Case Study
Workshopping Ideas that Are Culturally Relevant to Hispanic Women
overview
Multiphase qual and quant research programs are great methods for gathering myriad insights quickly; however, it can be difficult for brands to know what to do with these insights once they have them. So, how does a client team most efficiently determine which insights are relevant to their business needs and then turn them into strategic action plans? And how does this change if the consumer segment under study is multicultural?
An alcoholic beverage manufacturer was interested in marketing its products to Hispanic women in ways that were culturally relevant to them. They approached C+R for help not only with conducting an in-depth research program but also with taking a deep dive into the findings to create actionable strategies they could employ quickly.
Our in-culture experts led the client team through a series of workshops (held virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions) that included summary presentations of key research findings and fun activities designed to inspire the creation of out-of-the-box solutions. As a result of the workshops, our clients had numerous culturally appropriate strategies for winning with Hispanic women and had begun to prioritize the ideas most likely to appeal to this target.
THE PROBLEM
Our client, an alcoholic beverage manufacturer, had completed a multi-phase qual and quant research program and wanted help developing actionable strategies with the insights. They asked C+R to lead a series of virtual activation workshops to help their team create culturally relevant and appropriate strategies to win with bicultural and unacculturated Hispanic women.
Because the target consumer was from a different cultural group than most of the client team, C+R was tasked with keeping the unique cultural needs of Hispanic women at the forefront throughout the workshops.
OUR APPROACH
A series of four virtual activation workshops were held with the client team as part of a multi-phase program of research. Prior to the workshops, the research program had completed four phases:
- A Hispanic Consumer 101 presentation to build empathy and immerse the client team in Hispanic consumers’ culture, rituals, and lifestyle
- Bicultural Online Immersion, where an in-culture moderator met with bicultural Hispanic women via webcams and discussed in-depth with them who they are and how they engage with our client’s and competitors’ brands
- Unacculturated webcam focus groups were held in Spanish with an in-culture moderator; the simultaneous translation was used to ensure the client team could follow along
- Quantitative Survey to quantify the findings around brand awareness and perceptions, as well as to profile the last purchase occasion and intended consumption.
The goal of the activation workshops was to help the client team unpack the learnings from the prior phases of the research in order to determine how the organization could best use them to engage with Hispanic women. Due to social distancing restraints in place with the COVID-19 pandemic, the workshop was held online via a virtual meeting platform. To combat “Zoom fatigue,” the workshop was divided into four sessions held across one week; each session lasted between 1.5 and 2 hours. Shorter time periods across multiple days helped the client team stay focused, refreshed, and engaged in the activation process.
Each virtual session included a presentation of key research findings by C+R team members. As these results were presented, clients were asked to jot down relevant a-has, consumer needs, and pain points that they could use to create ideas later in the session. C+R’s presenters kept the cultural viewpoint of the participants at the fore throughout the presentations, which helped the client team to gain further understanding of, and empathy with, the unique needs of bicultural and unacculturated Hispanic women.
After the presentation had concluded, the larger client team was split into several smaller groups and, using the research insights and fun activities designed to inspire out-of-the-box thinking, created ideas for products, merchandising, communications, and promotions that would be relevant and enticing to Hispanic women. C+R ‘drivers’ handled all technology (e.g., taking notes) and kept the discussion moving to ensure the client teams could focus on ideating.
For each idea created during the sessions, the client teams recorded a name for the idea, a consumer truth to explain why the idea would motivate and appeal to Hispanic women, and potential touchpoints. Teams recorded as many ideas as they could think of within an allotted time period. At the end of each session, the smaller teams regrouped in the main virtual meeting room and shared their favorite ideas. The larger team then voted on all of the ideas created in the session to identify and prioritize the ones they felt were most relevant to their brand and that would be most appealing to Hispanic women.
The result
C+R’s in-culture facilitators kept the cultural differences of the segment (including relevant similarities and differences of bicultural and unacculturated Hispanic women) in the client’s mind at every step during the workshop – a minor detail of, but critical to, the workshop sessions’ success.
At the conclusion of the workshop sessions, the client had a list of strategic, culturally appropriate ideas for products, communications, merchandising, and promotions they could deploy to entice Hispanic women to their brand. They were able to begin to prioritize the top ideas they felt would most resonate with the target consumer group while remaining true to their brand ideals.
proven experience
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