“We approached Zero Tolerance for the billboard because they are the first company to offer the Spanish audio track on every DVD, and clearly label that on the front cover,” F Street's Ben Gonzales said. “Zero Tolerance is already reaping the benefit among the Hispanic market here in San Diego.”
Cars entering the U.S. typically experience a delay of about five minutes during which the billboard is visible.
According Zero Tolerance’s Scott Stein, the billboard compliments the company’s ongoing efforts to increase its presence in and outreach to North America’s Spanish-speaking population to promote all of its brands, which include 3rd Degree and Black Ice.
“In all of our marketing meetings and scheduling, we plan on attacking that market,” Stein told XBiz. “When you look at the sheer numbers, they necessitate it. It just makes sense -- and, we hope, dollars.”
Economic and census reports indicate that the Hispanic demographic is increasing at a rapid rate. As a result, Zero Tolerance is allocating a growing percentage of its marketing budget to pursue this group.
“For some time now, we've understood the increase in buying power that Latin people are experiencing,” Zero Tolerance President Greg Alves said. “For months now, all of our movies have had a bonus Spanish language track, in an effort to get an entree into the Spanish-speaking market.”
Stein added that Spanish-language promotions are part of the company’s M2M Program. Launched earlier this year, M2M stands for “manufacturer-to-merchant” program.
“It’s not unlike what a potato chip company or ice cream company will do,” Stein told XBiz. “We send people out physically to retail stores to help them with merchandising and marketing, using POP [point-of-purchase] displays and assisting retailers in any way possible.”
