American dream gets a Latino beat

By Sarah Murray

Next month Procter&Gamble, which has for some time been reaching Hispanic consumers through brands such as Gain, the laundry detergent, will go a step further in its efforts to woo Latinos. When Tide Tropical Clean hits the shelves, it will be promoted with the usual multi-media advertising campaigns. However, what distinguishes this new product from others is the fact that the product itself has been shaped with the Latino marked in mind. An important element of this is the detergent`s smell. “Fifty-seven percent of Hispanics describe themselves as active scent seekers”, says Mauricio Troncoso, marketing director of P&G`s multicultural business development unit. “And this is just the hard data. When you try to quantify what it means, you would be surprised how strong a scent needs to be considered as really strong.”

Unilever Bestfoods also hopes to seduce Latino consumers, encouraging them to “enamorar los con Ragu” (fall in love with Ragu) through the pasta sauce brand`s first television ad campaign, launched last month, aimed at US Hispanics. Shot in Argentina, the ads tell the story of how a family falls in love with Ragu.

With a Hispanic population rapidly heading towards 40m, the increase in numbers is matched by a sharp rise in Latino spending power. In addition, it seems that Latinos may be more responsive to advertising than other groups. A Nielsen Media Research study released this month found that Spanish-language television viewers pay more attention to commercials and more likely to base their purchasing decisions on advertisements than other US consumers.

But while the Hispanic community may represent an appealing target for advertisers, it is by no means a uniform one. American Latinos represent a highly diverse population – the word “Hispanic” is an ethnic category, rather than a racial group, that can refer to people whose origins range from Mexican and Puerto Rican to Cuban and Argentinean.

Marketers also need to take into account differences between first-generation and second-generation Hispanics. “As an advertiser, it is important to be aware and sensitive to these differences and what they mean from a strategy and communications perspective”, says Susan Wayne, Executive Vice-President of marketing at Old Navy, the clothing retailer that is part of the Gap group. Recognition of this fact was what last November prompted Old Navy to create its first Spanish-language TV campaign. “We know from our research that we had a stronger emotional connection with our Hispanic customers who were very integrated in American culture. But we also found out that we were not speaking to Hispanics who are predominantly Spanish-speaking and who are more comfortable with Hispanic culture”, says Ms Wayne.

From the Financial Times

Employment

Bait for the headhunters

That unexpected phone call offering a plum job with another firm isn't always just a matter of chance. Given a little planning, the talent scouts can be directed to your door. Stephanie Jones explains how.

"Naturally, I was headhunted into my present job," a typical City whizz-kid boasts. "Headhunters ring all the time. During Big Bang they phoned us so often that we put their calls over the office loudhailer. Then we'd have a laugh when the headhunter said: “Confidentially, I have a uniquely exciting opportunity that might just interest you Being headhunted is not only for young bloods and famous chief execu­tives. Almost 90 per cent of the top 1,000 companies use executive search consultants to find senior people. In the last few years they have been joined by smaller companies, accounting and law firms, chartered surveyors, architects, private hospitals, the media, and even local authorities and Government depart­ments.

So how do you attract those ego-trip phone calls which spell a new career opportunity?

John Harper, 33, has been headhunt­ed three times. His first job was as a graduate trainee with Procter & Gamble where, after five years, he was a brand manager on Pampers, which he had launched in the UK market.

He was invited to Kenner Parker (the American toy and games manufacturer responsible for Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly and Care Bears) where in five more years he rose to be European marketing and operations director.

Then he was lured away into Avis, the car-hire giant, and two years later head­hunted again into the job he started last week as international marketing director for Reebok, the sportswear company. He won't quote figures, but each time he moved his salary and benefits showed substantial improvement.

Not one of these positions was adver­tised. Indeed, before his latest move he was not considering a career change at all. So his advice to those hoping to hit the headhunt trail is born of experience:

• First, start out with a large interna­tional company. Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Shell, IBM and Mars, for exam­ple, offer not only excellent training but a ready-made network of contacts around the world, arguably more helpful to a career than being a Harvard alumnus.

• Secondly, ensure you are noticed by superiors. Headhunters frequently find people through referrals from a source, usually a more senior person who suggests suitable names. Successful and highly-respected mentors should be cultivated, so that they will think of you when approached.

• Thirdly, make an impression out­side your company. The research depart­ments of search firms take note of execu­tives mentioned in the Press and trade journals.

• You can't be sure exactly which par­ticular self-publicizing effort led to an approach (headhunters rarely reveal how they found you, and it is naive to ask) but developing a profile stands you in good stead. Whenever Kenner Parker was launching another toy or game, John Harper's name repeatedly cropping up in Marketing, Marketing Week and the Financial Times played a useful part in his progress.

• Fourthly, when you want to move - and don't stay in the same job, with the same company, for more than five to seven years - make it known. According to Harper it's rare, and only when you're hitting the big time, that a headhunter will call out of the blue.

Most headhuntees have put out the word that they are looking, and have taken the initiative by sending their CV to selected research consultants. When moving from Kenner Parker to Avis, Harper passed his CV to fifty searchers, identified through friends, contacts and other headhunters.

The likelihood that one of the search firms will be looking for someone just like you is remote, so it's wise to cast your net widely. Harper was headhunted into Avis by Bruce Rowe of Rowe International in Paris - not only one of his targeted search consultants, but a fel­low ex-Procter & Gamble man, which underlines the value of his first piece of advice.

Finally, keep in with headhunters. This includes a willingness to act as a source. Harper admits he would not recommend anyone he was current­ly working with - it would conflict with his allegiance to his employer. But he will mention outstanding people he has worked with in the past.

©The Daily Telegraph

Employment

The mercenary manager

Companies that have warned their workforces to confront the realities of job insecurity and limited careers are finding they have created a new type of mercenary manager prepared to move to the highest bidder, according to a new report. The survey by Ashridge Management Centre says the wave of insecurity that affected managers during the corporate downsizings of the early 1990s was an unpleasant experience for many, but it has taught them to be more self-centered and independent about their careers.

The backlash for companies, according to Laurence Handy, Ashridge's director of research, is that many managers are now more likely to look elsewhere to further their careers if their current employer is not meeting their expectations. “They are saying they want something that's interesting, and they want paying for it. You now have a very hard-nosed group of people who have got the message,” he said.

Nearly three-quarters of the 553 managers who responded to the survey said they felt in control of their jobs. “This is a marked change from previous years” research when the message coming from managers was that they did not feel in control of anything; said Mr. Handy. ‘Life has moved on and now managers are flexing their muscles.' he added. The pressure is moving over to the other side with the laws of supply and demand and now companies are screaming that they are spending a fortune on headhunters.'

Managers are keeping their options open, says the report. More turn to their partners for career advice than to the personnel specialist or to their immediate boss. Trust in senior management also appears to have declined in some companies. Many of the managers interviewed in the survey complained that fear and threats were the prime motivators in their companies.

From the Financial Times

Employment

JOB ADS:

READING BETWEEN THE LINES

Checking out job advertisements is popular with executives worldwide. But though the activity is universal, is the same true of the advertisements? Are executive positions in different countries advertised in the same way? A comparison of the jobs pages of The Times of London, Le Monde of Paris and Germany`s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung suggests not.

First, what UK job seekers consider an essential piece of information – what the post pays – is absent from French and German adverts. It is often left to applicants to raise this themselves. In contrast, most British advertisements mention not only salary, but also other material incentives including a car and fringe benefits. French or German advertisements rarely refer to these.

The attention given to rewards in the UK indicates the importance of the job and its responsibility. In Germany and France, that information is given by the level of experience and qualifications demanded. Salary can be assumed to correspond with this.

If French and German adverts are vague about material rewards, they are precise about qualifications. They usually demand `a degree in…`, not simply `a degree`. In Germany, for example, a technical director for a machine tool company will be expected to have a Dipl.-Ing degree in Mechanical Engineering.

French advertisements go further. They may specify not just the type of grande ecole degree, but sometimes a particular set of institutions (Formation superieure X, Centrale, Mines, HEC, ESSEC), these being the most famous grandes ecoles.

All this contrasts with the vague call for `graduates` (or `graduate preferred`) which is found in the UK. British companies often give the impression that they have a particular type of applicant in mind, but are not sure about the supply and will consider others. Their wording suggests hope and uncertainty, as in this advertisement from The Times: `Whilst educational standarts are obviously important, a large measure of personal oomph* is likely to secure the success of your application`.

In the UK qualifications beyond degree level make employers nervous, but in France or Germany it is difficult to be `overqualified`. Many people on Germany executive boards have doctorates and the French regard five or six years of intensive post- baccalaureat study at a grande ecole as ideal training. British managers are not selected primarily for their intelligence, as managers are in France or for their expert knowledge, as in Germany. Instead the British give importance to social, political and leadership skills.

This difference also shows in the personal qualities mentioned. British advertisements stress energy, ability to communicate and motivate. German advertisements like achievement, but it tends to be less personality-driven German companies want candidates with sound knowledge, experience and competence in their field. They rarely recruit novices as do British employers. French advertisements refer more to intellectual qualities like analytical aptitude and independence.

Even the tone of the job advertisements is different in these three countries. By French and German standards, British advertisements are very racy**. They attract your executives with challenges such as: `Are you reaching your potential?`, whereas French and German advertisements are boringly direct, aiming to give information about the job rather than to sell it.

All this points to three different conceptions management. The French regard it as intellectual complex, the Germans as technically complex, and the British as interpersonally complex. But they agree on one thing: it`s complex.

Jean-Louis Barson

May 1993 INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT (adapted)

*oomph = enthusiasm

**racy = bold, audacious

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