At this year’s Upfront we introduced our new ecosystem organizing our content into verticals that cut across genres, demos and psychographics. One of the verticals we didn’t address on stage is Auto. In the past year, our Univision Autos site has undergone a new editorial approach under the leadership of industry expert Jaime Gabaldoni as Senior Editor.
I sat down with Jaime to talk about his vision for Univision Autos, insights on the Hispanic auto shopping process and what‘s in store for the site. See below for some highlights from our conversation:
You have an extensive background in the creation of auto editorial for the Hispanic consumer. From your experience, what needs to be different about the content that interests Hispanics?
“As a journalist, you have to get into the shoes of the consumer to understand who your audience is and what they want to know. Audience behavior is a big part of this, and we know Hispanics spend a lot of time online researching vehicles. Our editorial team has one vision: reporting on everything-auto Hispanics want to know more of. For us, listening to the consumer and the quality of the content are our top priorities.
Making sure the user experience delivers is a big component too. At Univision.com, nearly 80% * of our visitors come from mobile so we’ve recently changed our site platform to deliver an optimal mobile experience. Our editorial staff also takes this to heart. It’s not unusual to see our team glued to their phones at Newsport (Univision Editorial headquarters in Miami) because they’re constantly testing how things look and feel on mobile.”
How do you keep your ears to the ground on what consumers want to see?
“Going back to the point of knowing your consumers, Hispanics are social enthusiasts so we’ve made social an important piece of our editorial strategy. It’s a huge driver in soliciting feedback on how content is resonating. Because we hear from our visitors in real time, we know on the spot what works or when we need to realign our focus. For example, when it came to our car reviews, our audience was requesting the addition of more design details. How much space does the cargo area have? How does the honk of the horn sound? Even how the keys look, they want to see it all. So we started featuring these in our long-format videos. We leave no stone unturned.”
What is different about the auto shopping process for U.S. Hispanics than other consumer groups?
“I always joke that by the time Hispanics set foot inside the dealership, they know more about a car than the sales person. But there can also be a lot of emotions involved in the purchase of a vehicle and I think that’s a huge differentiator. I always say a car is not for the family, it IS part of the family. It’s not only about technology and advanced features; emotional factors like safety (family) and styling (perception) also play a huge role.”
(See our auto webinar earlier this year to see our SVP of Consumer Insights talk about how incorporating Spanish in the purchase process –a major emotional connector— invites the Hispanic consumer in.)
What’s in store for Univision Autos in the next year?
“We’ll continue to prioritize giving our consumers the content they’re looking for. One way we’re doing this is digging into our site’s data to discover what our visitors are searching for and where. Our goal is to produce the best quality content across all editorial—articles, video, high impact photography—however they want it.
Video is another big priority. We started our video franchise A Bordo a year ago and we’ve recently expanded the distribution of that franchise to our local news in Los Angeles. We’re also expanding into more evergreen content that addresses frequent Hispanic topics of interest—the purchase process, vehicle details. This is where data will help us understand what people have been looking for.”
Source: comScore, Media Metrix (Multi-Platform U.S. Total Audience) [P] Univision Digital, April/May/June 2016 % Mobile Only UV Average. Note: % Mobile Only UV = Mobile Only Monthly Unique Visitors (accessed a site only through a mobile device (smartphones & tablets, includes apps) divided by Total Unique Visitors.
