Challenge
The client, a well-known multinational quick service restaurant (QSR) chain, aspires to grow its market share and customer base by engaging with the Hispanic audience, recognizing that the Hispanic market represents 20% of the US population and has a buying power of $3 trillion.
The marketing team seeks to understand which offerings resonate the most with the Spanish-speaking Hispanic community and prioritize them for communication in 2025. To achieve this goal, the client sought a partner who could provide insights on the best ways to reach the Hispanic consumers quickly, prior to executing their marketing strategy in the new year.
Approach
A three-tier strategy was used to address the client challenge. Initially, we analysed a combination of Kantar’s creative LINK database and attitudinal data from MONITOR, Kantar’s syndicated consumer insights solution, to identify broad indicators of what resonates with the community and the profile of ads that perform well. Next, concepts were tested with ConceptEvaluate to determine which offerings generate the strongest interest among Spanish-speaking Hispanics to prioritize for communication.
Lastly, Kantar experts with extensive knowledge of the Hispanic market conducted a qualitative deep dive into the consumer mindset using a different respondent pool. This approach aimed to understand the cultural nuances and preference drivers of the target audience.
Insight
The combination of deep dive quantitative insights and qualitative expertise gave the client the confidence to choose the concepts with the highest potential, while enabling the team to allocate their time and resources effectively. Some of the unique concepts tested, offered the client an opportunity to enter new spaces within their category and expand their customer base, which is instrumental to their brand’s growth.
The qualitative sessions probed deeper into the consumer mindset to understand what drives preference within the target audience while providing specific recommendations, such as adding additional colour, texture, and ingredients, and celebrating the Hispanic culture overall.
Impact
The depth of this multifaceted approach and the collaborative process enabled Kantar to provide the client with clear guidance on how best to engage with the Hispanic audience. The insights from this study will inform the brand's short-term strategies on bridging the gap between the current offerings and the vibrant colours, flavours, and textures of Hispanic culture. In the longer term, the insights will help the QSR chain set the stage for Hispanic strategy going forward.