Univision aims campaign at advertisers, marketers (video)

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…and it’s $1 million worth of spend. Univision has launched a major print and online effort to persuade agencies and marketers not previously using Spanish-language advertising to target Hispanics with its network. Creative, via Blanco-Lorenz Entertainment Branding/Miami, portrays Univision as “the new American reality” and describes how marketers can reach the key Hispanic market, including 18-49 bilingual viewers.


“The new American reality” declares the best way to reach the growing market of Hispanic and Hispanic-English bilingual consumers is to run spots in programs that are created with them in mind and broadcast in Spanish.

That phrase was first used in Univision’s upfront this year (see video, below), focusing on the new census milestone of “U.S. Hispanic population tops 50 million”: We are waking up to a new reality, a new face of America. The New American Reality video speaks to the unique experience of being Latino in America today:

The new ads, say the NY Times, promote Univision’s soccer coverage, reality shows and its novelas. They talk about the ability of Univision’s prime-time novelas to deliver more 18-49 bilingual Hispanic than hit shows on English-language network shows like “American Idol,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “Modern Family” and “The Voice.”

“The campaign uses humor to make its case. For instance, novelas are known for their plots and characters that are larger than life. So an ad about advertising on Univision’s novelas carries the headline “It’s time to crack the whip” and shows a woman dressed in Western garb who is wielding a whip,” noted The Times.

The social media component has Univision offering online users a chance to insert photographs of themselves in scenes from its shows. The choices include a novela wedding, a reality talent competition and a scene in which one novela character slaps another. “It’s You on Univision” is available at univision.net/itisyou.

Many marketers “are working up to” increasing the amount of money they spend to advertise on Spanish-language media, David Lawenda, Univision President/Advertising Sales and Marketing told The Times. But there are “still some holdouts that haven’t,” he added, and the campaign is aimed at them.

Nonetheless, the effort comes after Univision reported its most successful upfront market yet. For the 2011-12 season, Univision sold some $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion worth of commercial time.

Lawenda called the campaign their most robust to date, citing the size of it as well as its presence in digital as well as print media. The campaign will also have live aspects, including a sponsorship of Advertising Week in NYC 10/3-10/7; a series of Webinars for marketers and agencies; and a contest with a unique prize: a chance to see a novela in production.

Creative aims “to go beyond the cold numbers” that make a case for advertising on Univision, said Pedro Blanco, chief creative officer at Blanco-Lorenz.

For example, the content of telenovelas may seem “over the top from far away,” Blanco said, “but what’s really over the top are the results” from buying commercial time on Univision.

“We acknowledge to the uninitiated or the holdout that when you’re approaching a market you can’t relate to” it may seem difficult, he added, and “Univision is building that bridge” to make it easier.