Marcia
04-30-2005, 09:17 AM
I've gotten some not insignificant traffic on a site of my own for a search term including this noted designer's name (not the name itself - a multi-word phrase that includes it) and in researching, came across this press release at Yahoo! Search from HispanicWire:
American Apparel Giant Liz Claiborne Launches First Latin-Influenced Fragrance (http://www.hispanicprwire.com/print_Liz_ENG.htm)
I don't know when this was first released (as a press release), though the dates mentioned indicate it being around 4 years ago
Latin is a feeling that will be expressed in the $20 million promotion and advertising campaign running September through December 2001. ...but the timing is not necessarily a critical issue. What I'm seeing, that I personally consider significant, is that several factors were being illustrated with this release as it relates to marketing:
1. The Hispanic market is being recognized as being a credible economic force in internet marketing - long overdue, IMHO.
2. The Hispanic culture is being depicted as having an identifiable female "imagery" - namely, that of an alluring, sensuous and attractive woman.
3. The sensual, attractive female imagery being presented and alluded to is being used as a selling point to the rest of the populace.
We who have been involved in marketing (OK, at the very least in phone marketing as credible professionals, which is possibly the hardest way to sell of all) know that "features" aren't what sell - it's "benefits" that sell.
While I do appreciate that the long overdue recognition of this viable economic force in society is being paid tribute by this move, what I feel needs bringing into question is the viability of the image being presented. Is this an accurate depiction? Will this type of imagery serve more to benefit the design house in question, the internet marketing economy in general as it pertains to a particular niche market, or will it serve to further the marketing interests and specific needs of this niche in particular - namely and more specifically, to benefit business, or the members of this ethnic community themselves, over the long term?
Due to the physical locaton of where I live and how I choose to shop, I've had a degree of contact wih this community of citizens over time and this is not the imagery I've garnered based on my personal contacts. What I've seen, in spite of the fact that yes, many of the ladies are definitely quite lovely, is that the culturally strong family-orientation and ties are far more of a factor in ethnic identification - from my observations and vantage point, at any rate.
I think the basic question I'm trying to bring forth and get feedback on is whether there needs to be an ethnic imagery when marketing for or about a particular ethnicity. Should be imagery be one of accuracy based on reality itself or one based on marketability, based on what would probably appeal to consumer demand?
True, the release is from several years ago, but the issue of "image management" is as much - or possibly more - with us today as it was back then. How much of a role does "image" play in ethnic marketing, whichever ethnic group it may be?
American Apparel Giant Liz Claiborne Launches First Latin-Influenced Fragrance (http://www.hispanicprwire.com/print_Liz_ENG.htm)
I don't know when this was first released (as a press release), though the dates mentioned indicate it being around 4 years ago
Latin is a feeling that will be expressed in the $20 million promotion and advertising campaign running September through December 2001. ...but the timing is not necessarily a critical issue. What I'm seeing, that I personally consider significant, is that several factors were being illustrated with this release as it relates to marketing:
1. The Hispanic market is being recognized as being a credible economic force in internet marketing - long overdue, IMHO.
2. The Hispanic culture is being depicted as having an identifiable female "imagery" - namely, that of an alluring, sensuous and attractive woman.
3. The sensual, attractive female imagery being presented and alluded to is being used as a selling point to the rest of the populace.
We who have been involved in marketing (OK, at the very least in phone marketing as credible professionals, which is possibly the hardest way to sell of all) know that "features" aren't what sell - it's "benefits" that sell.
While I do appreciate that the long overdue recognition of this viable economic force in society is being paid tribute by this move, what I feel needs bringing into question is the viability of the image being presented. Is this an accurate depiction? Will this type of imagery serve more to benefit the design house in question, the internet marketing economy in general as it pertains to a particular niche market, or will it serve to further the marketing interests and specific needs of this niche in particular - namely and more specifically, to benefit business, or the members of this ethnic community themselves, over the long term?
Due to the physical locaton of where I live and how I choose to shop, I've had a degree of contact wih this community of citizens over time and this is not the imagery I've garnered based on my personal contacts. What I've seen, in spite of the fact that yes, many of the ladies are definitely quite lovely, is that the culturally strong family-orientation and ties are far more of a factor in ethnic identification - from my observations and vantage point, at any rate.
I think the basic question I'm trying to bring forth and get feedback on is whether there needs to be an ethnic imagery when marketing for or about a particular ethnicity. Should be imagery be one of accuracy based on reality itself or one based on marketability, based on what would probably appeal to consumer demand?
True, the release is from several years ago, but the issue of "image management" is as much - or possibly more - with us today as it was back then. How much of a role does "image" play in ethnic marketing, whichever ethnic group it may be?