Excellence in Multicultural Marketing Awards–Cable Campaigns That Connect

Cox Arizona, Time Warner Cable Milwaukee, NBC Universal and BET took first-place honors in the Excellence in Multicultural Marketing Awards, co-sponsored by CTAM, ESPN Deportes and CableWORLD. The competition, which garnered 89 entries, was created by combining the CTAM Multicultural Marketing Case Study Competition with the NAMIC Excellence Awards. The 1st place winners will be recognized and select case studies will be presented during a Hot Topics Session at the NAMIC Conference Sept. 20. Operators Cox Arizona’s Hispanic Case Study Looking to increase its Spanish-speaking video and phone customers, Cox Arizona tested a marketing campaign on moderately assimilated Hispanics, rather than highly assimilated Hispanics who are reached by general marketing efforts. Cox found success with its direct-mail package (including a bilingual letter), which brought an 18% jump in "sales-lead call volume" and a 32% increase in connect rates from last year. It also was successful with broadcast ad buys, via Univision and Telemundo, which brought an improved cost per lead of 9.3% from last year. Print helped, too, as targeted tactics were the best drivers of call volume (particularly ads placed in the Spanish-language TV Guide). Less successful was Cox Arizona’s cross-channel marketing campaign, which was described as "effective relative to general market metrics." Time Warner Cable Milwaukee’s `Llenalos de Emocion’ Campaign With the Hispanic population booming in areas where Time Warner Cable Milwaukee was losing subscribers, the system decided to create a better Spanish-language offering by replacing its three-year-old package with one that offered 20 Spanish-language channels, 34 English ones and 46 music channels for $17.95 per month. That was the easy part. Next the system had to communicate the change to Hispanic consumers through print, radio, television and direct mail campaigns. The system decided to simplify the sales process for its Hispanic customers, which meant creating additional sales channels with Hispanic grocery store kiosks and removing administrative obstacles (such as requiring necessary documentation). The results were impressive: The system near doubled Hispanic subscribers (from 848 to 1,614 subscribers), who pay, on average, more than $6 per month for pay-per-view and video on demand. The system reports that "many" of the new Hispanic customers also subscribe to high-speed, premium and DVR services. Programmers NBC Universal’s `M�s’ Campaign NBC Universal developed an integrated campaign of TV, radio and print ads, online resources and direct mail pieces to support MSOs’ Hispanic initiatives while reinforcing its own Telemundo and mun2 brands. The M�s campaign started with three 30-second vignettes that pushed separate themes centered on educating Hispanics on the value of cable; reinforcing the benefits of cable TV; and showing how subscribers can use high-speed Internet to connect with their families. The campaign, which carried the tag line "Quiero M�s, Quiero Cable" (I want more, I want cable), launched during Hispanic Heritage Month last September. Though there isn’t quantitative research to determine the campaign’s success, NBC Universal says five MSOs, 25 systems and more than 300 head-ends have run the M�s spots in the past 10 months. BET’s `Rap It Up’ Campaign After conducting research that showed BET viewers were concerned about HIV/AIDS, BET partnered with the Kaiser Family Foundation to develop a public education and awareness campaign dubbed Rap It Up. The campaign’s on-air and online components included AIDS-related programming, public-service announcements and a toll-free hot line and website with AIDS-related info. The campaign’s grassroots components included teen forums hosted by BET talent; partnerships with local public health departments for on-site HIV testing; and "Classroom Connection" curriculum materials based on the BET documentary series The Naked Truth. Reaction to the campaign has been good, with more than 85% of African-Americans in the 16-to-24 demo recognizing it. Plus, 900,000 people have called the hot line; 300,000 received sexual health guides; 6,000 have been tested at various sites; and 5,000 teens have participated in the forums. And three school systems (Miami-Dade County, Baltimore City and Prince George’s County, Md.) incorporated Classroom Connection into their curriculum.