Cinco de Mayo Festivals: A tremendous opportunity for branding, if done right.

Last weekend, many U.S. cities with large Mexican populations -- Los Angeles, Houston, San Antonio and San Jose -- held large public celebrations to commemorate Mexico’s defeat of the French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Most of us know this celebration as Cinco de Mayo.

If you attended one of these festivals, you probably saw thousands of families (in some of the larger cities like Los Angeles, attendance at Cinco de Mayo festivals was estimated to be at over 150,000). And also if you attended, you probably saw the booths of hundreds of companies in a variety of categories, from food and beverage, to home improvement, to financial and even government agencies. These companies are represented by brand ambassadors who will often do whatever it takes to attract the attention of attendees to their booth -- tactics include giving away simple promotional materials like T-shirts and hats, to raffling off brand new automobiles or large sums of cash.

Does the time, effort, staff and budget really translate to value for companies? The answer is a BIG YES, but with one caveat: ONLY IF IT IS DONE RIGHT.

Research shows again and again that Latino consumers appreciate the interaction that brands and companies offer on a personal level. After all, trust is a very important value in Latino culture, and for a brand to establish trust with Latino consumers, the consumers have to able to see and directly interact with the brand. This is especially important to build relationships with recently arrived immigrants who may not yet have a preference for a brand or what marketers call as not yet “branded.”

With their wallets, Latino consumers will support the brands they recognize and trust, though at these events it helps to give away prizes to initially entice consumers. Once the consumer is at the booth the real value rests in the quality of interaction between the consumer and the brand ambassador.

Having said that, it is important that these ambassadors are bilingual and bicultural so that they are aware of the cultural sensitivities and specific consumer needs of this community, which may be different from those of general market consumers. Consumers can play a game to help initiate interaction, however the communication has to go beyond reading from cue cards, and ambassadors should be familiar with the brand and the culture so that they can engage consumers and explain how their product can provide solutions for them. Some of this may sound like common sense, but you’d be shocked at how many companies staff these events with non-Spanish speaking brand ambassadors, or pass out all-English language brochures.

These events present a great opportunity for marketers to learn from their target consumer and to provide consumers with the opportunity to become acquainted with their brand; however marketers should follow these recommendations in order to maximize this interaction. This is where the real value is. Anything short of that is a missed opportunity.

[The photos in this post were taken at the 2009 Whittier Narrows (top) and Santa Ana (bottom) Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Southern California.]