Talking to Hispanic Consumers this Easter

For U.S. Hispanics, there’s more to Easter than bunnies and colored eggs. In 2013 Nielsen reported that 47% of Hispanics considered the holiday a “Main Hispanic Celebration.” Like Día de los Muertos, Easter is rooted in religious beliefs (55% of USH identify as Catholic, according to Pew Research).

For many Hispanics, getting together on Easter Sunday to celebrate the end of Holy Week and the Lent period, is second only to Christmas.

In addition to the cultural and religious significance of Semana Santa, brands have other powerful reasons to target Hispanics during this time.

Family, tradition, and savings in 30 seconds: JCPenney’s TV spot

Holidays such as Easter bring together family and traditions, and provide an opportunity for brands to focus their campaigns with a strong message that resonates with Hispanics. This is what JCPenney did last year in a TV spot.

The TV spot achieves several key things in 30 seconds:

• Relates to U.S. Hispanics by portraying ‘a day in the life’ of an entire multigenerational family
• Showcases relatable and realistic situations for the target audience, such as the boy dressing up for the occasion
• Steers clear of stereotypes (not a soccer ball in sight!) and presents a family and a house that could be in any neighborhood
• Uses visuals and voiceover to combine the religious aspect of Easter with the seasonal element of Spring into a cohesive message

Overall, the lighthearted approach identifies with the target audience, without alienating through stereotypes or exaggerations.

The ad also wins kudos for JCPenney for cleverly leveraging their brand name with Hispanics’ desire for savings and value: Haz valer tus Penny’s (pennies).

Holidays are an opportunity to build a deeper connection

Among its content and visual achievements, the JCPenney TV spot also offers opportunities to go beyond the surface when relating to U.S. Hispanics.

One area ripe for deeper insights is food. In the case of Easter, brands can use food as an element of cultural relevance to further identify with consumers. Turn to your SEO team to find trending terminology. For example, seafood and traditional terms such aschile relleno and capirotada spike during Lent and Easter.

Through their digital platforms, our clients Bimbo and Unilever used food as a way to connect Easter, Spring, family and culture. Bimbo combined the notion of clean eating associated with Lent and Spring with their main product. Unilever’s Vive Mejor platform leveraged fish through culturally relevant recipes for Easter.

Such findings can be employed in all media, from TV spots to digital and print. As always, understand the cultural nuances of the celebration and produce specialized content that appeals to U.S. Hispanics while being sensitive to those that prefer more general holiday messaging.