MasterCard Worldwide continues to take a focused approach to Hispanic consumers thanks to its partnership with Univision Communications Inc., but Visa Inc. is banking on its overall prepaid marketing approach to target the segment.
Visa is in the midst of a campaign that began in March and will continue through August, Hyung Choi, Visa head of U.S. prepaid products, told PaymentsSource. To date, Visa’s Facebook prepaid page has more than 68,000 “likes.” Consumers who “like” the page are eligible for a daily contest that includes prizes such as an MP3 player gift cards to download songs.
“The umbrella message [with the campaign] that we’re trying to get through [to consumers] is to bring the value of prepaid to life,” Choi said. “We’re trying to do that through a broad-based message.”
Choi admits Visa might be missing out on Spanish-speaking consumers with its prepaid marketing approach, but “some 82% of Hispanic households in the U.S. are multilingual.”
Visa eventually plans to deliver Spanish-language advertising, as its partners already are when they distribute and sell prepaid debit cards, Choi said.
“In terms of broad bases and our national advertising campaign at this point, we haven’t gone there yet,” Choi said.
The decision not to specifically offer Spanish-language marketing is puzzling, at least to one observer.
Marketers should construct their messaging in a way that is as pertinent, relevant and customizable as possible, Ron Shevlin, a senior analyst at Aite Group LLC of Boston, told PaymentsSource in an interview.
“If there is a segment of the market that is more attractive in terms of potential ownership, growth or profitability, wouldn’t you want your messaging or marketing to be more targeted and relevant to that segment?” he added.
Rachel Schneider, a director at the Chicago-based Center for Financial Services Innovation, believes marketing to a particular demographic, as MasterCard does, is beneficial to the whole industry.
“But it definitely increases recognition of the specific brands in that market, which would be benefiting the most,” she added.
