were the least engaged dropped 6% on average.”

Everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon – creating Facebook fan pages, twitter accounts, etc., but no one seems certain whether or not these efforts are driving results.  This study aims to prove that social media can add to your bottom line and has done so for many of America’s top corporations.

A Look at Starbucks’ Engagement Tactics
One of Starbucks main objectives is to understand how different channels provide unique ways in which to engage the consumer.

- Facebook – viral, a place for fans to share their stories and love for Starbucks, i.e. Allowing fans to use the “I like it” button on Starbucks stories and incentive programs.
- Twitter – as a contrast to Facebook, Twitter is used to respond to customer inquiries and provide fast service support.  It’s also used to convey up to the minute news about contests and other features.

Starbucks also seeks to centralize social media coordination.

- Consistency – all efforts are concentrated in one small team.  The message is consistent across all social media channels.
- The interactive team is fully integrated with the traditional marketing umbrella to make sure that customers receive the same information.
- Hispanics are seeking to be engaged online, and tend to enjoy building relationships.  The more conversational and engaging an online effort is, the more likely it is to succeed.

Source: Engagement Report 2009

To Sum it Up

Social media is cool!  It can be a great way to reach out and open a conversation with the average consumer.  People are eager to contribute their thoughts and share their opinions, and they’re seeking a community-like environment in which to do it.  Starbucks has engaged their customers across many social platforms, while also maintaining a consistent and strong brand image – a social media model to be emulated.

By developing a thorough and lasting social media campaign, a business can hope to strengthen customer loyalty over an extended period of time.  Hispanics are social and online in increasing numbers – it’s more than time to focus our efforts on them.

- – -
To come next week: Music as a means to targeting the Hispanic market!

I came across this interesting mobile tour/sampling event at my local grocery store here in Austin last week put on by Gardenburger, the vegetarian burger makers. Overall, the brand experience was engaging, the footprint attention grabbing and the brand ambassadors nice and outgoing.

Mission accomplished, right?

Well, yes and maybe no, depending on who you ask. In light of this and the many brand tours our agency has put on the road, I thought I would share just a few best practices of Mobile Tours.

Deliver your brand experience at all consumer touchpoints.

Signage, consumer activity, props, brand ambassador uniforms and scripts, etc. Gardenburger did a great job of branding their event elements and ensuring that their entire experience communicated “garden goodness”.

Fabricate so that your setup is as simplified as possible.

While the Gardenburger footprint is great looking, it’s definitely a complicated setup. Staffers told me it takes them 2 hours to set up and 2 hours to tear down for a 2 hour store event. In 100+ degree Texas heat, that seems like a lifetime and honestly, a bit unnecessary. More importantly though, it reduces the amount of customer engagement. Shortening the setup and tear down time would have given them the opportunity to execute 3 events in a 12 hour day instead of 2. That’s a 33% increase on ROI before you even drive the vehicle out of your fabricator’s shop.

Keep an eye on the weather and be able to adjust on a dime.

Again, heat, rain, wind storms….they should always be considered and contingency plans put into place. In the case of this Gardenburger event, moving the sampling portion of the activation inside would have definitely made a greater impact. It was, quite frankly, too hot to outside enjoy the tasty veggie patty morsel, much less participate in any other activities they might have had planned,  while standing on black asphalt at this location. If that wasn’t possible, misters would have been nice.

Close the sale whenever possible.

Giving a coupon out in the parking lot is great, but how can you encourage day of purchase? Positioning brand ambassadors inside the store is one way, purchase incentives another. Close the sales loop.

Look for PR opportunities to leverage your beautiful footprint and investment.

Brand Managers should try to leverage your marketing investment as far as possible across departments. Partner with your PR team and/or media teams and come up with a way to extend your reach. For example, on this tour they could have invited local news teams to utilize your footprint as a backdrop to their weather-casts.

These are just a few ideas to consider as you plan and execute your next mobile marketing tour. I applaud Gardenburger’s efforts and hope that it did indeed pay off for them!

Many “wise Latinas” gathered last week in Bastrop, Texas for the Hispana Leadership Summit hosted by Hispanic Magazine.

Talk about an air of confidence. It was empowering to be surrounded by creative and strong women that are challenging barriers, finding new business ventures and supporting important causes. The sessions focused on being fearless, taking risks, achieving dreams and smart financial planning.

And I truly walked away feeling a stronger commitment to each of these factors. The speakers had real and humbling experiences that I could relate to and seeing their success encouraged me to feel that I too can overcome my inner demons (let’s save that for another blog).

So now I am more determined to:

• Confront perceptions
• Speak up for myself
• Present criticism like it was a gift
• Prepare!
• Always be results driven

With these personal commitments, I too will more proudly carry the banner of being a Wise Latina!

Carmen Murcia, Ingrid Hoffman, April Alejandro

I wish Houston was less than three hours from Austin. I am contemplating driving to Houston once a quarter to shop at the new Sam’s Hispanic concept store, Más Club. I will throw a few empty ice chests in the truck and head down there Saturday morning and return that evening with enough specialty and traditional Hispanic foods to spoil my family. Anyone interested in joining me?

Más Club opened on August 6th in North Houston and let me tell you that it is worth a visit. The selection of Hispanic specialty items and low prices is worth the gas money.

I applaud the folks in Bentonville, Arkansas for developing this concept. From the moment I walked in it is apparent that a lot of thought has gone into every single item and display in the store.

Immediately shoppers are greeted with bilingual staff members and signage. Before shopping, I advise grabbing an agua fresca at the Café. After you shop you can swing back and enjoy some carnita tacos, barbacoa or other mouth-watering dishes. They do also offer hot dogs and pizza, but why bother when the food next to it looks like your grandmother just cooked it versus being heated up in a microwave.

The fruit selection is colorful and exotic, the bakery reminds you of the panadería down the street, the meat selection makes you want to strike up a grill as soon as you get home, and the beverage and candy aisles have just about every flavor, sweet and spicy to entice your palette. Plus there is of course the necessary religious gifts to consider right alongside a new olla for tamales or sartén for paella. Onsite there are also services such as a Barri Money Center and medical clinic.

So buzz me if you are interested in carpooling to Houston every three months to stock up on some good food. It is worth it. Your familia will thank you.

We often get the question: “Which is preferred, Latino or Hispanic? We decided let Twitter decide with this Twitter Word Fight.*

*Nope, it’s not scientific, just good, clean, fun.

FOM (Friend of Mambo) Kandace Fierro, who works for the Girl Scouts, came by the other day with a cookie delivery. As we started going through the boxes and eating the Thin Mints, we noticed a box called “Thanks-A-Lot™.” As a Girl Scout cookie purist (again, back to the Thin Mints), I had never heard of them, but I love the name!! On the spot, I decided that we need to do something to spread a little Thanks-A-Lot around.

First, a little background. At The Mambo we have a Thursday tradition we like to call Thank You Thursdays.

It’s simple really, there are a lot of folks that help us keep The Mambo train on the tracks. We like to take a little time on Thursdays to reach out and specifically thank them.

So, in preparation for this Thursday, we decided to combine our Thanks-A-Lot good fortune and extend Thank You Thursdays to include the webosphere.

Here’s how it will work, it’s really simple. In the comments below, leave a little thank you note to someone, anyone. Could be someone that did something big for you, or someone who does little things that enhance your life (or this planet) in little ways. At the end of the day on Thursday (8/6/09), we’ll pick someone that leaves a comment at random to send them a box of Thanks-A-Lots. We’ll contact you for an address* (it can be yours or the person who you thanked or someone else that needs a thanks) and we’ll send the cookies off to them.

I’ll go first: Thanks Kandace! We [heart] the cookies!

Now, get to thankin’!

*U.S. addresses only please. For all we know, shipping cookies into other countries requires special FDA approval.

Experiential can be simple. We love this example.

Since I’m sharing this with you in a blog (and you’re reading it), let’s add to the success of this campaign that it also is getting some Word of Mouth marketing.

The team here at Mercury Mambo has always been a huge supporter of emerging Latin music talent. With the creation of Studio Mambo and with the support of Paul Saucido of The Saucido Slant fame, we are able to bring new artists, new sounds and new perspectives to the attention of marketers and brands across the country.

How lucky are we!?!

This Saturday, May 23, we’ll be supporting the The Saucido Slant’s first Latin music showcase at the Flamingo Cantina here in Austin. The line-up features some pretty amazing local artists that are well on their way. First up, a band fresh out of the ATX, Este Vato.  This band kicks it Cumbia-style and really brings a fresh, new sound to the music we all grew up loving. Kanko, featuring members of Charanga Cakewalk brings it like only they can. And finally, San Antone represents with Bombasta headlining the show. They bill themselves as “Urban Latino, Grassroot Politicos, Spanglish Mixologists.”

These bands represent exactly what the Latin culture is all about. We blend. We mix. We speak up. We speak out. We move. We groove. And we do it all with Latino style and flare. Experience it for yourself. Check out these bands online. See you Saturday!

Click to read the entire (and oh so fascinating) chat with Chris.

At Mercury Mambo, we’re Word Of Mouth Marketing freaks. We drink the Kool-Aid. Those companies that are doing it right are getting huge returns on their investments by building an army of evangelists.

Most of the traction that’s being seen in this arena is with General Market marketers. The prevalence of Facebook, Twitter and other social media sights and tools has brought WOM marketing to the forefront of every interactive and marketing conversation I’ve been involved in in the last year or so. What I find most interesting though, is that there are very few Hispanic marketing departments paying close attention and using the techniques.

I think there are a few reasons for this:

• Generally, Hispanic marketing departments are already trying to do more with less. There is a highly disproportionate amount of Hispanic marketing dollars being spent compared to the population and buying power.
• Traditional marketers think of WOM as experimental or “emerging” media. It’s something they can’t control, it’s something they don’t understand. Brand advertising is about shouting, you get to tell customers who you are and what to think. WOM is about a conversations. Conversations get messy and require long-term commitments.
• In general, many brand managers are risk-averse, especially in a recession. Telling your boss you want to run an experimental WOM campaign makes you stand out.  Right now, brand managers seem to want to keep a low-profile.
• WOM Marketing is a corporate commitment. It takes time and buy-in corporate-wide. This means that it takes more than a marketing department to make it happen. The customer service department needs to be on-board, the sales department needs to be on-board, as well as everyone else in the company.

Even with these challenges, Hispanic Marketing Managers should still be pushing to start developing an building a WOM strategy. Here’s why:

• Hispanics are natural WOM marketers. They’ve always shared information amongst themselves. Need a dentist? Ask your comadre. Need to know which phone card has the best price? Ask the guy at the bodega on the corner.
• Hispanics are loyal to brands that they love. Don’t believe me, ask the folks at Suavetel, Fabuloso or Colgate. The brand equity of these brand with Hispanics is amazing.
• Even though Spanish dominant Hispanics don’t have as high of an online penetration as their English speaking counterparts, they over-index on social media sites and habits. Currently, technology costs are a barrier, but in the next couple of years, the cost of access is going to keep going down. When that happens, the companies that have been investing to build an offline WOM strategy are going to take a swift lead. The conversations are going to move online and spread like wildfire.

Still not sold? Take a look at these examples:

• In-N-Out Burger – these guys are competing, and someone would argue winning, in the fast food burger battle against McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and more. Sure, those companies have restaurants on every corner, but if you’ve ever been to an In-and-Out Burger, you’ve seen what I’m talking about. Long lines, people everywhere, T-Shirts being purchased. I mean seriously, when’s the last time you bought a McDonald’s T-shirt?? And how do we all know about In-N-Out Burger? Not from traditional media, that’s for sure. People talk about them. Watch this (Pretend you’re watching here. I’m heading over to another window on my computer monitor where I’ve got my buddy Chris who used to live in CA, but now lives in TX and I’m going to taunt him a little about In-N-Out Burger). See the results of the chat to the right (click on the chat and it will enlarge so you can read it). Try it for yourself. Ask someone you know about In-N-Out Burger. That, my friends, is the power of WOM Marketing. How does In-N-Out do it? Read a little more about it here.
• 

  People LOVE Zappos. Not because of their shoes though, because they are a great customer service company.

  Zappos – Quite simply, the folks at Zappos are WOM Marketing ninjas. They do it so well I even know the CEO’s name is Tony because he’s a Twitter friend of mine. The interesting thing about Zappos is that they don’t think of themselves as a shoe company, they think of themselves as a customer service company. And this one little tweak gives them a lot to talk about. More importantly though, it gives everyone else a lot to talk about. Check out the graphic for this blurb. I did a Twitter search for Zappos. The first tweet that popped up was about their service. This is marketing that you can’t buy.

At The Mambo, we’re determined. We are going to get our clients on board now while online Hispanic communities are still emerging. These clients have the power to merge offline coffee conversations with online consumer evangelism. These clients will be the game changers. Are you ready?

Chikita Violenta stopped by Mercury Mambo for an interview with Paul Saucido of The Saucido Slant. While here, they performed one of their songs.

Chikita Violenta Singing at Mercury Mambo from Lynn Currie on Vimeo.

Monte Negro stopped by Mercury Mambo for an interview with Paul Saucido of The Saucido Slant. While here, they performed a song.

Monte Negro Visits Mercury Mambo from Lynn Currie on Vimeo.

Pilar Diaz stopped by Mercury Mambo yesterday for an interview. While here she sang her new song “Tú y Yo.”

Pilar Diaz from Lynn Currie on Vimeo.

SX Spotlight – Ceci Bastida!

Ceci Bastida dropped by The Mambo today for an interview with Paul Saucido of The Saucido Slant. She talks about her upcoming album and what it means to be a Latina.

With the SXSW music festival in town, we have a full calendar of interviews of bands and other folks that are coming through town. Today we chatted with:

Gil Gastalem – Gil has been in the music business since 1989 when he worked at an indie record shop near the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, AZ. He moved to LA in 1994 to become the tour mgr to El Vez the Mexican Elvis. He worked at the legendary A&M Records in marketing where he worked with developing acts. From there Gil has worked with everyone from David Garza, Alejandro Escovedo, Robert Rodriguez, Tito & Tarantula, Maneja Beto, Quetzal, and is now working with Monte Negro, Pilar Diaz, Charanga Cakewalk, and Lila Downs.

Cosmopolitan – an electronic, funk band with Latino Roots.

The Gin Riots – an indie band from the U.K.

Aeroplane – a Belgium based Dj – Producers duo named Stephen Fasano and Vito Deluca. Their music is a mix of psychedelic guitars, pop keys, melancholic waves, disco beats & catchy basslines.

During SXSW, Mercury Mambo hosted a party for Walmart’s ElevenMoms (see post below).

Jennae Petersen of Green Your Decor sat down with Paul Saucido of The Saucido Slant and talked about Walmart, green living, and the election of President Obama.

Interview with Jennae Petersen of Green Your Decor from Lynn Currie on Vimeo.

On the Saturday of this year’s SXSWi, Mercury Mambo hosted a party for Walmart’s Elevenmoms, an amazing group of mom bloggers devoted to saving money. As many of them were coming in from out of state, we wanted to show them a good time, Mambo style. This means margaritas, great Tex-Mex food and a unique experience.

Mambo’s own chef-extraordinaire Jeffrey Miller did the catering, Paul Saucido of The Saucido Slant interviewed the moms live in the Mambo Studio (interviews to be posted in the coming days) and the Mambo crew spun the screenpress to produce custom designed Mambo Tees.

To see the rest of the photos, visit our Elevenmoms Flickr set.

FOM (Friend of Mambo)’s Paul Saucido of the Saucido Slant posted his first great article (of many to come) for LaBandaElastica.com.

Friday night in Austin. Downtown Red River, with my buddy Matt, we hit Creekside Lounge for Peligrosa All-Star’s monthly set. Creekside, a rundown punk, waste-iod bar got lit up that night with the sounds of hip-hop, Latin boogalo, Reggaeton and Cumbia. Cumbia, latin music made simple for gringos and the rhythmly challenged. The outdoor deck turned into dance-love fest with hipsters bumping into Chicanos/Tejanos, all sweaty, all devouring the fusion mixes of DJ Orion, Manolo Black, Hobo D and Pagame. Then it hit me, I think between my 6^th or 7^th beer, Austin is the Cumbia capital of the States!

Read the rest of the article on LaBandaElastica.com

I’m a marketer with a nerdy flair that lives in Austin. What does this mean? SXSWi is scrumptous to me. Here are the panels I’m going to try to make:

Note: Since I’m one of the panelists for Latino Digital Drive: Why This Audience Matters I’ll be at that one for sure.

Social Engineering: Scam Your Way Into Anything or From Anybody
Room 18BCD
Friday, March 13th
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

What your Startup Can Learn from Barack Obama and Howard Dean
Room 9
Saturday, March 14th

11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Not the Same Old Story
Room Hilton C
Saturday, March 14th

Crash the Server — How to Market your Movie by Achieving Webisode Awesomeness
Room 12AB
Saturday, March 14th
11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Profit By Mobilizing Your Online Community or Marketplace
Room 10
Saturday, March 14th
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

HOWTO: 149 Surprising Ways to Turbocharge Your Blog With Credibility!
Room 18BCD
Saturday, March 14th
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Making Whuffie: Raising Social Capital in Online Communities
Room C
Sunday, March 15th
11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Branded Entertainment: Brands Driving Content
Room 12AB
Sunday, March 15th
11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Presenting Straight to the Brain
Room A
Monday, March 16th
10:00 am – 11:00 am

Beyond Aggregation — Finding the Web’s Best Content
Room Hilton A
Monday, March 16th
10:00 am – 11:00 am

Ultimate Showdown of Content Management System Destiny
Room Hilton B
Monday, March 16th
11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Old Man Nielsen vs. New Market Research
Room 10
Monday, March 16th
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Brand Noir: Crafting a Who-Why-How Dunnit
Room 9
Tuesday, March 17th
10:00 am – 11:00 am

Latino Digital Drive: Why This Audience Matters
Room Hilton A
Tuesday, March 17th
10:00 am – 11:00 am

Building Strong Online Communities
Room A
Tuesday, March 17th
11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Location Location Location: The Future of Mobile Advertising
Room C
Tuesday, March 17th
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

I’ll (Lynn) be will be one of the panelists for SXSW’s Latino Digital Drive: Why This Audience Matters.

An in-depth look at the growing Latin music market, why this demographic represents an alluring audience, who and how they should be targeted and in what language. What’s the secret and should there be an English crossover? More and more artist are noticing this community – even Beyonce singing in Spanish.

I’ll be sharing the mic with some brilliant folks. If it’s something you’re interested in and you’ll be here or SXSW, come see us!

Sandy is our accountant at Mercury Mambo.  She is a senior citizen and has never blogged in her life…until now!

I have never blogged before in my entire life!  Being a senior citizen, I was never really inspired nor did I see the need, until now.  A recent experience at work has excited me to the point that I felt I HAD to blog!

I have always loved coming to work every day at Mercury Mambo because we have such a fun, relaxed atmosphere.  We are led by 3 amazing women, who not only know what they are doing -  they also know, respect and appreciate what we are all doing.  They seem to have a talent for appreciating the talents of others.

Having said all of that, the event that compelled me to blog was this:

I was asked to participate in a team of four other Mambo employees to create an idea for a project for one of our largest clients.  Everyone in the company participated.  The project was made into a competition!   At first, I really didn’t want to participate, but fortunately was not given a choice.  All teams were very diverse and made up of individuals from different departments.

Yes, little old me, the senior citizen, bean counting, fanatical numbers lady got to work on a team with creatives!!  What an experience!  As our team met, ideas began to roll!  I learned that there must be some little creative person hidden deep inside my soul just waiting to get out!  My team even decided to use my idea for our project!!  What a thrill!  They picked my idea!  My team did not win, but it was OK with me.  What a great experience!  (Old dogs CAN learn new tricks!) There were so many amazing ideas that came out of the exercise.

The part that is so amazing to me is that the partners of this company recognize that good ideas can come from anyone.  What a brilliant way to get the creative juices going.  Just another way for them to recognize publicly that every employee, from the newest intern to the most senior employee has value and can contribute!  What an exciting way to get opinions and ideas from a wide variety of ages and ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

That’s my blog!  It wasn’t too hard!  I just want the world to know what an amazing place Mercury Mambo is and this seemed to be the easiest way to get the story out!

Sandy,
Sr. Bean Counter