Unilever Begins Major Hispanic Initiative

NEW YORK Unilever yesterday unveiled a three-pronged Hispanic marketing program called “Vive Mejor” (“Live Better”) that includes a new bilingual custom publication, a Web site and television integrations.

The consumer products giant will leverage its personal-care (Dove, Caress, Suave) and food brands (Knorr, Lipton, Ragu, Hellmann’s, Lawry’s, Wish-Bone, Skippy) to inform and entertain Latina moms with the interactive initiative.

Ivette Alvarez Santoro, senior brand manager, multicultural marketing, Unilever, said the initiative began more than a year ago and is based on the proprietary study “Hispanic Trip Management,” which tabulated a different behavioral pattern among Latino shoppers compared to general-market consumers. “We’re turning insights into action,” Santoro said.

The free, bilingual custom title Vive Mejor was created with the idea that Latinas spend more time at home preparing meals. The 1 million-plus-circulation magazine will be available at several large supermarkets located in high-density Hispanic neighborhoods across the country, including H-E-B in Houston and San Antonio; Pathmark stores in New Jersey; and Food 4 Less/Unified Western Grocers in Los Angeles.

While Vive Mejor is bilingual, the majority of its readership will be Spanish-dominant Latinas who prefer to receive shopping and beauty tips in their native language.

Plans call for the publication to eventually be home-delivered, based partly on a database built on ViveMejor.com, said Joseph Vizcarra, Unilever’s integrated marketing manager, multicultural division.

Unilever will also have a food and beauty presence with five-minute branded segments during Univision’s popular morning show Despierta America and a one-hour reality cook-off, Desafio del Sabor, on Galavision slated for later this year, where a grand prize winner will take home $1 million.

A fall issue of the 52-page Vive Mejor will follow the summer launch, with plans for more issues next year. Edelman’s Hispanic division is tasked with publicity surrounding the launch and ensuing programs.