Banking on diversity
Operators bet on cultural cues to widen customer base, boost
sales
By Liza Berger
Restaurants today have a clientele that is more
diverse than it ever has been before, and chains are responding with
advertising campaigns geared to various ethnic and racial populations.
But
multicultural marketing involves more than speaking a certain language or using
actors that look representative a specific group, restaurant chains and experts
contend. Instead, the key to that niche marketing is grasping the nuances of a
particular culture and communicating to that group through those cues.
"To do it
right you have a fully separate campaign that not only reflects but also
respects cultural aspects of whatever diverse groups you're going after,"
said Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president of Technomic Inc., a
Chicago-based foodservice consulting business.
Hispanics are
one of the major target groups of multicultural marketing. Restaurant chains
from fast feeders to dinnerhouses are attempting to appeal to the Hispanic
population through television and radio advertising as well as localized
efforts. The chains making inroads in multicultural marketing include Denny's, McDonald's, Del Taco and the Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant
Group.
One brand that
has advertised separately to Hispanics for a number of years is El Pollo Loco, a
300-plus-unit chain based in Irvine, Calif., that identifies itself as being in
the "sweet spot" between fast food and fast casual.
The company
said it spends about one third of its advertising budget on multicultural
marketing. The remainder is devoted to general-market advertising, according to
Karen Eadon, vice president and chief marketing officer.
In appealing to
Hispanic customers the company's strategy is to reacquaint them with an
authentic Mexican product. El Pollo Loco was founded in Mexico, and many
Mexicans in the United States are already familiar with the brand.
Recently, the
company, along with Los Angeles-based cruz/kravetz: IDEAS, an advertising and
public-relations agency specializing in the U.S. Hispanic market, launched a TV
advertising campaign on West Coast Spanish-speaking stations with a tagline of
"Always as Delicious as the First Time."
In the ad a boyfriend
resembling a rock musician is eating with his girlfriend and her parents at a
family dinner table. The mother serves chicken from El Pollo Loco. After eating
the chicken the boyfriend exclaims, "This chicken is tasty!" and gets
up and embraces the mother with a kiss on the lips. The underlying theme of the
commercial is that the taste of the chicken brings out the "loco," or
crazy, in people.
The ad is
intended to remind Hispanics of the tastes they know and love: the
citrus-marinated, flame-grilled taste of El Pollo Loco's chicken, according to
the company.
Such a strategy
differs from the advertising for the general market, which is less familiar
with the brand and the flavor profile of the company, Eadon said.
The
Hispanic-targeted ad also picks up on cultural cues that are different than
general market, such as the strong sense of family. The ad also plays off the
popularity of Hispanic soap operas.
The issues
important to Hispanics are "somewhat different than [those in the] general
market." They respond to different types of cues, Eadon said. "Dining
is more of a social experience, . . . and so we try to reflect that type of
advertising when we are advertising to Hispanics."
El Pollo Loco's
Hispanic ad campaign cannot get away with dubbing a Spanish voice over a
general-market ad, Eadon said. Some chains think it is a "cheap and easy
way" to advertise, she added. "You have to talk to people and let
them know you are really interested in them."
Judy Hernandez,
the director of client services for cruz/kravetz: IDEAS, echoed Eadon's
sentiments, saying that in creating a brand it is important to understand the
consumer and consumption habits. There are "a lot of culture differences
that go into it," she said.
The El Pollo
Loco ad depicts a traditional Hispanic family with a mom, dad and daughter.
"But it's
not being stereotypical," Hernandez said. "We're talking more about
interaction."
Connecting with
multicultural audiences does not necessarily have to involve television. In
some cases, chains say, some of the best ways to reach multicultural groups is
working on the local level.
Eagan,
Minn.-based Buffets Inc.,
parent of Home Town Buffet and Old Country Buffet chains, said that while it
has used Spanish-speaking radio and TV for marketing, those media have brought
inconsistent results to its system of 370 restaurants.
"It's
extremely difficult to measure the effectiveness of [Spanish radio and TV
broadcasts]," said Glenn Drasher, executive vice president of marketing.
The best
results, he said, involve building relationships with Hispanics at the local
level through involvement in community activities and holidays and community
festivals. Also, using bilingual employees at the cash register is a way to
draw Hispanics.
"The most
success we've had is building relationships with the local community,"
Drasher said.
Pizza Patrón, a growing
chain of 15 pizza delivery units, based in Garland, Texas, has thrived on its
grassroots efforts, according to company officials. The chain, which is
completely focused on serving Latinos, establishes a customer base by setting
up shops in predominantly Hispanic areas and hiring bilingual employees who are
involved in the community and can spread the word about the brand.
It also
communicates at other levels, such as offering bilingual materials and naming
pizzas in a way that relates to the customers. For example, the large pizza is
called a "pizza familiar," or family-style pizza, versus a
"pizza grande," which translates to large pizza.
Understanding
the culture can translate into better sales, the company said. Pizza Patrón
officials said they noticed that pizza sales went down during the Christian period
of Lent. Why? The majority of Latinos are Catholic and during the holiday many
give up meat. This year, the company said, it decided to introduce a tuna
pizza.
Andrew Gamm,
the director of brand development, said the decision to come out with a new pizza
was as much about communicating the company's interest in the customer as it
was about raising sales.
"The only
way we can connect . . . is at a very personal level," he said.