This week’s Hispanic Advertising Series story centers on agencies who have adopted a holistic approach to the marketplace, embracing the connection between Hispanic and mainstream culture.
“The Hispanic dynamic is exploding in popular culture,” affirmed Laurie Malaga, director of production at ad agency la comunidad. “Having insight into Latin culture is becoming essential for insights into the general market, especially in the youth market. This can be a great advantage for Hispanic agencies who realize that you have to evolve with the culture and it’s part of a bigger picture–and a disadvantage for those agencies who just want to keep their Hispanic niche and don’t see how it’s affecting the general market and how the general market is impacting the Hispanic culture. If you want to be a great Hispanic agency, you have to be open to this expansive relationship and connection.”
Malaga acknowledged that there remain agencies who like to stay inside their box and make good money by virtue of being specialists. “But if you don’t take into account how Hispanic culture is meshing into pop culture and the general market, you will wind up losing that specialty box.”
That spirit is reflected in the creative philosophy of davidandgoliath, which recently opened a fully integrated Hispanic division, dñg, under the aegis of Adela Romero. David Angelo, chairman/chief creative officer of davidandgoliath, said that at dñg, “Instead of being an afterthought to mainstream campaign and strategy, the Hispanic market is connected to the mainstream effort and developed as part of that from its inception.
Romero related that an integrated, holistic approach “helps us ground our work not in the differences but in fundamental values, universal emotions, finding commonality between very diverse segments, which is even more important when we target the youth market. The youth are redefining what the mainstream audience is. Hispanic youth help shape and influence the general market, particularly in California. Mainstream communications are being shaped by Latino influence and to try to separate the two is counterproductive.”
A notable example of keeping consistency in brand personality across Hispanic and mainstream markets is creative work for the California Milk Processor Board account. The famed, longstanding yet evolving “got milk?” campaign has been a staple in American advertising from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
But the companion campaign in the Hispanic market had been quite different, including an approach centering on “Familia, Amor y Leche” (Family, Love and Milk). A little more than two years ago, agency Grupo Gallegos landed the milk account and decided to go with a campaign that was consistent in its light-hearted tone and special brand of humor with the spirit of Goodby’s “got milk?” Juan Oubina, group creative director at Grupo Gallegos, explained, “You don’t want a schizophrenic brand that has one personality in the English-language market and another in the Hispanic market,” he says. “You have to maintain consistency in brand personality because many Hispanic viewers are watching both English and Spanish-language television. Essentially, we’re one market.”
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More