America Online has launched a Spanish-only media campaign to promote AOL Latino, the recently launched version of its 9.0 service geared toward the U.S. Hispanic population.
Featuring television, radio, print, online and outdoor advertising, the campaign is the largest Spanish language marketing effort the company has launched to date.
The push is aimed at attracting subscribers to the Latino service, which will, in turn, allow AOL to better attract advertisers. Advertisers have become increasingly interested in reaching the U.S. Hispanic population since the U.S. Census Bureau found the group overtaking blacks as the country’s largest minority.
The TV ads are running on Univision Networks and in ten local Telemundo markets, including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, San Francisco, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix, and McAllen, Texas. Outdoor ads appear in these same markets, an AOL spokesperson said.
Three separate TV spots feature the animated “Running Man,” AOL’s well-known animated mascot. They feature the tagline, “America Online learned Spanish…introducing the new AOL Latino.”
Univision is carrying radio spots in 66 local markets. The radio campaign features two spots that try to convey the central role Spanish plays in U.S. Hispanic families, the company said. Print and online ads will appear in several Spanish-language magazines and Web sites.
“We are thrilled to kick off an ambitious campaign that introduces our AOL Latino brand and… the popular Running Man to a nationwide Hispanic audience,” said David Wellisch, vice president and general manager of AOL Latino.
Wellisch also said AOL Latino will also launch a grassroots effort next year in targeted Hispanic markets.
AOL Latino features Spanish content in numerous channels from a list of partners that includes Time Warner sister company People en Español, BBC Mundo, La Opinión, El Diario-La Prensa and BuenaSalud.
A Simmons study conducted in 2002 found AOL, with a market reach of 45 percent, led other portals targeting U.S. Hispanics. With AOL Latino, the company hopes to extend that dominance.
