Honda Launches Major Hispanic Online Marketing Effort-For Mexico? No! For Puerto Rico? No!- For The USA!-Huh?

Story to follow this commentary from the Co-publisher:

I just don't get it...for the last 8 years The Auto Channel has been providing great content for car enthusiasts (including young Latino men) as well as great research tools for just plain folks (including young Latino men) who are looking for automotive focused content: car reviews, recalls, crash ratings, green ratings, the latest news about rice rockets from SEMA or the LA Auto Show or the Detroit Auto Show, including lots of streaming video, live automotive radio shows from around the world, etc, etc., etc.

The Auto Channel continues to provide ALL of its viewers more great car stuff than anyplace else in the world…500,000 pages, 4000 videos, 6000 audio programs, 87,000 images, thousands of reviews, etc. etc. etc. all 100% auto related and all aimed at a computer savvy audience.

During the last 8 years our sales team has called on the English Language Honda Ad agency and offered what they thought were compelling reasons for Honda to advertise here...targeted audience, focused content, competitive CPM's…but amazingly there was “never any budget” for online advertising from this supposedly with-it company.

But… Mucho budgets for TV, Mucho budgets for magazines, Un poquito for general interest Internet advertising, and Nada for independent targeted interest sites like ours...¡qué asco! until now

Well comprendo perfectamente, now I understand perfectly, we must be publishing The Auto Channel in the wrong language to sell advertising to Honda.

I am amazed that the decision makers at Honda believe that computer savvy young Latino men don't read English (so much for our school system), and that to reach them, Honda must advertise in Spanish on a Spanish Only web site, instead of in English on a car enthusiast site.

Maybe if we segregated our audience by ethnicity, instead of love of cars, Honda would have a budget to buy advertising on The Auto Channel.

Hey Honda what’s next…can we pay in Pesos, is the Honda owners manual (Manuel?) printed in Spanish? are the dash gauges in Spanish?

Do we need to translate The Auto Channel's 8500 plus Honda stories into Spanish in order to get Honda’s attention and a share of their ad dollars? In fact for the right bucks we will translate our 500,000 stories into Spanish and quit English language publishing totally!

Papá, what is going on here?

If you know please e me bgordon@theautochannel.com

LOS ANGELES, April 8 -- American Honda Motor Co., Inc., one of the top-selling automobile manufacturers to the U.S. Hispanic consumer, launched a major new media marketing campaign targeting the Latino consumer. This month, an online campaign for Honda's Civic models premieres on YupiMSN, www.yupimsn.com, a leading Spanish-language Internet network. The campaign was developed by La Agencia de Orci and Asociados, Honda's Hispanic marketing agency-of-record.

The campaign will run through July and targets Hispanic males 18-24 on YupiMSN via traditional online units, including skyscraper ads, and incorporates rich media technology through floating ads. The ads promote the Civic Coupe, Sedan and Si models through two creative executions, "Thumbprint" and "Silhouettes," which communicate to the audience that there is a Civic for every lifestyle. Upon clicking the ads, consumers are directed to the Honda website (www.hondacars.com) where they are able to research all models in Spanish. A second component of the campaign is a sweepstakes where participants have the opportunity to register to win a Microsoft Xbox(TM) video game console and a customized racing themed accessories package, including games, a steering wheel and foot pedals.

Hispanics are the nation's largest minority group among new-vehicle buyers, according to a recent report by J. D. Power and Associates and ComScore Media Metrix maintains that more than 12 million US Hispanics are online. Furthermore, 84% of Hispanics polled by Roslow Research would be more likely to do their automotive shopping and research online if they could do so in Spanish.

"La Agencia de Orci & Asociados is one of the most progressive Hispanic agencies we've worked with -- they are truly experts in marketing to Hispanics through new media," states Jacqueline O'Brien, Director of Sales and Marketing at YupiMSN. "They understand how valuable it is to their client's bottom line to reach the Latino consumer through interactive marketing and they have taken a lead in the development of this industry. We are enthused to have Honda on board for this campaign and expect great success."

"Latinos have home computers and internet access and they are taking full advantage of their capabilities" adds Robert Santiago, Account Director at La Agencia de Orci & Asociados. "In this campaign, we are working with Honda to reach a highly desirable customer -- affluent, educated and young. At La Agencia de Orci we often describe the Latino consumers as 'technology leapfroggers,' skipping ahead of earlier technologies to adopt more advanced applications."

This current project for Honda demonstrates how La Agencia de Orci has incorporated online marketing as part of their integrated services. The agency has worked with several of their clients, such as Allstate and Verizon, to create new media addressing the Latino consumer.

Through the course of their 14-year partnership, American Honda and La Agencia de Orci & Asociados have focused on continuously building and sustaining a successful long-term relationship with the U.S. Hispanic consumer. La Agencia and Honda established a unique four-tier approach to marketing to U.S. Latinos that includes cultural enrichment, community support, sports marketing, and product advertising. The result is that Honda has had both #1 and #2 selling passenger cars to Hispanic consumers in the U.S. for the last 12 consecutive years.

About La Agencia de Orci & Asociados

Founded 16 years ago, La Agencia de Orci & Asociados is today one of the largest independently owned Hispanic marketing agencies in the country. La Agencia is headquartered in Los Angeles and runs a second office in Chicago. The agency generated $100 million in billings from U.S. Hispanic marketing campaigns in 2002 for major national brands such as Allstate, American Honda, Bacardi, Gamesa USA, Tampico, Verizon, Washington Mutual and White Memorial Medical Center. More information can be found by visiting www.laagencia.com.

About American Honda Motor Company

Honda is one of the world's leading producers of automobiles, motorcycles and ATVs, power products, marine engines and personal watercraft. It began operations in North America in 1959 as American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and, using domestic and globally sourced parts, began manufacturing automobiles in America in 1982. Honda was one of the first automotive companies to launch Hispanic marketing in 1989.