Linda Lane González, Chair de AHAA
On February 24th, Jeffrey L. Bowman, President and CEO at Reframe: The [Brand], wrote in Campaign U.S. magazine an article entitled: Close The Gap: The State of The Total Market Industry. “If we do not get the total market topic right, businesses could lose the next 50 years of market share” he noted. However, AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing, disagreed. AHAA Chair Linda Lane González and Viva Partnership President replied in the magazine website -in behalf of the association- that Bowman views overlooks the value of segmentation and targeted marketing. “Bowman wants you to believe that these notions are an old idea, yet they have proven time and time again that they are successful” she wrote. Bowman’s Total Market Report conducted by his firm concluded with some of the wrongs the way things are now “a company chooses to buy marketing and communications services based on a segregated model in which general market is separate from the multicultural.” Lane explains, that on the contrary to Bowman report, research has shown that brands who have reallocated general market media dollars to Hispanic have experienced corporate revenue growth. “Those that have attempted to simplify their marketing approach by utilizing one umbrella campaign for all segments have suffered losses with campaigns not delivering the same ROI as their segmented approaches” she explained. For her, brands are often misled by their lead agency who -like Bowman-believes that acculturation and segmentation are dead, and this erroneous version of Total Market will save them money.
