Lexus knows how. They’ve just launched a web site in Spanish. From Marketing y Medios:

The agency created www.lexus.com/espanol, which had a soft launch in February. The site features images of the Lexus IS model driving along a water-framed Miami causeway at night. An interactive ad campaign has also been launched on Telemundo.com, Univision.com and Yahoo! en Español. In addition to the IS, the creative also features the ES and higher-end GS models.

The new investment marks a strategic decision by the company to target affluent Spanish-speaking Hispanics in the U.S., according to Deborah Meyer, Lexus vice president of marketing. The Lexus site and campaign reaches out to Hispanic men and women, ages 35 to 54, who earn more than $75,000, according to Nobox.

A couple of observations:

• This is commendable as a departure from the “Latinos don’t have any money to spend” or “Latinos are all about price” mentality of a lot of marketers
• Though this is a nice gesture, I think a campaign targeting the demographic they say they are after could have been accomplished without a Spanish web site or Spanish at all. It’s safe to assume that if you live in the U.S. and earn more than 75K per year, you are used to being addressed in English. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, I’m just pondering how necessary it was. I’m also pretty sure there are some “well-to-do” Latinos out there who might feel put off or “talked down to” by the use of Spanish.
• Is this just parent company Toyota replicating the strategy they’ve been using for the Latino market with their namesake line?
• When I look at campaigns for luxury brands, I tend to think: are you reaching out to the affluent or the “aspirational” (how many times have you heard that word in marketing? too many I’m sure…) customer? If it’s the latter, and you buy into the idea that monolingual Spanish speakers’ income are limited by their lack of English skills (I know some rich people who don’t speak English, so I am not totally convinced — and I am contradicting my first point) then the use of Spanish makes more sense.

Lexus also recently began targeting African American consumers through podcasts.

I didn’t know that podcasts were being used widely as a marketing vehicle. I didn’t know that the African American market was all that into podcasts. I didn’t know anyone was, for matter. I guess I’m just an old fashioned internet person.

I’m curious to hear your comments; was Lexus’ decision to launch a site in Spanish smart or unnecessary? Will it be counter-productive or will it even make a difference at all?
Via Marketing y Medios

Technorati Tags: Lexus, automotive, spanish website, spanish, language, cars, Toyota

From today’s Marketing y Medios:

Latinos Cite Sony, Colgate, Ford as Best Brands
October 03, 2005

Sony was named “Best Overall” brand among U.S. Hispanics, followed by Colgate, Ford, Chevrolet and Nike, according to a recent survey by Miami-based Encuesta Inc., a market research and opinion polling firm.

The study, Americanos Poll: Favorite Brands Study 2005, compares how U.S. Hispanics and non-Hispanics perceive brands, including which they consider best overall, most trustworthy and best in advertising.

The questions with such phrasing as, “When you think of all brands and names of products and services that you know, which three brands do you consider best overall?” enabled respondents to list brands rather than choose from a list. In addition to the above named brands, other highly recognized ones among Hispanics were Adidas, Gap, AT&T and Gain.

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