Hi, My Name is Total Market, and I’m an Enigma.
When I first heard the term “Total Market” in early 2013, I initially thought it was just a trendier way to refer to the General Market in the U.S. Boy, was I wrong!
As marketers, we must always remember that this nation is a gargantuan melting pot. It has many different cultures, many different racial groups and many different ethnic groups. Today’s marketing strategies can’t just be taken from the General Market pot and seasoned with Hispanic Market spices, like it has been done in the past. We now must create a wide array of marketing strategies from scratch to better satisfy all these complex audiences. Sure, factors such as age, sex, race and ethnicity still play a key role in the recipe’s development; but attitudes and values are now the most important ingredients. These last two will assure that a meaningful connection between brand and consumer can truly be made. And the reality is that many of these audiences will need more than one kind of approach to reach its sub-segments successfully. But wait; if that’s the case, isn’t a “Total Market” approach considered to be a one-size-fits-all solution? Yes, and no.
According to the AHAA (Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies), Total Market is a marketing approach used when a brand acknowledges that its message needs to be communicated to more than one type of audience and it proactively integrates culturally relevant insights from diverse consumer segments from inception and throughout the entire strategic process until we see it come to life. These efforts can only be achieved with a cohesive collaboration of all internal and external brand partners - General Market agencies, Hispanic Market agencies, brand managers, marketing consultants, research firms, etc. By doing this, the brand will certainly increase its value and market share.
Almost 3 years later after I was introduced to this term, I still hear some marketers say that they don’t know what “Total Market” is, but most importantly, that they don’t understand how it works and its true benefits. I’ve watched peers express disapproval at the use of a “Total Market” approach, because they believe it waters down the effectiveness of a brand’s message due to the fact that it’s trying to connect with more audiences that it’s supposed to, and at the same time, this approach would also reduce the amount of dollars spent on Hispanic media.
To keep things clear, a “Total Market” approach should be used when a brand wants to further expand their reach, and it will certainly not diminish the strength of its message. On the contrary, it will end up being much more powerful and efficient because it is crafted by joining forces of all the required perspectives from the start. And the best part is that the marketing strategy can be executed as a fully integrated cross-cultural approach, individual segment approaches, or a combination of both. So, regardless of the combination of segments that the brand decides to use, all its marketing efforts, no matter if they’re in English, Spanish and/or ‘Spanglish’, will always have heart and mind in the right place.
I’ve seen amazing General Market campaigns out there. But when they try to retarget their message to other audiences they totally miss the mark. Ending up with an emotional disconnection, both visually and verbally. Let’s take Droga 5’s impressive Honey Maid “This is Wholesome” campaign as an example. They created a very powerful message focused on family that seamlessly connected with the brand’s heritage and never changing attributes (products made with whole grain and no high fructose corn syrup). Highlighting the reality that families don’t just include a mom, dad, and kids living under the same roof. Family is family, regardless if it consists of a single parent, same-sex parents, multiracial parents, parents separated by distance, tattooed parents… you name it. When it comes to family, definitions are defied, and that’s precisely what makes all families great – their uniqueness. Kudos to Droga 5 for celebrating this!
Now comes the bummer. I watched their “Hispanic Market” TV spot and there were a lot of missed opportunities: First thing that popped - a direct translation to Spanish of “This is wholesome” ending up as “Esto es saludable”, which in English means: “This is healthy”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve bought Honey Maid graham crackers, and I think they’re pretty good, but let’s be serious for a minute – healthy is not the right claim for Honey Maid products. Wholesome, yes, healthy, I don’t think so.
In English wholesome goes beyond just a functional aspect of the product, it also captures a powerful emotion about what family moments really mean. In Spanish, the line was completely off and lacked the right emotional hook to make a stronger connection. I believe a more appropriate line would have been something in the vein of: “Esto es lo bueno”, that translates as: “This is what’s good”. In this case we would be calling out the product’s attributes along with the wholesomeness effect that families have in the lives of those that are a part of it. The truth is that this line could’ve easily been changed. For me, their biggest miss was when they drilled down on specific family scenarios. They decided to use the same non-ethnic white rocker/tattooed family for their 15-second Spanish TV spot. Now, I’m not saying that Hispanics can’t be white, or that they don’t have tattoos or like rock music. Heck! My body is the canvas for 11 tattoos! Even though I’m the only one in my family who’s inked. The truth is that an extended family scenario would have worked much better and still shown that families aren’t just the classic formula of mom, dad and kids. With the inclusion of Hispanic insights from the beginning, it would have been easy to know that Hispanic family moments often include grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, in-laws, etc.
Honey Maid’s campaign was just a tiny step away from achieving a perfect 360 with this beautiful message. The use of a “Total Market” approach would have been the perfect route for the brand, and for all you concerned Hispanic marketers, the use of this approach wouldn’t have taken away any dollars from their Hispanic media buy.
In conclusion, a “Total Market” approach may not be the solution for all brands. It will depend on its goals with audiences beyond mainstream American consumers. But if done correctly, the brand can better connect with all the intended audiences, and at the same time spend that highly coveted budget in a much smarter way.
If you want to learn more about the “Total Market” approach, and if it is a good solution for your brand, use those digits (915) 581-7900 or give Gabe Acuña a shout.