The New Mad Men

MARIA HINOJOSA: Up next: Austin, Texas.

The American consumer market is changing.

LIZETTE WILLIAMS: Latinos today are growing

at a rate of four times the national average.

Diversity is just good business.

HINOJOSA: But has the advertising industry

changed with it?

The traditional agency from the Mad Men TV series is long gone.

We're not going to go all mariachi band, okay?

I'm still seeing these white models in advertisements

and it's not who I am.

My objective is to make multicultural

be the new mainstream.

This is the new America--

black, brown, Asian, LGBT, immigrants.

The country is going through a major demographic shift,

and the numbers show it.

The face of the U.S. has changed.

CHRISTINA IBANEZ: We're American.

We care about the same things.

But yet we also want to preserve our culture.

I just see it destroying

what we had planned to happen here.

HINOJOSA: By 2043, we will be a majority non-white nation.

NORM GISSEL: We are making, as we speak,

a new America.

And it's a marvelous moment in American history.

Everybody's voice is important to this debate.

HINOJOSA: America by the Numbers.

I'm Maria Hinojosa.

This program was made possible in part by:

And today's numbers tell a dramatic one.

The combined purchasing power of non-white Americans

totals $3 trillion, almost a fifth of the U.S. economy.

Latino purchasing power makes up nearly half of that,

and is growing fast.

The demographic changes happening nationwide

are on full display here, deep in the heart of Texas.

With an already multicultural majority, its capital city,

like much of the nation, is a fusion of diverse cultures.

The demographic dominance of Latinos and other ethnic groups

is having a profound effect on consumer culture as we know it.

And in order to stay competitive,

brands need to reach diverse consumers now.

We've come to Austin, Texas, to see how this all plays out

in the high stakes world of advertising.

This is LatinWorks, a leading ad agency

with a specialty in multicultural campaigns.

Sergio Alcocer is president and chief executive officer.

Wow, so this is a great office.

This is my office, yes.

HINOJOSA: What is this?

ALCOCER: These are photos that I did to create

the Hispanic American version of American Gothic.

What I'm communicating here is that the future is changing.

And I hope nobody gets offended,

but I have no problem with creating that tension.

We started in 1998 as a Hispanic agency.

As a Hispanic agency?

As a Hispanic agency, yes.

And it was a very interesting time

in the U.S. to be a Hispanic agency.

Advertising was very ugly, actually.

There was a lot of stereotypes and a lot of patronizing

and American brands basically treating Hispanics

almost as the lowest common denominator

and, you know, trying to connect with them

in a very simplistic way.

But we wanted to be a little more up to speed

of what really was happening,

and looking at the trend, looking at the future.

HINOJOSA: Traditionally, there have been two target groups:

the general market, and a smaller multicultural market,

divided by ethnicity.

Today, a new "total market" has emerged,

which aims to reach everyone.

But, at its core, Latino women and millennials

are the primary targets

because their purchasing power is on the rise.

In the LatinWorks war room, high stakes pitches are made

to top-tier clients with multimillion dollar budgets.

Today, they're presenting to Lizette Williams,

who leads multicultural marketing strategy

at Kimberly-Clark.

Under her direction, this consumer products giant

is launching its first national campaign

to be centered around Latino cultural references.

We're not gonna go all mariachi band, okay?

Let's really think strategically about who she is,

what drives her heart, you know,

and how do we reach her in a really special way

so that we understand, and she understands, that we get her.

HINOJOSA: Lizette is referring to Latino women,

who control the lion's share

of the growing Latino purchasing power.

In fact, 86% of Latinas report

that women are the primary shoppers in their household,

compared to 75% of U.S. women as a whole.

So brands are working hard to connect.

For Kimberly-Clark, makers of well-known household products

like diapers and paper towels,

LatinWorks created "the fun song" campaign,

celebrating family.

So when you share that ringtone with your family

you can say like, okay, whenever anyone from my family calls,

♫Somos la familia Williams.♫

And then get that in your phone.

HINOJOSA: It's designed to reach all consumers

while speaking directly to Latinas,

who are increasingly driving the company's growth.

We're thinking about splitting it into two phases.

Basically in the first phase we would concentrate on the song,

and on the second phase we would concentrate on the coupon,

and the savings, right.

I can walk you through it, quickly, in English.

WILLIAMS: Yeah, let's hear it in English.

So we hear a phone call...

(makes ringing sound) "Hello?"

"Hey, sweetie-- did you get out of work?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way."

"Can you pick up some Huggies diapers?"

"Sure, how many?"

"Mmm, just bring a box."

And then...

♫Bring me a box, bring me a box♫

♫Box, box, box, bring me a box♫

♫On your way to house, bring me a box♫

♫Bring me...♫

And then the guy actually comes in in Spanish still,

Me voy pa mi casa con mi caja.

Interjecting to the song, right?

So you get that nice texture to it

and still some authentic reggaeton there.

I think the team has really done a fantastic job

with, one, really leading with Hispanic insights

at the core of the program.

But then really putting the activation design together

to be total market and reach in appeal.

Can you tell us how you use numbers

around demographic change to drive the decisions

that you make around advertising for a multicultural world?

What's happened over the last ten years

is that we've really seen a shift in the demographics

of the United States, particularly with Latinos.

Latinos today are growing at a rate of 167%,

and that's four times the national average.

Did you know that a decade ago, did you say,

"Okay, this is coming."

Were you already there?

The 2010 census for us really changed everything.

Ten years ago, growth was coming from immigration

and it was a much smaller segment.

What's happened now,

70% of growth is coming from native-born Hispanics.

When you think about that, the face of the U.S. has changed

and who we market to and how we do it has shifted.

WOMAN: ♫Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.♫

WILLIAMS: If you think about a brand like diapers,

40% of millennials today, who is our target, are multicultural.

50% of babies are diverse.

Then you start to look at the opportunity

a little bit differently.

You really ask yourself, who is the "us" in the U.S.?

Who is that?

HINOJOSA: Christian Filli is vice president

of strategic planning at LatinWorks.

One of his roles is to track demographic change

and cultural trends throughout the country,

which ultimately inform the agency's creative direction.

We're looking at the top 20 DMAs in the country.

So, DMA...?

A designated market area, this is what it means.

So these are like the top 20 markets

that drive consumers in the United States?

Right, so we're looking at approximately 45%

of the total population in the country.

Okay.

New York is almost off the chart

in terms of just sheer population size.

And so what you're... what this shows is that 50% of New York

is a multicultural market?

Right.

HINOJOSA: Rapid multicultural growth in New York

may not be surprising.

But in metropolitan areas like Boston, Philadelphia,

Seattle and Tampa,

which in the past have been less diverse,

multicultural populations are now growing

at three to five times the rate of the overall population.

One of the key takeaways here is diversity is just good business

in the U.S. today.

If you want to seriously do business at a national level,

you need to look at where your growth is going to come from.

And your growth is going to come from here.

HINOJOSA: The ad world is increasingly targeting

multicultural markets.

But it hasn't always been this way.

(Mad Men theme playing)

You're probably familiar with the TV show Mad Men,

about New York's famed advertising men and women

whose firms were located on Madison Avenue.

Advertising is based on one thing: happiness.

We can say anything we want.

HINOJOSA: In the '60s, Mad Men used clever ad campaigns

to sell products.

WOMAN: Nothing takes it off

like Noxzema Medicated Shave.

(burlesque music playing)

HINOJOSA: But people of color were missing

from the smart, witty, and sexy ads.

MAN: Canada Dry Ginger Ale.

One gulp is for thirst, the other gulps are for kicks.

HINOJOSA: In the images created by advertisers,

the target consumer was primarily white

and middle class.

MAN: You buy a new car and what happens?

Your son spends more time behind the wheel than you do.

Well, why not?

Look at him, proud.

And I feel pretty good, too.

HINOJOSA: Rachel Neal is an assistant professor of sociology

at St. Edwards University.

Kazique J.

Prince founded a firm

that provides cultural competency training.

They organize diversity meetups around Austin.

For them, examining images in advertising is second nature.

When you think about advertisers who are trying to get you guys

to buy their products,

do you feel like they understand

who you are?

No, I don't think they understand.

I think they are taking a nice stab at it.

It's definitely different than, you know,

the commercials of the past, you know, when I was growing up.

♫Bounce!♫

♫My clothes smell fresh and clean♫

♫Bounce, Bounce, my socks don't cling.♫

PRINCE: I was just glad to have a commercial

with a black person in it.

HINOJOSA: One.

PRINCE: Yeah, one, the token.

So you're like, "Woo, black people."

Whereas now, as a savvy consumer,

I want more than just a representative.

I need to have more than just one black character.

NEAL: And even something that's just a little more creative.

I find that most depictions of people of color

in advertising just rely on the same old tropes, you know.

Just the same old preexisting stereotypes.

MAN: Just for fun of it, Jell-O tonight.

HINOJOSA: Historically the advertising industry has used

stereotypes as a go-to mechanism to sell products.

MAN: The Frito Bandito made the magic.

I turn your Fritos corn chips into my Fritos corn chips.

HINOJOSA: People of color have often been depicted

as inferior to whites,

and women have been portrayed in submissive roles.

And as recently as 2013,

big name brands like PepsiCo were forced to apologize

for commercials deemed by critics and consumers

to be racist and misogynistic.

MAN: All right, ma'am, we got 'em all lined up.

Nail this little sucker!

Come on, which one is it?

Point to him!

Ah!

I can't do this!

No, no, no!

HINOJOSA: LatinWorks references cultural stereotypes,

but turns them on their head.

In 2007 they created a commercial for the Super Bowl,

the most watched program on American television,

with over 40% of all U.S. households tuning in.

ALCOCER: The Super Bowl in the United States

is very important because it's the only moment

in which Americans care about advertising, right?

So, we created a TV spot which was in anticipation

of this multicultural society,

in which Hispanics are going to lead the multicultural movement.

It was an important moment at the agency.

MAN: Okay, class, if you're in the South you say,

"Hey, feller, give me a Bud Light."

ALL: "Hey, feller, give me a Bud Light."

In New York you say, "Hey, give me a Bud Light,

you got a problem with that?"

"Bud Light, you got a problem with that?"

In East LA you say, "Give me a Bud Light, holmes."

"Give me a Bud Light, holmes."

More importantly, if somebody asks you for a Bud Light,

you say...

ALL: "No speak English!"

HINOJOSA: The strategy paid off.

ALCOCER: You can see the plot of these minorities

to beat "The Man," let's say, right?

Recognizing I'm different,

but I'm going to take that difference and make it

my strength, my power.

FILLI: What's beautiful today is that because you have such

multicultural environments in which we live in,

people are like, "I want to create my own terminology.

"I want to create my own definition.

I want to define who I am on my own terms."

So that would mean, in my context,

I'm okay that I was born in Mexico,

that I was raised in Chicago,

that I live in New York,

that I married a man from the Dominican Republic,

that I go back to Mexico and I go to the Dominican Republic,

that I'm from New York and Chicago and that...

You're not just okay, but you're proud of it.

And you brag about it.

Which I think is fantastic.

That's fantastic.

And that's what people are doing.

I am Latin.

African American.

Mexican.

Texan.

Chinese-American.

Latino.

Jewbana.

Biracial.

Gay.

I am educated.

A photographer.

A filmmaker.

Soy poeta.

Soy Colombiana y Salvadoreña.

Pocha.

I am white.

Chilango.

I'm a Colombian-Texan.

I am Austin.

I am...

A millennial.

...whatever I wanna be.

HINOJOSA: Larger than the Baby Boomer generation,

millennials-- those between the ages of 18 and 34--

make up nearly a quarter of the entire U.S. population.

Of the 74 million millennials in the country,

more than one in five is Latino.

(rock music playing)

Rich Garza is the co-founder

of the annual Pachanga Latino Music Festival in Austin

and an expert at developing brand and consumer connections

through sponsorships and marketing campaigns.

GARZA: I'm seeing all these brands

that are desperately chasing

this Latin millennial demographic.

And if you look at the numbers,

those are the folks that we're trying to talk to now,

that we're trying to kind of create a community

and a relationship.

♫♫

I kind of jokingly call this sort of the festival

of the future,

just based on who we're talking to and how we're programming it.

HINOJOSA: Millennials from across the state of Texas

and beyond attend the festival,

and consumer branding to connect with them is everywhere.

I spoke with Christina Ibañez,

one of the many Latino millennials at the festival,

who talked about why the sponsors and advertisers here

resonate with her.

CHRISTINA IBAÑEZ: We're American.

We care about the same things.

But we also want to preserve our history.

We want to preserve our culture.

I think a lot of the sponsors that are here

actually are the ones that are trying to learn something

about our culture.

Whataburger, for example, I know they have

a really strong Latino campaign going.

HINOJOSA: Whataburger is the nation's eighth largest

burger chain, spanning from Arizona to Florida.

Okay, you go first.

HINOJOSA: In recent years, they've expanded digital,

mobile, and Latino marketing.

Aww.

IBAÑEZ: The one thing I like about Whataburger

is that they use hashtags.

They use Twitter, they're using Instagram.

And that's where it's at.

That's where people like me are going.

RICH GARZA: The way that world works now, marketing, messaging,

is just ubiquitous, it's everywhere.

That's why we have to do a good job and do impactful things

with our sponsorship

so that we're not just throwing stuff out there,

but we're really thinking about what we're doing,

trying to connect with young, bicultural millennials.

HINOJOSA: Later I caught up with Christina

and a few of her friends

to get their perspectives on what it's like

to be the center of attention.

So how does it make you feel that you know

that there are people spending millions of dollars

trying to figure out, like, who you are and what you wanna buy?

We should start by saying that this whole idea of buying power

isn't a conversation that we're necessarily having.

I think that the conversation is just another way to marginalize

our community and box us in and trying to quantify us

and value us only by what we can spend.

HINOJOSA: How do you think that Latinos are portrayed

in the ad world?

I'm still seeing these white models

or light skinned in particular in advertisements

and that's not... that's not who I am

and that's not representative of me,

so why am I gonna buy that product?

IBAÑEZ: I don't really feel

anyone's speaking to me.

So mostly you feel invisible from the world of advertising?

I don't see myself in the ads,

which is not to say that Latinos as a whole are invisible,

but I think the image of Latinos that's presented

is not one that resonates with me.

And that's sad.

That means that advertising is not doing its job.

HINOJOSA: At the pitch wall, back at the LatinWorks war room,

I wondered how the agency responds to consumers,

like the group of millennials I met, who don't feel represented.

As the supervisor of casting, when you wanna create an image

of what a "real Latino" looks like,

how do you do that as you cast?

I don't think that there's one look for the real Latino.

We are not a monolithic group.

There's black Latinos that are absolutely underrepresented

in advertising.

There's Asian Latinos.

There's blonde Latinos, there are redheaded Latinos,

there's brown Latinos, etc.

And in that sense, how does a Latino look,

it's a gigantic question.

So this makes your work incredibly challenging?

Incredibly challenging and incredibly motivating

because I think it's important

that we move into being more real.

HINOJOSA: In 2008, after a 28% drop in its Latino sales,

the Mars Corporation approached LatinWorks to help boost

its Starburst brand.

ALCOCER: We created a spot that didn't even acknowledge

nationality or origin

and just went to the mindset of being a teenager.

(laughing)

ALCOCER: So he feeds him his Starburst.

Oh, my God.

Now that kid, is that a Latino kid?

That kid was actually a Latino kid but it doesn't matter.

The important thing is that we were talking to teens.

And, you know, a teen is a teen first and a Latino teen second.

He looks a little bit like the llama.

Yeah, well, that was the cast, they are good friends.

They are good friends.

HINOJOSA: The commercial was a hit.

The advertising industry awarded LatinWorks a Cannes Lion--

the equivalent of an Oscar-- for the llama spot.

Latino sales for Starburst went up by 15%

and the Mars Corporation increased budgets

and new business for LatinWorks.

(grunting)

Toma un Snickers.

Mejor?

Mejor!

HINOJOSA: Every single year of the past decade,

budgets for Latino ads have grown faster

than the rest of the industry.

From 2003 to 2013, spending nearly tripled.

At LatinWorks, the team straddles the line

between creating ethnic-specific advertising

and ads that connect with everyone.

So, how do you as a team kind of feel about creating the image

of the new normal, the new mainstream in the United States,

all of you?

SAÁNCHEZ: What I focus on is just, what do I want to hear?

It simplifies it because, you know,

I'm basically writing creative a lot of times for myself.

My wife is the consumer, I'm the consumer.

My brother who just moved to the U.S. also is the consumer,

and then I try to, you know, see different points

in the life of multicultural target person here.

But yeah, sometimes I forget about that,

yes, we're creating that new normal.

HINOJOSA: But, as a whole, is the ad industry keeping up?

Consumer voices demanding change have gotten louder

and brands appear to be responding.

Do you guys feel that advertisers

have done something right?

At any time can you think of a commercial or of an ad

where you were just like, "Wow"?

Well, the Cheerios commercial was super cute.

GRACIE: Mom?

MOM: Yes, honey?

Dad told me that Cheerios is good for your heart.

Is that true?

NEAL: The Cheerios commercial was actually creative.

It was different than what we normally see

and I think people really responded to that.

DAD: Kim?

PRINCE: And if they had done a similar commercial

with a lesbian couple or a gay couple,

it would have been just as effective.

HINOJOSA: Not everyone had the same reaction.

The General Mills Cheerios commercial sparked

a social media backlash with such hateful posts,

the company disabled the comments section.

But the response to the backlash was overwhelmingly positive,

inspiring a new wave of commercials

celebrating American diversity.

WOMAN:♫O beautiful, for spacious skies♫

(girl singing in Spanish)

HINOJOSA: The U.S. experienced a watershed media moment

during and after the 2014 Super Bowl.

Three commercials highlighted

the multicultural transformation.

Cheerios came back with a sequel to their biracial family spot.

Coca-Cola presented a commercial with diverse Americans

singing "America the Beautiful" in different languages.

And a Chevrolet ad included gay parents, single parents,

and multi-generational households.

Other brands followed suit.

Can you talk at all

about how fear of change in the United States,

the browning of America,

you know, the new American mainstream,

do you think that the conversation around change

and fear is now shifting to something else?

I think we're living in a country

that is largely more accepting of change,

largely more accepting of diversity,

and we've seen examples of that throughout the last ten years.

The 2014 Super Bowl's halftime show,

sponsored and heavily branded by Pepsi,

seemed to capture the growing multicultural state of mind

that's driving top brand messaging choices.

WILLIAMS: You know, I watched the Super Bowl this year.

Bruno Mars performed, which was amazing

because he's Puerto Rican, Jewish and Filipino,

and was out there with the Red Hot Chili Peppers

doing James Brown dance moves.

And here we are at the most iconic American event

of all time and this is what is happening in this country.

HINOJOSA: As diverse consumers grow in numbers,

only time will tell if advertising can keep up

with the changing face of America.

Since my visit to LatinWorks,

the agency's been awarded new Budweiser business

and gained Marriott as a client.

It's listed as the top revenue earning Latino ad agency

in the country, and is poised to have a strong close this year.

Lizette Williams was named

one of Advertising Age's 2014 "Women to Watch"

for her total market efforts at Kimberly-Clark.

Rich Garza expanded the Pachanga Music Festival beyond Austin,

with a Red Bull sponsored concert tour

across the state of Texas.

And recent projections estimate that by 2050,

Latinos will account for almost a third of the U.S. population,

positioning the multicultural consumer market

to play an even larger role in our economic growth.

HINOJOSA: To learn more about this and other episodes

is available on DVD.

To order, visit shopPBS.org, or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

♫♫

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