The Connect Magazine_Spring 2017

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He said within that diversity are points of consistency, such as family pride.
Coca-Cola tapped into the importance of family names with
its “tattoo can” marketing campaign, said Hinojosa. The soft drink
company put transferable, temporary tattoos of common Latino family
names on cans so they could be pressed onto arms or other body parts.
It was a hit and was the subject of one of the sessions at the summit. For
diversity strategists and others pressed by corporate leaders for facts and
proven successes, the Coca-Cola campaign could be a useful tool to win
support within their companies.
“Coke is a great example of how tailoring a campaign in a way
that shows culture inclusion and celebration can really build brand
connectivity for an organization or a company,” said Cracker Barrel’s Deas.
Deas, who is NHCC chair-elect and calls diversity issues “a passion
of mine,” said that in addition to the affirmation he experienced, he felt
the summit highlighted the opportunity for corporations to better utilize
employee resource groups. These like-minded people who gather for
development and networking can provide valuable market insight for
their companies. Coca-Cola utilized them for its “tattoo can” campaign.
The insider information they provided illustrates the saying “our
employees are our greatest asset,” Deas said.
Hallmark Cards’ Gonzales was on the summit panel “The Return
of Investment of Employee Resource Groups: How Innovative Actions
Impact the Bottom Line.” He called ERG groups “a valuable, internal
resource … and it’s free!”
When executives recognize everyone comes with a bias, or a lifelong
lens through which they look at the world, Gonzales said, corporate
leaders can utilize the diversity within their companies, get “out of
autopilot … and listen objectively.”
Hallmark capitalized on its employee resource groups in reimagining
its product offerings in the Castro district of San Francisco, Calif. At a
local Walgreens, Hallmark struggled with sales. Instead of pulling its
product in the neighborhood, which is reportedly 95 percent LGBT,
Hallmark decided to bring relevant products into the community that
illustrated the relationships in it.
“We flipped that store from double-digit red to double-digit black,”
said Gonzales, who is certain this example is applicable to the Hispanic
community. “The model is portable,” he added.
NHCC’s executive director said he thinks attendees left the summit
with a better idea of what is working with the U.S. Hispanic consumer
market and what is not. In the “safe environment” of the summit,
participants were able to ask questions and get expert advice. In response
to the success, NHCC will be offering webinars for corporate members
who were not able to attend the summit, and may open up the webinar
as “paid opportunity” to nonmembers.
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