Throughout her advertising career of 15+ years, Marcela Angeles, a creative director at Media.Monks, has turned cultural insights about the Hispanic community into innovative marketing ideas that have enriched and added fun to the lives of their target audience. The former Ad Age Creative You Should Know started her career as a copywriter, moving up the ranks at agencies including JWT, Conill, 72andSunny, Edelman and Conill. In her “free time,” she also works as a documentary photographer and co-founded Colectivo Constelación, a Mexican nonprofit dedicated to human rights education. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, which closes today, we asked her to look back on some of her favorite projects. 

Northgate Market: Super Bowl Hijack Ads (2019)
Agency: Circus Marketing/Media.Monks

In 2019, Northgate Market, a Mexican family-owned supermarket chain, launched a digital campaign in which it created multi-platform pre-roll parody ads from Super Bowl spots. Using the same look and feel of the Super Bowl commercials, Northgate Market reminded viewers where to get the products they were about to see through a clever, efficient and strategic media placement on YouTube, with the help of digital green screen production, some guys that always wanted to be in a boy band and really cute puppies. As part of this effort, and following user behavior during Super Bowl week, Northgate Market also hijacked search keywords. Jumping onto much-anticipated ads for one of the most important events in the country as a challenger brand representing a minority was important not only for the supermarket but for the community. Smaller Hispanic brands are not usually seen as "worthy" to be part of all-time American events, so this was a big step that represented Mexican ingenuity through advertising. 

Northgate Market: Food Testament (2019)
Agency: Circus/ MarketingMedia.Monks 

The Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead is celebrated every year with altars featuring the favorite food items of those who have passed away—so that they can enjoy them one more time. For the holiday, Northgate Market created "Food Testament," a site that generated an "official" document in which you could choose which food you wanted to find on your altar when you have passed away and come back during the Day of the Dead celebrations. From a list of delicious traditional food, users were able to pick their favorite ones and generate a document to share with their loved ones, that way their wishes could be fulfilled once they were gone.

Sometimes Hispanic traditions are turned into caricatures, so the success of this campaign was that it not only represented the community in the right way, it also gave back something extremely valuable to those who participated in the digital activation. It highlighted the importance of this celebration in a new and powerful way that no other brand had done before, especially in the U.S.

Spotify Latino: ThanksMusic (2020)
Agency:  Circus Marketing / Media.Monks

Spotify Latino wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving for the Latin community in a culturally relevant way, so we helped them launch a campaign to thank all the artists who did not only give us the best music that year, but that also thanked them for all the great cultural moments that they created for us on social media. Latin music has become a global phenomenon the last couple of years, and through music, the world has opened a door for a community that has never been given the central stage. The representation that the brand and these artists are creating for Hispanics is one of the most important cultural revolutions in our time. Our voices are being heard through music, the world is interested in our community, in our problems and in being inclusive. 

Toyota: Más Que Un Auto (2015)
Agency: Conill Saatchi&Saatch

When Hispanics love someone or something, it immediately becomes part of their family. So to celebrate the love Hispanics had for their Toyotas—for 10 consecutive years it had been the No.1 brand in the community—Toyota and Conill created “Más Que Un Auto”  (“More Than A Car”). The campaign let Toyota owners celebrate their car-love connection by ordering a personalized badge featuring the nicknames they gave their cars to place on their automobiles. They were also invited to share the story behind their car’s nickname. It became the highest user-generated campaign in the history of the brand in the U.S. This campaign gave a voice and representation to members of the Hispanic community by helping them share their personal stories the way they wanted them to be shared. It was grounded in powerful insight, and people were truly grateful that the brand acknowledged how much their cars mean to them. To them, they are definitely more than cars—they are memories, they are family, they are part of them. Look around for Toyotas and you might still see some of those badges even though it's been a while since the campaign ran.