Dive Brief:

• Northgate González Market launched a new multimedia marketing campaign last week called "What a Feeling" during the Billboard Latin Music Awards show, according to a company press release.
• The marketing campaign showcases the brand's authentic food, ingredients and fresh offerings while focusing on popular themes including music, sports and binge-watching TV. 
• The title and general theme for the marketing campaign was inspired by the 1983 major motion picture "Flashdance" and has a variety of components including digital video ads, social media ads, radio and television ads.

Dive Insight:

Santa Monica-based integrated marketing agency Circus, which has also worked with Netflix, Twitter and eBay, is the creative mastermind behind Northgate González’s latest marketing campaign. The digital commercial features a variety of the brand’s ready-to-eat items and cascades through settings including a living room, a concert and a backyard BBQ as the characters dance and sing a modified rendition of the 1980’s classic.

Family-owned Northgate González, which was founded in 1980 and operates 40 stores in Southern California, hired Circus as its agency of record last June. While the regional chain is relatively small, the company said that it planned to use advertising campaigns to differentiate itself in the competitive Southern California market. The Hispanic population is significant in the area, making up 34% of the population in Orange County and 48% of the population in Los Angeles County as of 2014, according to Pew Hispanic. The region is also home to dozens of independent Hispanic grocery stores. 

According to recent research from Acosta, roughly half of Hispanic shoppers prefer to engage with brands that reflect their cultural heritage while multicultural shoppers, in general, prefer a social experience. Convenience is also an important factor, reflected by the nearly 76% of Hispanic shoppers who purchased ready-to-eat foods during March alone, according to the agency. Featuring ready-to-eat foods like guacamole in its ad campaign is a good reminder to North Gonzales shoppers that the banner offers prepared foods and grab-and-go items. 

Hispanic grocery stores have a well-established presence in the U.S., with banners such as H-E-B's Mi Tienda and Southeastern Grocers' Fresco Y Mas expanding in recent years. They are a destination for shoppers who seek authentic ingredients and a meaningful in-store experience. They also have the upper hand with a wide range of Hispanic shoppers, based on research from consulting firm Rincón & Associates, which found that larger supermarkets aren’t marketing effectively to U.S.-born Hispanics.