Del Real Foods
Modernizing Mexican American foods for a new generation.
Context
Starting as a family-owned brand out of the Inland Empire of California, the Del Real Foods brand is renowned locally as a shining example of the American dream in the making. Owned by the Cardenas family, the brand was born with Mexican authenticity, and as the brand grew in popularity, the family sought to expand the business and launch the brand more broadly.
Challenge
For such a young brand, the challenges were many. Initially, the brand was seeking to launch into television immediately. However, with a minimal marketing team and a modest budget, the brand primarily focused on promotional event marketing with little to no media experience.
My recommendation was to begin with identifying its core audience first and then building the campaign support needed to capture the brand’s entry point into the media landscape. This recommendation would start a decade-long relationship guiding the brand as its lead creative and strategic marketing consultant.
From a strategic communications standpoint, we had to identify a narrative that would allow the brand to speak to it’s authentic roots, without conforming to the traditional Mexican food stereotypes that persist to this day. We needed to a way to present the brand in a more modern way for modern day Hispanics.
2020 "Modern Family" brand spot depicts the brand's efforts into modern Hispanic life.
Result
Launched in 2014, the “Stereotypes” brand campaign helped introduce the brand to consumers across crucial markets domestically and, shortly after, propelled it into a leading independent brand position within the refrigerated Hispanic foods category at retail.
As a lead partner consultant working closely with the brand team, executive team, and family, I spearheaded multiple efforts to support the brand’s growth and expansion, including:
- Business intelligence gathering, including the sourcing and negotiation of long-term partnerships with data providers, including IRI and Nielsen.
- Leading the brand’s consumer insights and strategy discipline in conducting annual competitive landscape assessments, consumer market research, and third-party data analysis to support brand planning and new product launch efforts.
- Serving as the brand’s lead agency partner in sourcing and securing adjacent agency partnerships in media, digital, and production to support the brand’s marketing efforts.
- Brand advertising as the lead creative partner from concept development through production across traditional and digital media
Throughout the partnership, the brand would increase its revenue from just over $40MM in annual sales to more than $100MM in 2022. In late 2016, Palladium Partners acquired the brand and continues to use the strategic guidance provided when we launched the brand. The “Stereotypes” campaign was recognized by the media and the Art Director’s Club for its innovative approach to Hispanic and multicultural communications.
2014 "Stereotypes" brand spot introduced the brand's core message of not conforming, and being more than just a Latino stereotype.
