Green appeal for Latino community
Environmental marketing may be difficult to ignore, but that doesn't mean it's getting through to everyone. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports how campaigns to conserve are tailoring their message to the Latino community.
Crushed cans (iStockPhoto.com)
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Scott Jagow: There's a media expo today in Los Angeles that looks at how to market products and ideas to different cultures. One of the big topics will be how to encourage people to go green. Stacey Vanek-Smith has more.
Stacey Vanek-Smith: From TV shows, to billboards, to Internet ads, it's hard to miss environmental marketing efforts these days. But that doesn't mean the message is always getting across.
Nora Vargas is Executive Director of the Latino Issues Forum. She says campaigns to conserve need to tailor their message to their audience.
Nora Vargas: It's a very different way of environmental consciousness that I think our community has.
The Forum recently partnered with utility PG&E to launch a green campaign for the Latino community in San Francisco. Vargas says they've had success emphasizing things like how conservation can benefit household budgets and create new jobs.
Vargas: I think that's why this is an important concept. When you're communicating with the Latino community and informing them about these issues, that it's done in such a way that people are able to connect with it culturally.
Vargas points out that many Latinos come from cultures where they are used to recycling and conserving water and gasoline.
I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith for Marketplace.
