NBC Touts Cable to Hispanics
By Allison Romano -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/8/2003
NBC Cable is lending a hand to cable operators to help drive cable penetration with Hispanic consumers. NBC, which owns Telemundo and youth-targeted Mun2, has created a marketing campaign called Mas ("more" in English), promoting the benefits of cable, including movies, high-speed Internet and programming variety. The aim is to show Hispanic consumers all they can get by subscribing to cable.
The campaign, which is costing NBC Cable about $1 million to produce, includes three TV spots in both English and Spanish. NBC will run them on Telemundo and Mun2 beginning Sept. 22 to coincide with Hispanic Cable Week. Cable operators will be free to run the spots on any channel, both Spanish-language and general-market.
Cable penetration is very low among Hispanic households. Of 6 million to 7 million U.S. Hispanic TV homes, fewer than half subscribe to cable. In the overall television market, cable has nearly 90% penetration.
"The industry really needs this," said NBC Cable VP of Marketing Lynette Pinto. "There had not been a clear strategy in marketing to Hispanics."
After this initial run, NBC may continue with more spots. "This is meant to build the category," said Pinto.
