Need:

A CPG brand was in the process of planning their yearly advertising campaign and wanted to ensure that they were taking into account the most relevant cultural moments for the Hispanic/Latin American community in the US. The brand recognized that understanding these cultural moments would be crucial in effectively reaching and engaging with this important demographic, as well as driving sales of their soft drink product line.

The brand knew that cultural moments such as holidays, festivals, sports events, and other relevant events can have a significant impact on shopping behaviors and consumer preferences. By mapping out and deeply understanding these cultural moments, the brand could tailor their advertising efforts to align with these events and create more relevant and impactful campaigns.

Solution:

I created an initial cultural calendar with the input from the brand’s stakeholders. The calendar included key religious holidays (Lent, Christmas), cultural events (Dia de los Muertos, Halloween), relevant national holidays (Independence Day of Mexico, Colombia, etc.), and important soccer matches and leagues.

This calendar was then refined after receiving feedback from expert interviews. The experts provided regional nuances to each of the celebrations marked in the calendar.

For example, some regions have a higher population density of certain country of origin which makes certain celebrations more important than others. Such is the case of Dia de los Muertos for Mexicans living in the US, a celebration which is popular in places like San Francisco, CA, Los Angeles, CA, and Houston, TX.
Another example is how, depending on the level of acculturation to the US culture, Hispanics/Latin Americans combine traditions from their country of origin with local ones. For example, the more acculturated might also celebrate Thanksgiving, while the least acculturated do not.

To get a sense of the attitudes and behaviors around the pre-identified celebrations and cultural moments, I recruited three different cohorts of 8 participants each that represented different groups of Hispanic/Latin American groups living in the US.

Cuban-Americans in Miami
Mexicans in Los Angeles
Puerto Ricans in New York

Each cohort participated in four waves of qualitative deep dives. During each wave, the participants were tasked to share photos and videos of the cultural moments they celebrated, and answered key questions that allowed me to understand key attitudes, perceptions and behaviors around shopping for each of these cultural events. Some of the questions included:

Prior the event:

Why is this event special to them? (people, music, stories, food, games & activities, decorations, or outfits that make it special)
When do they plan to celebrate it? Where? With whom?
What is in their to-do list to make this event/celebration successful?
What is in their shopping list?
Where do they plan to get their shopping done? Why there?
Are there any specific brands they prefer to get during these cultural celebrations? Why those ones? How do these brands connect with them?
Do they set a budget for this? Why or why not?
How early do they start planning for the event?

After the event:

Were you able to find all the products you needed for the celebration? Why or why not?
Was there any product you needed last minute? Where did you get it from? Why there?
Did everyone you invite arrived? On time? How important is that for you?
What are some unexpected positive surprises that you experienced during the event? Any negative surprises? why?
Are there any new products/brands you discovered for this year’s event? How did you learned about them? What made them stand out?

Results:

The brand team gained a deeper understanding of the regional nuances of cultural moments and their celebrations, which enabled them to optimize resource allocation for marketing activation campaigns in specific regions that required more attention during certain months of the year.
The quarterly readouts with brand stakeholders provided valuable insights into relevant moments and served as inspiration for the creative teams responsible for planning advertising campaigns. As a result, the campaigns became more authentic and relevant, allowing the brand to foster stronger connections with Hispanic/Latin American communities across the US.