Multicultural Retail 360 launches Hall of Fame

The Multicultural Retail 360 Summit, the premier conference for retailers looking to grow their business with America’s multicultural consumers, is unveiling a new program at this year’s conference, which will be held at San Diego's Hilton Bayfront Hotel Aug. 24-26. The summit is launching the first Multicultural Hall of Fame for the retail industry to honor multicultural pioneers who have helped retailers and consumer product goods companies advance in their knowledge of multicultural consumers and how to better engage and do business with them.

Isabel Valdés, CEO of Isabel Valdés Consulting and chairperson of the Center for Multicultural Sciences, the first U.S. think tank dedicated to bridging the gap between corporations and academic research in multicultural marketing, will be inducted into the Multicultural Retail Hall of Fame on Thursday, Aug. 25, at the conclusion of Day two of the summit.

Valdés was selected from among several other candidates by the Multicultural Retail 360 Retailer Advisory Board, which comprises a dozen mass merchandise, drugstore, supermarket and c-store retail executives.

“The main criteria is someone who was a pioneer in multicultural marketing — someone who was advocating for greater attention to the growing number of multicultural consumers in the United States before others recognized the opportunity, or someone who developed a new way of looking at these emerging consumer groups,” said Don Longo, editorial director of Multicultural Retail 360.

A native of Chile, Valdés is the creator of InCulture, a research methodology that looks far beyond language to define consumer habits. She founded her first company, Hispanic Marketing Connections Inc., in 1987, serving as CEO for 15 years. The company’s slogan — “It’s not a matter of language, it’s a matter of culture” — has become an ethnic marketing mantra.

In the 1990s, Valdés’ methodology helped shatter the image that many Hispanics are too low-income to purchase new cars. Working with Honda of America and an ad agency that was “100 percent Latino,” she took a granular, cultural look at the topic.

The result was a “welcoming’ campaign that included Honda’s sponsorship of the World Cup and the Mexican ballet at Carnegie Hall.

“Being present where Latinos gather is where they see the brand,” Valdés said. In the vehicle industry, Honda went from fourth place to first among Latinos in one quarter.

To learn more about Valdés’ pioneering work with multicultural consumers, see her profile at http://www.multiculturalretail360.com/well-beyond-words/.

The theme for this year’s Multicultural Retail 360 Summit is “Optimizing the Omnichannel Experience for Multicultural Consumers.” The summit will feature speakers from Facebook, Zumba, Albertsons/Jewel-Osco; a panel of leading convenience store chains that include Maverik, Chevron and ampm; and dozens of other retail, consumer packaged goods, multicultural marketing and consulting firms.

In addition, this year’s summit will bring some star power to the event with the announcement that multi-faceted performer and Emmy winner John Leguizamo will deliver a speech on the opening day of this year’s event.

For more information or to register for the event, visit www.multiculturalretail360.com/summit.