9883: Still Loco After All These Years.

Adweek reported El Pollo Loco selected a new AOR—Anglos Of Record, in this case—to replace the White agency hired about a year ago that handled both White and Latino marketing. No word if the new shop, Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, will tackle Latino chores too. The current BSSP client roster includes Mission Foods and its NachoTron 3000, as well as Espolón Tequila. However, a search of the agency website for “Hispanic Marketing” yielded no results.


El Pollo Loco Hires New Lead Shop

Butler, Shine succeeds Goodness Mfg.

By Andrew McMains

El Pollo Loco has a new lead creative agency.

The restaurant chain has hired Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners after a review. The Sausalito, Calif.-based agency was among five finalists for the business, according to an El Pollo Loco representative, who declined to identify the others.

Butler Shine succeeds Goodness Mfg., which split with El Pollo Loco last year.

The new agency’s first work is expected next month. The restaurant’s media spending totaled nearly $27 million last year, up from around $21 million in 2010, according to Nielsen. Those figures don’t include online spending.

Beyond traditional advertising, the assignment includes digital, social and in-store marketing, the rep said. In making the hire, El Pollo Loco chief marketing officer Ed Valle cited Butler Shine’s “strategic approach, strong creative and passion.”

The review did not include El Pollo Loco’s media planning and buying business, which remains split between MBMG in Los Angeles (traditional media) and ID Media in West Hollywood, Calif. (direct response media).

Goodness’ relationship with the chain lasted less than a year.

9876: Miller Lite Non-General Marketing.

While MultiCultClassics is on the subject of Miller Lite, here’s a Google view of the beer-maker’s cultural campaigning.


The Latino market gets hot Latinas and soccer.






The LGBT market gets hot guys, gals and event marketing.






The Black market gets scholarships and civil rights tributes.

9746: Denny’s Latest Comedy Killer.

Advertising Age reported on Denny’s latest effort to woo Latinos with a campaign created in conjunction with comedy site Funny of Die. Based on the videos, this endeavor definitely falls into the “Die” category.

Denny’s Partners With Dog Whisperer and Funny or Die to Connect With Hispanics

Campaign Targets Restaurant’s Fastest-Growing Consumer Base

By Maureen Morrison

Though many would be surprised to hear Denny’s and Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan uttered in the same sentence, the two are teaming up for Denny’s first Hispanic branded-content effort.

The move is part of the chain’s initial branded-content effort aimed at Hispanics, and is its first work by new Hispanic agency Casanova Pendrill, which partnered with lead agency Gotham for the effort. Dubbed “Skillet Whisperer,” the video is a spoof on National Geographic Wild’s reality show “Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan.” On the show, Mr. Millan works with owners of aggressive dogs and teaches them how to display their dominance to calm the animals.

In “Skillet Whisperer,” which has English- and Spanish-language versions and was produced by comedy site Funny or Die, Denny’s limited-time-offer Sizzling Skillets take the place of dogs, and Mr. Millan is called upon to tame skillets that are described in a voice-over as “too aggressive to enjoy.” The Spanish version is on YouTube and the English one is on Funny or Die; both will be promoted through a social-media push on Denny’s and Mr. Millan’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Denny’s CMO Frances Allen said the campaign was intended to connect with Hispanics, Denny’s fastest-growing customer base. “We thought it was time to engage a little more with [the Hispanic] audience,” said Ms. Allen. “This year we’ll be making a concerted push.” The Hispanic campaign is part of Denny’s ongoing “America’s Diner Is Always Open” platform, introduced in January 2011. From January through October 2011, Denny’s spent $55.2 million in measured media; the chain spent about $71 million in 2010.

Bringing in Mr. Millan to do a spoof on the Dog Whisperer was the idea of Casanova Pendrill, which won Denny’s Hispanic account in September. In addition to seeking someone unexpected for the Denny’s brand, “we were looking for someone energetic and who would connect with English-speaking Latinos but also the Spanish-preferred Latinos,” said Ingrid Otero-Smart, the agency’s president-CEO. “He has a really great connection with our target.”

The two versions have separate casts because “we wanted to make sure it was authentic,” Ms. Allen said. Mr. Millan’s 13-year-old son is featured in the Spanish-language version.

Mr. Millan has done other sponsorships, including deals with Swiffer and Best Western, but this is his first restaurant sponsorship. Part of the appeal of this project was that Denny’s is a brand everyone recognizes, it ties in naturally with family and the script was humorous, he said. “People are already familiar with Denny’s,” he said. “My goal for this joke, in a way, is to create communication and to create engagement.”

Also part of “America’s Diner Is Always Open” was Denny’s first foray into branded-content territory, “Always Open,” a talk show that ran on IAC’s College Humor last year. Aimed at millennials, the show was written and produced by DumbDumb, a company founded by actors Jason Bateman and Will Arnett with help from Interpublic’s Gotham.

The current push is Denny’s first work with Funny or Die on branded content. Chris Bruss, head of branded entertainment at Funny or Die, said that the video strikes a balance between content and advertising. It also isn’t too product-heavy or trying to mask the branding altogether.

“What is strong about this video is that the whole idea is based around the world of Denny’s,” Mr. Bruss said. “It takes place in a Denny’s, and it’s about a Denny’s product. There’s no pulling the wool over the audience’s eyes.”

Ms. Allen said that “branded content has done well for Denny’s. Our job is to entertain [consumers] in a way that’s relevant for the brand. … It’s important that we find new and interesting ways to connect.”

There are no immediate plans to make the spots into a series, but Mr. Millan said he’d be interested in the opportunity—as long as it’s something that carries on with new content so that “people don’t get bored.”

9737: Ida Chacon Says Adios To P&G.

From Advertising Age…

P&G Multicultural Exec Ida Chacon Joins Latinum

As VP-Marketing at Hispanic Business Network, She’ll Help Marketers Grow in Latino Market

By Laurel Wentz

A well-known Procter & Gamble multicultural executive, Ida Chacon, is joining the Latinum Network in the newly created role of VP-marketing and commercial solutions. Ms. Chacon was P&G’s multicultural marketing capabilities manager, working with the marketer to develop its ethnic strategy, manage relationships with U.S. Hispanic agencies, and consult on Hispanic efforts for individual brands.

Latinum is a business network that helps marketing executives understand and take advantage of the U.S. Hispanic market through research, analysis and collaboration. About 85 companies, including P&G, have joined so far.

“Ida will be responsible for three things,” said David Wellisch, Latinum’s founder. “We generate a lot of insights and strategies, and then work individually with our [member] companies to make sure they get incremental ROI. That’s not that different from what she was doing at P&G.”

Ms. Chacon will also help facilitate member companies’ sharing best practices, Mr. Wellisch said. In addition, she’ll assist companies in finding the right partners for commercial collaborations, in which two marketers team up on an initiative in order to “decrease costs and increase ROI,” he said.

Ms. Chacon spent 13 years at Procter & Gamble, the biggest U.S. Hispanic advertiser. The marketer used to have a separate U.S. Hispanic business unit, based in Puerto Rico, but made a major shift a few years ago to disband the unit and put more of the responsibility for Hispanic marketing at the individual brand level, with advice and guidance from a Center of Expertise.

Because P&G invests so much money in so many brands in the U.S. Hispanic market, its multicultural executives are highly regarded. Graciela Eleta, who headed P&G’s U.S. Hispanic efforts for many years and left the company in 2007, was snapped up by Univision Communications. Ms. Eleta has been Univision’s SVP-brand solutions for four years, helping the Spanish-language media group to attract more advertisers to the U.S. Hispanic market.

P&G’s multicultural efforts are led by Alexandra “Alita” Vegas, director of multicultural business development for North America since December 2009. Ms. Vegas joined P&G in her native Venezuela in 1994. Before taking the U.S. Hispanic role two years ago, she was managing director-hair care in Greater China.

9681: Cross-Cultural Wingmen.

Still seeking the KFC wingman commercial, but came across a 2009 cross-cultural campaign targeting the Caribbean market and Latin American market.