If there is one major aspect of our lives today which has impacted us all, regardless of ethnicity, race or socioeconomic status, it’s the state of the economy. ‘La Crisis’ has truly changed all of us deeply and pervasively. It has touched all Latinos and most especially, it has touched Latina women as the main stakeholders of her household’s buying power. This is a most important detail, as this consumer segment currently represents 20% of all women 15-49, a good 10 Million women, younger and growing at almost 3 times the rate of non-Hispanic women.

Latina women are wise shoppers that seek brand value at the lowest price point she can find, they are knowledgeable, savvy and most definitely on “experimentation” mode. Hence, an ideal breeding ground for the intrusion of private label brands in the once secure world in which “Hispanic women are more brand loyal” and a big threat to major marketers who seek growth in an overall marketplace that’s not growing and increasingly competitive.

Marketers, wake up and smell the chiles!

There is a double-whammy here. The first is the impact of the economy on your base business; and the second, is the resulting impact on marketing your brands to the only growth segment in the U.S. today.

Private label brands are re-taking their strength with new form. At risk of dating myself, I remember when private label packaging was ugly, black & white in some cases  looked more like products we’d find in Communist Russia or the Cuba of the 60’s. Moreover, the product quality was for the most part second-class.

Next page. Today’s technology and the commoditization of manufacturing capabilities allow retailers to package private label brands that are just as appealing as most great brands we know, becoming one of the biggest challenges for CPG marketers.

So how do we build brands in today’s marketing environment? How do we secure choice? Most certainly, not like we did in the past.

Latina women are building communities online and offline faster and deeper than their non-Hispanic counterparts. This should not surprise us. Culturally she is more socially gregarious, so she has truly embraced the pervasiveness of online communication to connect with her friends here, her relatives back home and even other women she doesn’t even know, but who share her passions, worries and interests. At the same time, she engages as an active influencer in her local community and neighborhood, taking a leadership role towards social change. So this consumer is not about passive choice; she is all about authentic interaction, experimentation and change.

Brands can inspire this woman by ensuring cultural relevance in their communications through the study of insights that trigger consideration and choice. We don’t talk to her, but talk with her about what’s important and meaningful. Marketers who continue to emphasize one-sided, brand-2-consumer messages with this woman are totally missing the point. Latina consumers are not a non-descript audience that falls on a straight line on a flow chart as “Hispanic Moms 18-49”. They are real people who are seeking brand experiences and having open conversations with each other as well as with brands. Today, these consumers are not the receptors of one-sided messages; they are the medium for advocacy and engagement in the fastest growing consumer segment in the U.S. today.

‘La Crisis’ will continue to affect overall sales for just a little longer. But marketers that seek, engage and retain new Latino customers will win the game as we move forward, when the value of this market soars to $1.3 Trillion by 2013. By the way, the chiles are great…