ANA Judges' Journal: Louis Maldonado

What will it take to have your work make it to the winners’ circle?  

ANA’s Judges’ Journals features a series of Q&A sessions with leading industry executives participating on 2024 ANA Award juries. Gain insight from the judges on what they will be looking for and what makes the difference between a good vs. award worthy submission. 

In this segment, ​Denise McDevitt, ​senior vice president, award programs at ANA connects with Louis Maldonado, partner and managing director at d expósito & Partners’ regarding his role on the  2024 ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards Jury.

Q> What current trends are you seeing in multicultural and inclusive marketing?  What has been the biggest shift since a year ago?

Louis> For the past five years or so, I’ve seen a concerted effort from many marketers to increase representation of more multicultural sub-segments. Now, many are working to go beyond Hispanic/Latino, African American/Black, AAPI and LGBTQ+ to include AIAN, people with disabilities, people ages 50-plus, and other groups. Much of this is happening in advertising, communications and consumer engagement programs, but this has now expanded into product development strategies to offer more meaningful and valuable brand solutions and experiences. 

Q> Every entrant wants to know what it will take to win an ANA Multicultural Excellence Award – what campaign components will you be looking for this year to distinguish good vs. exceptional?

Louis> To me, a winning case submission should have these five critical components:

• A valid consumer problem, tension or pain point to solve or help address.
• A powerful and unique consumer insight that resonates with the specific multicultural segment being targeted.
• A clear narrative that explains how that insight was leveraged to devise a culturally relevant and authentic strategy that will address the problem/tension/pain point.
• A creative idea or solution that goes beyond representation of diverse faces to tell an interesting story that is truly organic, genuine and customised to capture the attention of and move the targeted multicultural segment.  
• A contact strategy and plan that uses the channels of greatest affinity and engagement to drive culturally meaningful brand connections, consumer trust and purchase intent. 

Q> When I’m talking with entrants, I encourage them to provide a bit of education on the industry sector, competitive landscape, current cultural sensitivities of the intended audience, etc. – what situation details and elements do you feel to be essential in a case study submission?

Louis> I would like to see submissions where the situation analyses presented compare and contrast the dynamics at play specific to the multicultural consumer segment being targeted versus the general consumer population. While there are often universal truths, there are also very unique attitudes, beliefs, behaviours, barriers – often driven by cultural and lived experiences – that require more customised approaches to successfully and optimally deliver results. 

Q> In the submission form, we ask entrants to excite us with the “ah-ha” solution they developed – what elements are you expecting the entrant to share in this section?  What are you hoping to learn regarding the creation of a team’s big idea?

Louis> In addition to culturally relevant insights, strategies and creative ideas, I’m interested in seeing any unique and innovative content formats or consumer touchpoints that are inspired by the desired multicultural segment and organically embedded in their lifestyles and behaviour. I’d also like to see new products or experiences that are catered to address the interests and needs of the segment. Finally, I would like to understand how the work goes beyond inclusive representation to show how the brand is working to drive brand trust and connections with the segment. 

Q> Data-driven decision-making has become a standard operating procedure for marketing teams - how do you handle the role of data in your initiatives and to what degree will you be weighing the use – and application - of data and analytics in the award submissions?

Louis> Data is critical to understanding the brand situation and to mining for meaningful insights. Importantly, beyond presenting numbers, I’ll be looking to see a culturally accurate and relevant interpretation of the data; one that compares/contrasts the situation versus the brands broader target audience and demonstrates how the data findings are integrated into the communication strategy and channel plan. 

Q> Risk taking and effectiveness – sometimes friends, sometimes foes. How have you handled the balance in your marketing efforts, and how will you weigh these elements in your judging of the submissions?

Louis> Big risks can come with big rewards if done in a wise and ingenious way. That means not taking risks simply for shock value or to stand out from the competition. To me, that could produce work that is a bit gimmicky and could make the brand vulnerable to criticism. However, the best risk-taking is grounded in a powerful insight, cultural occasion, consumer truth or burgeoning trend that offers a brand a unique opportunity that may make management team feel uncomfortable but is the best thing to do for their consumers.  This is what I will be looking for when judging the work.

Q> My last question – if you could offer just one key suggestion, one request in your role as a Multicultural Excellence awards judge to teams preparing their entries – what would it be? How would you complete this sentence:  
“If nothing else, be sure your submission _______________________________.”

Louis> Please make sure your written submission and the work presented reflect your true and unequivocal expertise in the multicultural segment(s) that is the intended target. When judging, I will ask myself, “Is this brand/agency a true expert with this MCL segment, or does it seem they want to play in the space without doing the due diligence required to drive meaningful and effective brand connections and experiences? Is there a unique and true insight for this segment, and how was it translated into the strategy and creative product?”

I will also be looking to determine whether the intent of the work is solely for the purposes of increasing representation and/or avoid biases, or whether the creative aims to solve a real problem and present a relevant solution. While representation is important, it should not be the only driving reason. ANA/AIMM research has already shown that diversity of casts is not enough to drive brand trust and brand growth. Genuine and accurate insights and cultural storytelling is key to our craft, and these items will be what separates mediocre work from the powerful and ingenious. 

The ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards offer the ultimate opportunity to showcase work that makes a difference and celebrate the teams who are leading the charge in establishing an unwavering, authentic commitment to effectively include and engage with diverse, multicultural audiences.

The final deadline to submit work into the 2024 Multicultural Excellence Awards program is August 9, 2024.

The ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards program is judged by a select jury of industry leaders to select the entries that represent best-in-class examples of multicultural marketing — work that features powerful cultural insights that ultimately helps brands to effectively connect with diverse consumers.

The ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards Celebration will take place on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at the Bellagio Casino & Resort, on the second evening of the 2024 ANA Multicultural Marketing and Diversity Conference. Awards will be presented to top brands and agencies for the top Multicultural Marketing campaigns of 2023 across 17 different categories. The event culminates with the Best in Show Award announcement, honouring the overall top campaign of the competition chosen from the Category Grand Prize winners. 

To view the full portfolio of ANA Awards visit here.