Beverage company survey: people remain optimistic

Posted by Elena del Valle on September 2, 2009

Frank Cooper, CMO of portfolio brands, Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages

Photo: Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages

Americans remain optimistic in spite of the recession and high unemployment, according to a recently released Pepsi Optimism Project (POP) national telephone survey. Ninety six percent of respondents were optimistic about their future. Those surveyed seemed to be more hopeful this year than in 2008 about issues relating to: Relationships with family and friends (91 percent versus 81 percent), overall well-being (88 percent versus 84 percent), health (86 percent versus 78 percent), finances (77 percent versus 64 percent), and chances of finding love (70 percent versus 61 percent).

“In 2008, our POP research informed us that there was a collective and contagious sense of optimism pervading the youth mindset. This year we see that same spirit of optimism is not only pervasive among the millennial generation but across all demographics,” said Frank Cooper, chief marketing officer of portfolio brands, Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages. “Representing a brand that has become synonymous with the spirit of youth and optimism, those of us at Pepsi are continuously encouraged by the resilience of Americans, across all ages, races, sex, location and economic background, people are embracing optimism, even in the most uncertain of times.”

The survey found African-American respondents were more optimistic than other ethnic groups. While 72 percent of African-Americans who responded to the survey were significantly more likely than whites (53 percent) or Latinos (60 percent) to expect more good things to happen to them than bad; and 62 percent of African-Americans were significantly more likely to associate the word “necessary” with optimism than whites (51 percent) and Latinos (52 percent). Wall Street types were also more optimistic than regular workers; 64 percent of city dwellers indicated they are more likely to be optimistic about an economic recovery than their counterparts (53 percent).

As part of the Pepsi Optimism Project, researchers surveyed 1,280 people 18 and older in the United States between June 11 and June 15 and between June 18 and June 22, 2009. The ongoing project tracks the national level of optimism on a quarterly basis, by measuring the national state of optimism via a composite score. Analysts determine the national optimism level by scoring and totaling American’s responses to survey questions about their overall sense of optimism, their sense of optimism about their personal lives, their optimism about the world and their optimism about the future.

The Optimism Survey was conducted on behalf of PepsiCo by StrategyOne, a New York strategic consulting. In addition to random digit dialing to ensure national representation, and computer-assisted telephone interviewing for optimal accuracy, a supplementary sample of Hispanics (N=186) and African-Americans (N=170) were surveyed.

The Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages (PCNAB), a division of PepsiCo, portfolio features Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist and Mug soft drinks. According to promotional materials, PepsiCo, has one of the largest roster of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 18 different product lines that each generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales in over 200 countries. According to promotional materials, PepsiCo employs 198,000 people and in 2008 it generated more than $43 billion in revenues. A public relations representative of the company declined to share any information on the ethnic breakdown of customers, employees or their product preferences.

“Happy for No Reason” audio recording

Presenter Marci Shimoff, author, Happy for No Reason

What: An audio presentation by Marci Shimoff and Q&A with Marci Shimoff and HispanicMPR.com audio program host Elena del Valle about finding happiness.

Available exclusively on HispanicMPR.com!

Click here to listen to a short interview with Marci

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Tags: american's attitudes life, optimism survey, Pepsi Optimism Project, pepsico

Watch video – Ad agency, Miami Humane Society release Spanish language PSA campaign

Posted by Elena del Valle on August 24, 2009

Humane Society of Greater Miami Alley PSA campaign

Photos, video: Accentmarketing

There are 1.3 million cats and dogs in Miami-Dade County. While animal abuse and abandonment have been a problem for many years, with the recession and foreclosure glut the number of abandoned animals in that city has tripled, according to the Humane Society of Greater Miami. Organization representatives indicate that pet owners often don’t realize the implications of allowing their pets to breed, and the accompanying responsibility of finding homes for the whole litter.

In the hope of bringing attention to these issues, the Humane Society of Greater Miami with the support of Accentmarketing, unveiled a new $100,000 (estimated costs of production) Spanish language public service advertisement (PSA) campaign with Alley, a TV spot, and Studio Shot, a print ad. A radio ad is planned for release next month. They plan to distribute the ads to local Spanish language media. Scroll down to watch the video ad.

The TV ad features a lone baby dressed in a kitten costume crawling on the ground in a dark alley while a voice over discusses pet abandonment and sterilization issues on behalf of the Humane Society of Greater Miami Adopt-A-Pet program. As the camera pans out, viewers are meant to see that the baby represents an abandoned kitten, sitting by himself in a dirty and empty alley, lost and bewildered.

The spot creators want viewers to understand that just like babies, pets are part of their family. They want pet owners to realize that it’s their responsibility to spay and neuter their pets to help reduce the animal overpopulation problem in Miami-Dade County. To do that the Accentmarketing team focused on creating a strong correlation between how sterilizing a pet can result in saving thousands of animals from ending up homeless on the street or in a shelter.

Ana Maria Montero, account group director, Accentmarketing

“In this day and age where we see such unjust animal cruelty in our community, the Accentmarketing team felt passionate about instilling responsibility among current and future pet owners to spay and neuter their pets,” said Ana Maria Montero, account group director, Accentmarketing in a press release. “We are proud to be able to support the Humane Society of Greater Miami’s mission and contribute towards inspiring pet owners in our community to be more responsible for their pets.”

Studio Shot is a print interpretation of the Alley TV spot. The image of the baby wearing the kitten costume looks like a professional baby studio portrait. The headline reads: “Tu mascota es como un hijo. Sus crías también deberían serlo” (Spanish for Your pet is like your child. Their offspring should be as well.). The goal is to make pet owners see the baby like a pet, one of thousands of abandoned pets in the streets as a result of unsterilized pets. Most of those abandoned pets are likely to die, according to the organization.

The TV spot and print ad were shot in Los Angeles, where the Production House, D’Avant-Garde is located. Although the TV spot was shot in one day, pre-production and post-production of the TV and print ads required two months.

Twenty people donated their services pro bono to the Humane Society Spanish language PSA campaign. The Accentmarketing team members that led the campaign were: Luis Puerta, creative director and copywriter; Junior Jimenez, senior art director; Rudy Leschhorn, executive producer; and Ana Maria Montero. The following also supported the project: Pascui Rivas and Francisco Pugliese, media directors at D’Avant-Garde, Tom Marvel as director of photography, Guillermo Sauceda for the voice over, and digital retouching by Artistic Image.

The Humane Society of Greater Miami Adopt-A-Pet is a limited admit, adoption guarantee facility, dedicated to placing every dog and cat in their care into a loving home, and promoting responsible pet ownership and spay/neuter programs. Animals admitted into their shelter are safe from euthanasia for as long as it takes to find someone to adopt them. The organization houses 250 pets on a daily basis and spays or neuters 12,000 animals a year in its two clinics.

Established in 1994, Accentmarketing is a Hispanic marketing communications agency with offices in Miami, Los Angeles and Detroit. Clients include the American Heart Association, Farmers Insurance, GobiernoUSA.gov, Chevrolet, the California Association of Realtors, Kaiser Permanente, Brown-Forman and the U.S. Navy.

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Tags: accentmarketing, Humane Society of Greater Miami Alley PSA campaign, pet sterilization campaign spanish, spanish language public service ad campaign neutering pets

Recession resulting in fewer immigrants, tighter employment laws

Posted by Elena del Valle on July 20, 2009

An agricultural field

As we face one of the deepest recessions in our young nation’s history and record unemployment it’s hard to believe there was so much talk about and concern with immigration in the last years. With many families facing financial problems, foreclosures, business closures and job loss most people’s energy is focused on worrying about issues that affect them tangibly and directly rather than possible new arrivals, undocumented or documented.

Gone are the days of plenty. Today many live frugally and contemplate the increasingly fashionable and very practical transumerism (renting rather than buying non essential items). While there surely are still migrant workers in agriculture and construction, among other industries, the number of immigrants that cross the United States southern border, for example, has declined noticeably since our country’s financial woes became pronounced. As the number of jobs declines, the number of workers migrating north also drops (see Mexican immigration declined sharply last year).

Doors that once stood mainly open to immigrants in the United States and other industrialized nations are less open, relying on heightened permit processes and not so friendly legislation to keep aspiring visitors at bay. For example, the Employ American Workers Act, part of the fiscal stimulus bill, places stricter conditions than in previous years; and on companies receiving financial support from the government that want to hire skilled foreigners under the H-1B visa program.

This, and the weak economy, has caused some American banks and other financial-services firms to withdraw job offers to foreign-born graduates of American universities and postgraduate programs. And, according to a recent article in The Economist, some people who work in the United States are finding it harder than in the past to renew their residency permits.

In some places the attitudes toward migrant workers have toughened or worsened. Xenophobia has a fan base (listen to interview with Mark Potok of the Southern Law Poverty Center about anti-immigrant hate crimes in America). We are not alone as a nation. Countries like South Africa, Spain and Ireland have seen bouts of violence against foreigners. In Northern Ireland, Romanian workers have been attacked; in Australia, Indian students have been the targets of displeased citizens participating in manifestations; while in South Africa anyone thought foreign and working for lower wages than the locals was at risk of bloody and at times deadly attacks last year.