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Daisy Exposito-Ulla Profiled in The Boss Column of the The New York Times, “The Cross Cultural Pitch”
Daisy Expósito-Ulla was selected to be profiled in The New York Times, December 5, 2010 in The Boss column. In “The Cross-Cultural Pitch” article she was interviewed about her story as a Cuban-American marketing executive and business owner living in America. You can read the full article here. Read on for more of Daisy’s philosophy in her essay on the New America below.
Chairman & CEO, d expósito & Partners
Shortly after the results of the 2000 Census were published, the terms “new America” and “new mainstream” began to be used with greater frequency. The impetus: The reality that America was becoming increasingly multicultural, with the drivers of population growth coming from ethnic groups. The focal point of that growth has been the Hispanic community, which has contributed to over 50% of our country’s population growth in the past 10 years and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. But the concept of a “new America” goes beyond demographic profiles. It includes the influence ethnic communities have of our country’s attitudes, beliefs, behaviors and traditions.
As a leading multicultural marketer, not only did I subscribe to this concept, my colleagues and I helped create it and evangelize it to our clients. And as entrepreneurs starting an ad agency in the middle of this decade, we believed in it so much that we made it the basis of our positioning: The New American AgencyTM. Our proposition has been that Hispanics and other ethnic groups are impacting mainstream U.S. society in such a profound way that, for categories where Hispanics are a key consumer group, insights unearthed from the Hispanic market can be leveraged for total market solutions.
As we near the end of the first decade of the 21st century, let’s reflect on whether this proposition still holds merit by looking at the two younger generations of U.S. society, Gen-Xers and Millennials. We believe we have found evidence of “new American” qualities and sentiments:
• A greater acceptance for diverse groups and alternative lifestyles
• A greater sense of being citizens of the world; driven by propensity for having immigrant heritage and reinforced by the use of digital channels and travel abroad
• Confident, self-expressive, optimistic and open to change
• Connected, with a collective mindset, where they see themselves as part of a group as well as unique individuals
The last two points above ring truer with Millennials, but some younger Gen-Xers also share these qualities. Many in our field believe this dynamic is a result of ethnic influence on mainstream U.S. society. We hypothesize that the growing Hispanic community drives much of this, since research shows attributes of confidence/pride, self-expression, optimism and collectivism are all qualities inherent in our DNA, more so than with other groups.
As our agency positioning suggests, we believe clients have a real opportunity to leverage the changing consumer mindset to stay at the forefront of their categories and build their businesses in this new America. Our proposition is that we can mine for insights that originate from Hispanic consumers and prove motivating to everyone else, particularly in categories where Hispanics disproportionately contribute to sales volume. We have successfully developed campaigns for clients such as McDonald’s, Census 2010 and ConAgra Foods, where unique insights or dynamics existing with Hispanic consumers presented an opportunity to develop impactful ideas for the total market. These situations require seamless collaboration with clients’ other agencies, which we’ve seen is doable when all parties are committed and dedicated to doing what’s best for the brands we serve.
To some of you, particularly any newcomers to Hispanic marketing, what I am proposing may seem a bit radical or unorthodox. But you’d probably agree that ethnic groups have been driving many of the dominant cultural trends (fashion, music, food, entertainment, expression) since the 90’s. So I challenge you to consider this: if ethnic groups are driving mainstream culture, why couldn’t they offer insights to drive your mainstream marketing?
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This article originally appeared in The 2010/11 Source Book of Multicultural Experts, Hispanic Market section sponsored by d expósito & Partners. It is also viewable on our website at: https://multicultural.com/multicultural_markets/hispanic_market.
d expósito & Partners is listed in the Multicultural Experts Directory at www.multicultural.com. View company profile here.
Contact Information:
Daisy Expósito-Ulla
Chairman & CEO
d expósito & Partners
875 Avenue of the Americas, 25th Fl.
New York, NY 10001
Ph. 646-747-8800
Fx. 212-273-0778
dexposito@dex-p.com
www.newamericanagency.com