NEW ORLEANS — Cohorts is expected to introduce the first Hispanic household-based segmentation product, Hispanic Cohorts, at the Direct Marketing Association's 87th Annual Conference & Exhibition here today.
Comprising 19 unique and diverse consumer segments in the U.S. Hispanic community, Hispanic Cohorts offers marketers the ability to understand the demographics, lifestyles, attitudes and behavioral characteristics of the nation's largest, fastest-growing ethnic market.
Segments include disparate groups known as Isabel (successful career women), who is highly acculturated into American society, and Domingo y Sylvia (modest-income grandparents), who still mainly speak Spanish and feel loyalty toward Spanish advertising and media.
Isabel adores shopping and, though she loves a good sale, price is not a concern if it's something she really wants. She buys — often impulsively — over the Internet, through catalogs and in her favorite stores. Domingo y Sylvia rarely shop, and when they do it is because their favorite store is having a sale on “life's necessities.” They don't use the Internet or buy from catalogs. They must see it, feel it and touch it in order to buy it.
“It is important for marketers to recognize that the Hispanic marketplace is not homogeneous,” said Scott Schroeder, president/CEO of Cohorts, Denver. “Marketers who don't distinguish between Isabel's and Domingo y Sylvia's shopping habits waste their valuable marketing dollars and are potentially alienating what could be very profitable customers.”
Developed to meet the growing demands of its Fortune 500 clients and prospects, Cohorts created Hispanic Cohorts to assist larger, more sophisticated marketers looking to better target and connect with the Hispanic marketplace.
Rather than focusing on cultural heritage (such as Mexican or Puerto Rican) to segment the Hispanic community, Hispanic Cohorts is based on the recognition that socioeconomic and familial circumstances drive most consumer behaviors, even more so than specific cultural heritage.
Two experts in Hispanic marketing, Integra Relationship Marketing and Simmons Market Research Bureau, helped develop Hispanic Cohorts. Experian, a global information solutions company, announced Oct. 14 that it acquired Simmons Research.
Both companies will incorporate Hispanic Cohorts into their product offerings. Simmons will offer clients Hispanic Cohorts as part of the company's National Hispanic Consumer Study license.
