September 1, 2010

Cable Fax: Excellence in Multi-Cultural Marketing: Multi-Cultural Marketing at its Best

By Gerry Ford

Even in a sluggish economy, some things rise. From the looks of it, multi-cultural marketing is one of them.

NAMIC’S Excellence in Multi-cultural Marketing Awards, or the EMMAs, saw a 25% jump in submissions this year, says Daphne Leroy, NAMIC’s VP of Marketing and Communications. The increase "is an exciting demonstration of the commitment to minority marketing," she says. The rise in entries is consistent with the continued development of multi-cultural marketing at the MSOs, adds Cox’s Senior Marketing Manager Renata Franco. Operators have learned that while the product offered "may be the same, the benefits are seen differently" by ethnic communities. That means cable must "tell the story differently when marketing to a multi-cultural audience," Franco adds.

Also on the rise were EMMA entries from regional entities; grassroots and exponential marketing were up, too. And it wasn’t only quantity that increased; quality of operator and programmer campaigns rose, too.

While many traditional EMMA powerhouses were victors again this year, there was a healthy number of first-time winners. As is the tradition, all winners will be presented with awards at a ceremony and panel discussion in NY on Tuesday, September 14, as part of NAMIC’s 24th annual conference during Diversity Week.

Below are brief profiles of first-place winners and first-place ties. Second- and third-place winners and ties are listed.

Cable Companies

CASE STUDIES/CAMPAIGNS

• LO MEJOR ON DEMAND, TIME WARNER CABLE

  Time Warner Cable bolstered Hispanic On Demand awareness with a campaign that included live events in Hispanic markets tied to new On Demand content.

• TIMEWARNERCABLE.COM/ESPANOL WEB REBUILD, TW CABLE

  Time Warner Cable touted the re-launch of its Spanish-language Website by partnering with Telemundo and Univision on promotional events.

Second Place: (Tie)

• EL MIX LAUNCH STRATEGY, COX COMMUNICATIONS

• CELEBRITY CAMPAIGN, COX COMMUNICATIONS

Third Place: (Tie)

• TWCLA WORLD CUP CAMPAIGN, TIME WARNER CABLE LA

• A CAPELLA ACQUISITION CAMPAIGN, COMCAST

MARKETING TACTICS

ALL OTHER MEDIA

• BEAUTY SALON, DIRECT RESPONSE TRIPLE PLAY, CABLEVISION

  Cablevision’s spirited beauty salon campaign aimed at Hispanics was designed to improve triple-play sales. TV spots featured young, vibrant women in a beauty salon singing about the triple play’s benefits.

Second Place:

• FUN HOUSE, DIRECT RESPONSE TRIPLE PLAY, CABLEVISION

DIGITAL

• TIMEWARNERCABLE.COM/ESPANOL WEB REBUILD, TIME WARNER CABLE

  This campaign tied for first place in the Case Study/Campaign category ( see above).

DIRECT MAIL

• GMA PINOY AND GMA LIFE LAUNCH POSTCARD, TIME WARNER CABLE

  Time Warner San Diego’s piece touted GMA Pinoy and GMA Life channels with art featuring their talent. Sales rose 55% for Pinoy and 49% for GMA Life.

• CELEBRITY CAMPAIGN, COX

  Si TV talent Christian Vera appeared on a mailer touting Cox Arizona’s Hispanic products. A 16% lead increase resulted.

• FILIPINO PACKAGE UPGRADE DIRECT MAIL, TIME WARNER CABLE

  Time Warner LA touted the addition of GMA Pinoy to its Filipino lineup with a piece that listed Pinoy’s benefits. Sent in a promotional envelope, the piece garnered a 3.36 percent response rate.

Second Place: (Tie)

• EL MIX, COX COMMUNICATIONS

• COX LO HACE FÁCIL PARA CONECTAR, COX COMMUNICATIONS

GRASSROOTS

• HD OUTREACH PROGRAM, RETAIL EVENTS, TIME WARNER CABLE LA

  Time Warner Cable joined Univision and retailers Dearden’s and Best Buy to promote HD, VOD and The World Cup at events in Los Angeles. Emceed by Univision talent, the events were well attended and rode The Word Cup’s momentum.

Second Place:

• COX, TU AMIGO EN LA COMUNIDAD, COX COMMUNICATIONS

PRINT

• FILIPINO PACKAGE LAUNCH PRINT AD, TIME WARNER CABLE LA

  This Time Warner Cable Los Angeles campaign was a variation on its winner in the Direct Mail category ( see above). Its 68 percent recall rate was impressive.

Second Place:

• SOUTH ASIAN XFINITY Q1 CAMPAIGN, COMCAST

RADIO

• POLISH GIFT WITH PURCHASE CAMPAIGN, COMCAST

  Comcast launched a two-month effort aimed at Chicago’s Polish community with an ad that offered a $20 MasterCard gift with a Polish Super Pack purchase. The spot improved results by 39%, besting Comcast’s 15% goal.

TELEVISION

• HD OUTREACH CAMPAIGN, MEDIA INTERVIEWS, TIME WARNER CABLE

  Time Warner Cable LA promoted HD outreach events through interviews on Hispanic TV shows. Almost 250K viewers saw the shows, generating 1,500 calls for HD.

• GRANDDAUGHTER, COX COMMUNICATIONS

  Cox’s ad supported its brand promise of "Your Friend in the Digital Age." It featured a child speaking English to a Cox phone agent and Spanish to a relative. It scored well on consumer tests.

Second Place:

• CHINESE MARKET INFOMERCIAL, TIME WARNER CABLE

Third Place:

• AUG 09 NUESTRA TELE BASICO LAUNCH TV CAMPAIGN, TW CABLE

Networks/ Industry Suppliers

CASE STUDIES /CAMPAIGNS

• THE CHICAS PROJECT: SEASON 4, MUN2

  mun2’s support for season 4 of The Chicas Project was a combination of grassroots, print, radio and TV marketing that incorporated the chicas’ cool, sexy and edgy attitude. The campaign produced the series’ highest-rated premiere.

• COX LAS VEGAS FILIPINO ON DEMAND LAUNCH CASE STUDY, COX

  Cox Las Vegas attempted to increase Filipino on Demand use through a grassroots event at Seafood City, where Filipino Americans were urged to see TFC celebrity Gelo from the show Barangay USA. The campaign increased FOD usage 12%, exceeding Cox’s goals.

Second Place: (Tie)

• LATINO STUDENT ATHLETE OF THE YEAR SCHOLARSHIP, FOX NETWORKS

• HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY MAKEOVER/REINVENT YOURSELF, OLYMPUSAT

• CHANNEL ONE RUSSIA COMCAST PHILADELPHIA LAUNCH CAMPAIGN, INTERNATIONAL MEDIA DISTRIBUTION

Third Place: (Tie)

• CNN PRESENTS: LATINO IN AMERICA, CNN

• BANDAMAX LAUNCH, TUTV

• BET Awards 09, BET Networks

• NYC DOMINICAN BASEBALL CAMPAIGN, ESPN, ESPN DEPORTES

• WAY BLACK WHEN, TV ONE

MARKETING TACTICS

ALL OTHER MEDIA

• BOLLYWOOD HERO, IFC

  IFC took to the streets of NY to increase visibility generally and specifically with South Asians for original mini-series Bollywood Hero. It staged "flash mob" dance events where ostensibly people in the crowd joined Indian dancers in elaborate movements. IFC met internal goals for the campaign.

• EPITAFIOS SEASON 2 PRESS KIT, HBO

  HBO Latino launched Epitafios with a press kit for the ages. It was disguised as a police file, complete with crime-scene photos, evidence details and criminal profiles. It was HBO Latino’s most successful press launch, with 43mln impressions.

DIGITAL

• UNMISTAKABLE CAMPAIGN, HBO

  HBO ran a digital campaign on BET’s Website for 30 days touting HBO shows and series that would appeal to African Americans. It garnered 2.3mln impressions with a click-through of 0.22%.

• BET HONORS 2010, BET

  BET’s support of The BET Honors included a series of online ads featuring host Gabrielle Union. Impressions ran higher than expected at 15mln and the interaction rate of 4.5 exceeded the goal of 2.99.

Second Place:

• EPITAFIOS SEASON 2 MICROSITE, HBO

DIRECT MAIL

• NEXOS LATINOS™ TWC NYC ACQUISITION/UPGRADE, WINTER 2010, ECLIPSE MARKETING

  Time Warner Cable sent a bright magazine-format mailer that included a profile of rock band Marie Celeste, On Demand movies and reviews of original series and pay-per-view concerts/events. Strong results included response rates reaching 1% among non-subs and 2% with upgrading customers.

• HBO BLACK HISTORY MONTH, DIRECT MAIL CAMPAIGN, HBO

  HBO faced the economic slowdown head on with a Feb ’10 affiliate and partner campaign. In a mailer sent to some 68K addresses, HBO partnered with MSOs and other providers, emphasizing relevant documentaries and original series Treme.

Second Place: (Tie)

• COMCAST GMA LIFE TV UPSELL MARKETING TACTIC, GMA NETWORK

• TV JAPAN COMCAST SF BAY AREA FREE PREVIEW DIRECT MAIL 2009, INTERNATIONAL MEDIA DISTRIBUTION

Third Place:

TBS LOPEZ TONIGHT DIRECT MAIL, TURNER

DIVERSITY AWARENESS

• TNT HAWTHORNE INSPIRED CONNECTIONS, TURNER

  TNT promoted HawthoRNe by focusing on positive messages presented in the series aimed at faith-based audiences. Reaching out to faith-based groups and local spiritual leaders, TNT helped its new series premiere to more than 4mln viewers.

GRASSROOTS

• TNT HAWTHORNE MOCHA MOMS SCREENINGS, TURNER

  TNT partnered with African-American social organization Mocha Moms on HawthoRNe screenings for the group’s 10 largest chapters. As stated above, the series premiered to more than 4mln viewers.

Second Place:

• BET HIP HOP AWARDS 2009, BET

Third Place:

• THE MO’NIQUE SHOW, BET

OUT OF HOME

• TBS LOPEZ TONIGHT OOH, TURNER

Turner Broadcasting’s 6-week campaign for Lopez Tonight included illuminated boards, wild postings, bus kings and a Times Square Twitter board that displayed real-time messages promoting the show, which premiered to more than 3mln viewers.

Second Place:

• BOLLYWOOD HERO, IFC

PRINT

• BOLLYWOOD HERO, IFC

  IFC marketed mini-series Bollywood Hero in major markets with half- and full-page ads featuring Indian celebrities Neha Dhupia and Pooja Kumar.

Second Place:

• COMCAST GMA LIFE TV UPSELL MARKETING TACTIC, GMA

Third Place:

• BRING LOVE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, TFC HOLIDAY GIFT WITH PURCHASE PRINT AD, INTERNATIONAL MEDIA DISTRIBUTION

RADIO

• BANDAMAX VICENTE FERNÁNDEZ CONCERT SWEEPSTAKES, TUTV

  TuTv joined Mediacom and Ranchera music king Vicente Fernández to launch music channel Bandamax. TuTV’s sweepstakes winners got a VIP trip to a Fernández concert. Mediacom saw a 30% jump in sales.

Second Place:

• COMCAST HISPANIC SBN SCOREBOARDS, AMEREDIA

TELEVISION

• MTV TR3S CENSUS 2010, MTV

  MTV Tr3s promoted the importance of the ’10 Census through a site and PSAs directed at Latino youth. The site generated 80K hits; 6K+ came via the MTV Tr3s link.

Second Place: (Tie)

• DE PELÍCULA EL SANTO DVD GIVEAWAY, TUTV

• US CENSUS: DORA PSA, MTV

Third Place:

ASIANS ALOUD, HBO