Looking at the white washed commercials that dominated the Super Bowl, the corporate tendency to keep multicultural and mainstream separate is evident. Even consumer giants like Walmart and Denny’s have only recently gotten into the Hispanic advertising game. There is still plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons of a multicultural approach for your (or your client’s) marketing strategy.

Chief Marketing Officer for Denny’s Frances Allen explains that despite being aware 20% of its diners are Hispanic Denny’s just put their money where their data is and “went live with our first national online marketing campaign targeting the Hispanic consumer to support our limited time offer for our recently launched Sizzlin’ Skillets.

The video, which can be seen on YouTube.com in Spanish and on Funny Or Die in English, is the first branded content that we’ve made in both English and Spanish to ensure we’re effectively reaching a more diverse audience”.

Make an impact with smart campaigns…

With little valuable Spanish language content out there, it isn’t hard to make an impact with smart campaigns. Compelling, cutting-edge content is key, as with all marketing campaigns. All too often overly simplistic ads can leave a condescending taste in the mouths of Hispanic audiences, but luckily one man’s trash is another man’s opportunity. This lack of inspiring Spanish content leaves a void roomy enough for many eager marketers to fill.

Fusing language and culture is key. In the case of the Sizzlin’ Skillet, this Language Maven has to weigh in that while a little long, the Spanish version attempts to transadapt and is actually funnier than the English version! Bringing Cesar Millán into the taming of the Skillet is smarter than many other things I’ve seen out there.

Translation and transadaptation in an election year…