By Jordan Wenck
The opportunities for students at Florida State University never cease to amaze me. One lucky undergraduate Hispanic Marketing Communications Class taught by Antonieta Reyes Echezuria was selected for a competition to help design a social media plan for Fox Deportes. Once students got word of this competition, they split into groups and got to work. Some of their research findings were very impressive and their ideas as innovative as any marketer in the field would design.
One thing each group could agree on though, Fox Deportes needs a mobile app that has multiple uses. One interesting comparison that I heard was why Hispanics are such fans of Pepto-Bismol. “5 symptom relief: nausea, heart burn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!” Besides it being a catchy tune, Hispanics love it because it works for a variety of problems. In the same sense, they like their Social Media to do more than one thing; they like practicality, the “one-stop-shop.” An interesting theme throughout all the presentations was the multi-dimensional aspect, a holistic approach. If an app can become a resource, provide news, and allow interaction all while being entertaining, relevant, and encouraging engagement – you can offer the whole “experience.”
• Now nearly half of all U.S. Hispanics ages 18-34 own smart phones
• 43% of U.S. Hispanics engage in mobile gaming
• U.S. Hispanics are 80% more likely to use a check-in service
• 79.4% of Hispanics are actively on Facebook
• 69% of Hispanics watch those uploaded videos
According to Hispanic insight infographics and the students’ presentations, Hispanics use Social Media a lot more than other cultural groups and are well ahead of the Social Media curve when it comes to trends. They are more likely engage, but they may respond differently to Social Media efforts. You need to make sure that you understand your audience and their preferences. If your main website and communication is in Spanish, you may want to think twice about automatically making the switch to English simply because it’s on Facebook or Twitter. Try to focus on having your Social Media attempts complement what you’re already doing. You want to present information that is clear and concise and make sure that your audience gets it.
The competition was certainly tough, and the voting came down to the last-minute at the AHAA (The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies) Hispanic Marketing Conference in early May.
The winners were chosen from a group of FSU students; a sports app made for girls, by girls.
This mobile application is going to be a hit, I was ready to download it right away while they were presenting. They put a lot of hard work into it and it showed. It’s great news for the girls; they each won $1000 prize and will get the opportunity to continue the development of this app. It’s also great news for FSU and goes to show how Seminoles roll.