Chase Card Services Launches Hispanic Advertising Campaign

Creating greater Chase brand awareness and loyalty within the Hispanic market by delivering credit card product advertising in Spanish is the goal of the national campaign, Chase announced today.

Television and internet advertising and corporate sponsorships are some of the marketing channels that Chase is utilizing for the widespread campaign. Chase has worked closely with Lapiz, one of the top Hispanic advertising agencies in the U.S., to create television advertising, and with award-winning T3 (The Think Tank) to develop online advertising and strategy. Until this launch, Chase Card Services had provided Spanish-language direct marketing materials and bilingual customer service support for Hispanic customers, but had not advertised on Spanish-language TV networks or online sites.

"Chase has a significant Hispanic customer base, but we can do a better job of connecting with them," said Carter Franke, chief marketing officer for Chase Card Services. "In talking with current and prospective Hispanic customers during consumer research, we found that we must move to an integrated, Spanish-language marketing effort that is culturally relevant to Hispanics to increase credit card penetration with this audience. We listened very closely to what our customers wanted as we created both our marketing and servicing strategies."

Laurence Klinger, senior vice president and chief creative director for Lapiz, said: "This campaign reflects how Chase enables the Hispanic consumer to achieve more in life and to have access to more opportunities. This message of empowerment is achieved by using real-life situations through documentary-style cinematography and recognizable music, helping to communicate that message of optimism."

The Hispanic population is the largest and fastest growing ethnic segment in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The U.S. Hispanic population is currently at 43.5 million or 15 percent of the U.S. population, with expected growth to 48 million by 2010, and 60 million by 2020. The purchasing power of Hispanics in the U.S. was nearly $736 billion in 2005 and expected to spike to nearly $1 trillion by 2010. However, less than 45 percent of the Hispanics residing in the U.S. have credit cards.

Two Chase Spanish-language television spots began to air this week during various programs on key Spanish-language networks - Univision, Telemundo, Telefutura, and Galavision. The commercials feature music from Argentinean group Los Pericos and musical artist Fito Paez. Also beginning this week, advertising will run on popular internet sites AOL Latino, MSN Latino, Terra Online, and Univision Online.

Chase has ramped up its marketing in direct mail, events and via Chase branches in local markets. Chase Card Services has also been a corporate sponsor of The Hispanic Heritage Foundation's "Hispanic Heritage Youth Award for Academic Excellence" for nine consecutive years. The 20th Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards gala ceremony was held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in early September. The event was broadcast on Telemundo and NBC stations. Chase sponsorship of the Latin Grammys will be seen in advertising on MSN Latino for a month, beginning in mid-October.

"Our goal is to be the card that Hispanic customers prefer and their banking institution of choice," Franke said. "In addition to the new advertising effort, Hispanic customers can depend on the innovation, flexibility and convenience of Chase cards to meet their individual needs."