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Hispanic Cohorts(R): The First Hispanic-Based Household Segmentation

Cohorts(R) Introduces Powerful New Marketing Tool for Reaching Largest U.S. Ethnic Market

Cohorts, the first company to introduce household-based segmentation, introduces the first Hispanic household-based segmentation product, Hispanic Cohorts.

Comprising 19 unique and diverse consumer segments within the American Hispanic community, Hispanic Cohorts collectively offers marketers the ability to understand the demographics, lifestyles, attitudes and behavioral characteristics of this fastest-growing -- and largest -- ethnic market in the United States. The segments include such disparate groups as Isabel (Successful Career Women), who is highly acculturated into American culture and society and Domingo y Sylvia (Modest Income Grandparents), who still predominately speak Spanish and feel loyalty toward Spanish advertising and media.

"It is important for marketers to recognize that the Hispanic marketplace is not homogeneous," said Scott Schroeder, president and CEO of Cohorts. "Hispanic Cohorts is the only tool that enables marketers to understand the consumer behavior differences within the fast-growing Hispanic market and then version their messages appropriately for each distinct consumer group."

For example, Isabel adores shopping and, although she loves a good sale, price is not a concern if it's something she really wants. She buys -- often impulsively -- over the Internet, through catalogs and in her favorite stores. Alternatively, Domingo y Sylvia rarely go shopping and when they do, it is because their favorite store is having a sale on "life's necessities." They don't use the Internet or buy from catalogs -- they must see it, feel it and touch it in order to buy it.

"Marketers who don't distinguish between Isabel's and Domingo y Sylvia's shopping habits waste their valuable marketing dollars and are potentially alienating what could be very profitable customers," Schroeder added. "Hispanic Cohorts provides the data marketers need to version offers that will be relevant and well-received by each Hispanic Cohort segment."

Developed to meet the growing demands of its Fortune 500 clients and prospects, Cohorts created Hispanic Cohorts to assist larger, more sophisticated marketers looking to better target and connect with the Hispanic marketplace.

"Hispanic Cohorts will help Cohorts clients develop and execute Hispanic-focused marketing that's consistent with their already established and successful overall marketing efforts," said Schroeder.

Rather than focusing on cultural heritage (e.g., Mexican and Puerto Rican), as a means for segmenting the Hispanic community, Hispanic Cohorts is based on the recognition that socio-economic and familial circumstances drive most consumer behaviors, even more so than specific cultural heritage.

Two experts in Hispanic marketing -- Integra Relationship Marketing (one of the largest dedicated Hispanic direct marketing agencies in the United States) and Simmons Market Research Bureau (the leader in syndicated Hispanic research) -- provided strategic insight that assisted with the development of Hispanic Cohorts. Both companies will incorporate Hispanic Cohorts into their product offerings.

"Hispanic Cohorts is going to be the most important tool in our kit, as it gives us the ability to understand the Hispanic marketplace in all its diversity, thereby allowing us to develop much more robust direct marketing efforts," said Steve Longley, president of Integra Relationship Marketing. "Hispanic Cohorts has arrived just in time. As Hispanic marketing in this country matures, Integra clients are demanding the ability to target and effectively message their Hispanic direct response campaigns with the same precision they achieve in their broader marketing efforts."

In addition to Simmons research being used to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the Hispanic Cohorts segments, Simmons will offer its clients Hispanic Cohorts as part of the company's National Hispanic Consumer Study (NHCS) license.

"Hispanic Cohorts represents the next logical step forward in state-of-the-art database marketing approaches toward improving the effectiveness of Hispanic marketing efforts," said Chris Wilson, president of Simmons Market Research Bureau. "For the first time, database marketers can combine Simmons syndicated research with household-based segmentation to enhance their Hispanic database marketing efforts."

Hispanic Cohorts is immediately available to Cohorts clients and subscribers of Simmons' National Hispanic Consumer Study (NHCS) license.

About Simmons Market Research

Simmons Market Research Bureau is America's leading provider of consumer product purchase, shopping and media usage behavior, as well as detailed demographic, psychographic, lifestyle and attitudinal descriptions. Simmons surveys more than 30,000 people annually to produce the National Consumer Adult, Teens and Kids Studies. Each of these reports provides individual and household information on approximately 8,000 brands in more than 450 data categories. Simmons' proprietary BehaviorGraphics(TM) and other segmentation systems provide unique and powerful capabilities to segment consumers by lifestyle, attitudes, shopping frequency and volume, price preference, entertainment consumption, media usage and myriad other descriptors.

About Integra Relationship Marketing

Dedicated to serving the Hispanic market, Integra Relationship Marketing is a premier provider of direct marketing and CRM solutions. Integra is led by a core group of Hispanic marketing thought leaders with national and international brand experience and established roles in diversity leadership. The New York and Princeton based tri-lingual shop specializes in Hispanic strategic planning, targeting, segmentation and creative development. Integra works with leading Hispanic marketers including Chase, AOL Latino, General Motors, Colombia House Latino, and Kaiser Permanente. Integra is a member of the Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc.

About Cohorts

Cohorts helps marketers get the right message to the right household, significantly improving the effectiveness and ROI of data-based marketing initiatives and strategies. This integrated household-based segmentation and marketing tool enables marketers to understand the distinct types of customers they serve, precisely identify multi-channel marketing opportunities, create customized communications and marketing programs, and craft actionable market research. Cohorts analyzes and describes consumers in terms of their demographics, lifestyles, attitudes and behaviors, as well as their interactions with marketers -- such as what consumers buy, how much they spend and their preferred channels of purchase.

About the Company

Experienced in database marketing applications, market research and database development, the Cohorts staff works with leading customer-focused companies like Cablevision, Cendant, Choice Hotels International, Current, Harrah's Entertainment, InterContinental Hotels Group, La Quinta Corporation, Madison Square Garden, Proflowers.com, The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino and Value Link. The company specializes in a variety of industries, including financial services, hospitality, insurance, retail and telecommunications, and works with key strategic partners, including Equifax, Experian, MRI, Scarborough Research and Simmons Market Research Bureau. Cohorts is a registered trademark of Looking Glass, Inc.

For more information, visit www.cohorts.com or contact Kelley Eckler at Cohorts, 1624 Market St., Suite 311, Denver, CO 80202; (303) 893-8600; fax (303) 893-8611; or keckler@cohorts.com.