Hispanic Retail 360 Summit to Explore Impact of 'Total Market Approach'

SAN ANTONIO -- This year's Hispanic Retail 360 Summit, being held Aug. 13-15 here, will tackle one of the hottest topics in marketing today: the total market approach to marketing and its impact on how retailers and consumer product goods companies engage with and serve Hispanic shoppers.

After several meetings, the Hispanic Retail 360 Retailer Advisory Board, consisting of 10 representatives from major retailers across the grocery, convenience and mass retail channels, reached a consensus on this year's theme: "Total Market: Tapping Into the Power of Bicultural Latinos through an Integrated Approach."

A "total market approach" involves shifting away from focusing on Hispanics or any specific culture and moving to a platform that integrates all the cultures into one strategy. As marketers increasingly move to a total market approach, many questions need to be answered. For example: To what extent do Caucasians, Hispanics, African-Americans and Asian-Americans have the same needs? To what extent do they respond to advertising differently? To what extent can a total market approach be effective in reaching all of these different markets?

This year's conference will explore how this new approach impacts Hispanic marketing, especially as bicultural Latinos become a growing and more influential segment of both the Hispanic and general markets. Millennials and next-generation Hispanic consumers are maintaining a strong connection to their Latino heritage and language, while building successful lives in the general culture. Mobile technology and social media has further facilitated their complex, cross-cultural identities.

These changes would seem to require a fundamental shift away from the traditional avenues retailers and marketers use to segment the Hispanic marketplace and toward a more inclusive, multi-ethnic, total market approach.

Now in its 10th year, the Hispanic Retail 360 Summit, produced by Stagnito Media and its market-leading brands Progressive Grocer and Convenience Store News, owes its success to the enthusiastic support and input from its Retailer Advisory Board.

Last month, the Summit named two leading retailers -- Javier Delgado-Granados, director of marketing for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and Angel Colón, director of multicultural development for The Kroger Co. -- as co-chairs of this year's event. As co-chairs, Delgado-Granados and Colón have agreed to supply significant input and feedback on the programming of this year's conference and to actively assist in recruiting speakers to ensure the agenda addresses the information needs of the retail community.

The full 2014 Retailer Board of Advisors includes:

• Jim Hendrickson, Manager, Market Research, 7-Eleven Inc.
• Marco Orozco, Director, Hispanic Initiatives SW, Best Buy
• Adonis Paseiro, Local Business Manager, Hispanic, Bi-Lo Holdings LLC
• Donna Sanker, Vice President of Marketing, BP/ARCO/ampm
• Cecilia Perez, Director of Multicultural Marketing, Chevron Corp.
• Nicolas Medina, Global Standards & Practices Manager, Convenience Retailing, Exxon Mobil Corp.
• Jamie Franck, Assistant Vice President, Operations, Hy-Vee Inc.
• Angel Colón, Director, Multicultural Marketing, The Kroger Co. (HR360 co-chair)
• Janalee Clements, Senior Customer Insights & Marketing Manager, Maverik Inc.
• Javier M. Delgado-Granados, Director of Marketing, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (HR360 co-chair)