Big Brand Cerveza’s Battle for the Latino Consumer

It is a universal truth that Latinos enjoy their beer, with the group accounting for 18% of all beer consumption in the United States. Beer epitomizes the social tendencies of the Latino population, we enjoy family gatherings, big dinners, watching futbol on the weekends, and cracking open a cold one after a long day of work. It’s no surprise that large alcohol brands are starting to hone in on Latinos and their  $1.7 trillion in purchasing power. Coors and Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch) had command of 23.51% of the beer market in 2020 and they both chased the lucrative Latino population through emotionally driven campaigns surrounding football and the Super Bowl.

Building Brand Loyalty Reaching the Hispanic Market

Coors went with a football-centric campaign that tugged at the heartstrings of true NFL fans by supporting the election of beloved Raiders coach Tom Flores into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Flores, a son of Mexican immigrant farm workers, broke barriers in the NFL, as the first Latino head coach and one of only two people to win a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach, and head coach. Coors Light’s “The Ice Man” campaign in support of his inclusion into the PFHOF, which included a landing page, commemorative can, a coupon code, and a petition prior to the announcement. Aside from this being a unique and brilliant campaign executed by Coors, their biggest achievement was successfully integrating multicultural and general marketing. Tom Flores is considered “one of their own” for Latinos and an NFL trailblazer, yet highly respected by football fans alike. Nothing felt forced or unauthentic, just an ode to a great man through some brews.

Corporate Social Responsibility Amidst the Pandemic

Budweiser made a big splash this year at the Super Bowl by  not participating for the first time in 37 years.  To put it in popular terms, in an unprecedented year, Budweiser opted to redirect their marketing funds to COVID-19 vaccine awareness campaigns. The beer brand is a Super Bowl staple, with commercials of puppies and their famous clydesdales, yet the goal this year, according to Anheuser-Busch CMO Marcel Marcondes, was to do “the best of both worlds” by actively contributing to society while improving societal perceptions of the vaccine. You could ask the question ”What makes this a multicultural marketing “campaign?”, but the answer lies in the statistics of the impact of COVID-19 by ethnic population. Latinos only account for 18% of the U.S population yet are 2.8x more likely to be hospitalized and die of the virus compared to their white counterparts. Latinos and people of color are the essential workers who live in multigenerational homes and are impacted the hardest by the virus. Budweiser’s  “power of absence” campaign may not have intended to target Latino audiences, yet it’s directly impacting the health and lives of our population in the United States.

Corporate Social Responsibility Aligns with Inclusive Marketing

The need for multicultural marketing is finally being prioritized by big brands and it’s not often that they succeed in being authentic to reach the much-pursued Hispanic demographic like Coors and Budweiser. Aside from the knowledge that the ROI is high if Latinos are correctly marketed to, brands are starting to realize the importance of actively integrating themselves within the Latino community and committing to giving back to our diverse comunidades. It’s a commitment that takes time and must be authentic.

Aligning Community Engagement Programs to Your Brand Goals

Connecting to the heart and soul of the Hispanic community is what we do best at The Imagen Group, as a Latina, woman-owned marketing agency, our specialty is bringing together the right stakeholders to connect our clients with community leaders, ethnic news media, and Hispanic serving non-profit organizations in communities from Los Angeles and San Diego in California to New York City and San Juan, Puerto Rico.  We are ready to bring our passion and knowledge of reaching multicultural consumers to your organization. Coors and Budweiser scored big with Hispanics for the big game through sincere and authentic marketing, sentiment achievable by brands who value and properly connect with their intended audience.

Are you ready to see your company reflect the needs of its community? Our team of bilingual communicators and marketers at The Imagen Group are ready to help you make that next move.

www.theimagengroup.com

Photo by Fred Moon on Unsplash

Photo by Eeshan Garg on Unsplash