Latino buying power this year is estimated at $1.2 trillion – and Clorox Co. wants a piece, launching a new line of products “designed to appeal to Hispanic scent preferences and to specifically meet their needs based on the unique way they approach cleaning.”

The company surveyed more than 600 Latino consumers and concluded that most tidy up in a three-step process: first cleaning, then disinfecting and finally scenting.

The bleach and disposable wipes maker decided to create a suite of items focused on the third step. The Clorox Fraganzia products – a dilutable cleaner, a toilet bowl rim hanger and an aerosol air freshener – come in scents that Clorox deemed “most appealing to Hispanics,” including lavender with eucalyptus and mint as well as forest dew.

Clorox isn’t even using mainstream media to market its new products. Instead, it has an advertising blitz in place for Spanish-language television, radio and websites.


Other major brands are dedicating a growing portion of their marketing dollars to Latino markets, according to the Assn. of Hispanic Advertising Agencies. Minorities accounted for more than 92% of the nation’s population growth between 2000 and 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Latinos, at 16.7% of the total population last year, make up the largest minority demographic.

Executives at L’Oreal, which recently paired with Telemundo, have publicly called out Latino customers as a growth sector. One Wal-Mart marketing official said last year that the mega-chain plans to “blow up” its multicultural advertising budget. Other companies eying the Latino market include Campbell Soup, Tyson and more.

But as of 2010, more than half of American companies don’t market to Latino consumers and 82% said they didn’t plan to boost their efforts, according to Latino ad agency Orci.

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