Ninth Annual Hispanic Retail 360 Summit Promises to be Best Yet

LAS VEGAS -- This year marks the ninth consecutive year of the Hispanic Retail 360 Summit. The theme for this year's event is "Understanding Millennials' Path to Purchase." It's no secret that Millennials are the fastest-growing portion of the Latino population and are extremely important to retailers and marketers for their tech-savvy, high-consumption shopping habits.

Millennials are the second-largest segment of the Hispanic population. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 17 percent of Hispanics (8.8 million) are aged 15 to 24, while 18.9 percent are aged 5 to 14. Understanding how these Hispanic Millennials view your store or brand, how they make their purchasing decisions, and what influences their decisions on where to shop and what to buy are all crucial insights for retailers and suppliers today.

This year's agenda is loaded with speakers and topics that will help retailers and marketers make better decisions and be more successful at cultivating this valuable consumer group. Millennials drive tastes and trends in pop culture, technology and social media, and Hispanic Millennials overindex more than the mainstream market in technology adoption and use of mobile phones. So, a lot of the content at this year's Summit will be aimed at understanding the impact of these trendsetters.

Here are just a few highlights:

• Mobile First: Mobile Insights That Drive Hispanic Shoppers. This session will size up the opportunity, as well as build the case for usage and adoption of mobile technology by both brands and retailers. Mercury Mambo, a shopper marketing agency specializing in Hispanic mobile marketing, will provide a breakdown of the current marketing jargon, demonstrate real-world applications and uncover opportunities to engage, connect, create greater relevance and provide true value to today's Hispanic shopper. This presentation will educate and inform participants on the importance of QR codes, text messaging and other digital innovations.
   
• How ALDI Uses Social Innovation to Reach Multicultural Millennials. Everyone knows that authenticity and cultural relevance are must-haves for any marketer trying to real Millennial consumers. This case study will illustrate how ALDI, a leading discount grocery chain, is leveraging a high-tech, high-touch approach to helping U.S. Hispanic families get their students into college and creating community leadership and organic brand relationships in the process.
   
• Understanding Diverse Latinos: New Insights Into Three Important Segments. Monica Gil and Juan Carlos Davila of Nielsen will present new research into Latinas, Hispanic Millennials and upscale Latinos.
   
• How Latina Moms Think and Feel. Latinas marry and have children earlier than Anglos so Hispanic moms are a significant part of the 18- to 24-year-old demographic. In this session, sponsored by Beechnut and Goya, a live focus group of Latina moms will discuss what influences the purchasing decisions they make for their families.
   
• From Pantry to Store Shelf: What Impacts Hispanic Millennials' Retail Choices? Research shows shoppers make most of their purchasing decisions before they enter the store. Darren Seifer of The NPD Group and Terry Soto of About Marketing Solutions will explain and demonstrate the value of taking a holistic view of the Hispanic grocery shopper. Takeaways will assist attendees in developing new programming, merchandising and product packaging strategies based on how Hispanic Millennials shop and plan for their food purchases.
   
• Connecting With English-Preferred Hispanic Shoppers. More than most other Latinos, Hispanic Millennials live in both the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking worlds. This session will use proprietary and secondary data to explore the multidimensional lives of English-preferred Hispanic consumers. Roberto Saucedo and Kelly Ravestijn of Dieste will share case studies and insights on how to apply analytical and strategic methodologies to successfully reach English-speaking Hispanics.
   
• Building Your Brand Preference With Hispanic Millennials in the Post-PC Era. Hispanic Millennials are some of the most influential consumers today and are leading the way in the use of post-personal computer "3rd Screen" devices. Eduardo Pérez of PM Publicidad will explain why Hispanic Millennials are so connected to their 3rd Screen devices and how marketers can effectively use 3rd Screen channels to relevantly and intimately connect with these young influencers and build brand preference.
   
• Decoding Hispanic Entertainment and Lifestyle Choices. Hispanics, particularly Millennials, have innate demographic, cultural and psychographic traits that create excellent yet untapped opportunities for entertainment product and service marketers. Guy Garcia of EthnicFacts will present new research and fresh insights that show how evolving Hispanic identity and cultural contexts can drive their preferences and behaviors in hospitality, travel, music, venue selection, and other lifestyle and entertainment options.
   
• The Bicultural Reality: Maximizing Your Reach of Today's U.S. Hispanic Millennials. Culturati Research & Consulting, in partnership with Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods, will unveil a groundbreaking study that shines the light on bicultural U.S. Hispanic Millennials and how they no longer follow the traditional path of acculturation and are more accurately defined via an attitudes and values-based model. This session will include information on retail channels shopped, as well as the correlation of channel to acculturation and trip type analysis.
   
• How Qdoba Mexican Grill Connected With Bicultural, Bilingual Hispanics. Switching from grocery to foodservice, this case study will reveal how Qdoba Mexican Grill figured out not only how to connect with bicultural, bilingual Hispanics, but also how to grow -- by triple digits -- among this target group. This informative session will be led by Jacqueline Reynolds, CEO of The ShopShop.
   
• How Social & Digital Media Can Sell Your Product. The focus on social and digital media marketing will continue with this special session on how to use Facebook, Twitter, Google Trends and other digital tools to listen to your audience, sell them new products and measure the results. The session will feature BP/ARCO/ampm Advertising and Marketing Manager and "Social Media Scientist" Gary Schechner and noted author Joe Kutchera.

These are just a few of the educational sessions being offered at this year's Hispanic Retail 360 Summit. Other sessions will focus on social cause marketing, maximizing the breakfast meal occasion, digital and mobile signage, store design and much more.

The 2013 Hispanic Retail 360 Summit is being held in Las Vegas, Aug. 14-16, at the Red Rock Resort, Casino and Spa. For more information and to register, go to www.hispanicretail360.com.