Acura targets Hispanic moms as car market tries for rebound

Dive Brief:

• Acura launched a family-themed multichannel campaign to promote its 2022 MDX crossover SUV among Hispanic women, per details emailed to Marketing Dive. The Honda-owned luxury brand’s “Working Mom” campaign includes 30-second spots in English and Spanish that are running on national broadcast networks, along with a series of 15-videos aimed at a Hispanic audience that will appear on social networks Facebook and Instagram through the end of March.
• The Spanish-language version of the spot is running on networks such as Telemundo, Univision, National Geographic and Discovery, while the English-language version is part of Acura’s media buy on ESPN, TNT and TBS during March Madness. A digital version is streaming on platforms such as Hulu and websites including People en Español and Mamás Latinas.
• Acura developed the campaign in collaboration with Orci, the car marker’s Hispanic agency of record, to highlight the importance of family to Hispanic car buyers. The 30-second spots will run on television through spring, per the announcement.

Dive Insight:

Acura created the “Working Mom” campaign for its 2022 MDX to reach Hispanic women after determining that women make up 40% of the crossover SUV’s sales in the Hispanic market, per information shared with Marketing Dive. The campaign reflects the goal of appealing to women with children, showing a mom who drives an MDX as part of her job as a stunt performer in a fictional TV commercial. The spots conclude by showing her family visiting the set to pick her up in their own MDX.

In addition to running the spots on national broadcast networks, Acura aims to expand its reach with the video series on Facebook and Instagram through the end of March. Because Hispanic consumers tend to be younger than the general U.S. population, they also are more likely to use to use social media. More than half (51%) of Hispanic consumers use Instagram, compared with 37% of the general population, though Facebook usage is the same at 69%, according to a Pew Research Center survey from 2019. Usage likely has grown as the pandemic led more people to rely on social media to stay in touch with friends and family during lockdowns.

Acura’s campaign comes as vehicle sales are showing signs of rebounding from the pandemic’s negative effect on demand and disruptions to the supply chain. Approximately 16 million cars are forecast to be sold in the U.S. this year, up almost 10% from 14.6 million in 2020, according to TrueCar survey data cited by CNet.

Acura has been active with campaigns for its various models, including its “Break the Silence” effort for its 2021 TLX that began running last fall. The campaign included 15- and 30-second versions of a commercial that initially aired during NFL and NBA games, network cable and video-on-demand (VOD) services. Acura also ran Spanish, Cantonese and Mandarin versions of the TV spots. The campaign was an extension of its broader “Less Talk. More Drive” effort that was first introduced in 2019.