The relationship between Hispanic adult Millennials and technology was one of the focuses of Tr3s’s 2012 research study, Hispanic Adult Millennials Living the Next Normal: Age of Uncertainty. One of the report’s key findings was that Hispanic adult Millennials seek balance between their digital and social lives. They understand that it’s important to step away from their devices and participate actively in the world.

 Learning this lesson didn’t come easily, however. Many adult Millennials who used technology to isolate themselves socially as teens are now trying to correct that behavior and have more “IRL” (in real life) experiences. While moderation is a common goal, they are also well aware of how difficult it can be to step away from their tech devices.

This quest for balance is a core Millennial value. Compared with older generations, they are more comfortable “in the middle” in many areas. Hispanic adult Millennials are also interested in finding a happy middle ground between life and work, as well as between foods that are healthy and convenient.

When asked what is coolest to them now, three of the top ten items listed by young Hispanics were tech devices: smartphones (#1), GPS for cars (#6), and video games (#7). However, their “cool list” also revealed that interacting with others is of high importance as well. “In-person socializing” ranked second, and coffee shops (where they can hang out with others inexpensively) also made the list: Starbucks (#3), diners (#8), and Dunkin’ Donuts (#10). Video games, in addition to being seen as cool devices, are also considered key social outlets, bridging the gap between digital and real.

Hispanic adult Millennials see themselves as having “active lifestyles” – which they define as being out of the house socializing with family and friends. They participate in social media, but also have social lives. They play video games, but not all the time. And they text their friends a lot, but they also talk when it’s important. (According to the 2012 Maximo Report by Motivo Insights, bicultural young Latinos believe texting is the most efficient way to communicate, but talking is most effective.)

One illustration of their awareness of the value of balancing technology and life is the phone stacking game. While out at a restaurant or social gathering, everyone piles their phones in the middle of the table. The first person to relent and check their phone suffers consequences that were decided in advance, like paying the dinner tab. The game implicitly recognizes that technology, while tempting at all times, can be isolating and damaging when used too much. In the end, technology is something that enhances their lives — but only when used in moderation.

Source: Tr3s 2012 “Hispanic Adult Millennials Living the Next Normal: Age of Uncertainty”

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• Not giving essential show information
• Failing to give fresh, engaging content
• Posting to the point of spamming
• Trying too often to get viewers to buy

What we heard from viewers was that they want TV shows and networks to fulfill their functional motivations above all. They expect air dates and times, exclusive content, episode recaps and character bios.

As one 23-year-old participant told us, “Daniel Tosh is the one guy that knows how to use social media well. He will throw a joke in a post that includes the date and time his show is on so I won’t miss it.”

Respondents also admitted that they unfriended or unfollowed brands that were redundant, or posted too often. And since social media is a place for emotion and fun, we found that over-selling was another big sin. These sins are good guidelines for any brand — reminders not to forget basic info and to keep it fresh and engaging without overdoing it. The good news for brands and marketers is that we can provide much of what viewers value most, useful information and exclusive content.

For the full findings from the study, head here.

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Pink handcuffs, puppy chow and fake tattoos might not be what you’d expect at the office, but it was all part of the fun for CMT’s “Dog Pound” during the premiere of Dog and Beth: On the Hunt.

The Dog Pound, made up of 16 social media strategists, graphic designers, marketing  managers and IT gurus, was at work long before the show aired; their goal was to connect with fans using social media outlets including Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, and Vine.

“Our goal for the social media command center was to drive significant, real-time conversation about the series premiere of ‘Dog and Beth: On the Hunt,’” said John Monson, Manager of CMT’s Social Marketing.  “We wanted to be in the living rooms with our fans and interact with them everywhere on social media. We also wanted to provide unique experiences that built brand and show loyalty. When we establish a personal relationship with fans, they will keep coming back for more.”

Engaging with fans has become pivotal to television’s success, as the competition for viewers is growing increasingly strong with entertainment options such as DVR, Netflix, and Hulu. Social media is a pivotal vehicle to competitively set programming apart.

“Real-time marketing has proven to be very effective,” Monson said. “Many people watch TV with a second screen in their hand and don’t want to be left out of what their friends are enjoying.”

Unlike the recent premiere of A&E’s Duck Dynasty, which relied on partnerships with agencies such as Interactive Group R/GA and Horizon Media, the social-response effort was championed by CMT team members alone, who created memes, gathered photos, and prepared content.

During the show, graphic designers created personalized bounty hunter badges using fans’ Twitter avatars. These badges were an audience favorite, and generated a multitude of requests from both fans and celebrities. Watch party photos submitted were edited by designers to include images of Dog, Beth, and Leland, and then sent to the fans via social media. All hands were on deck to respond to viewers’ comments and questions, resulting in full-fledged audience interaction.

The efforts were successful, and within five minutes of the premiere’s opening, #CMTDogAndBeth was trending in the United States on Twitter. From two hours before show time until the following morning, the show was mentioned 25,000 times on Twitter, and over 10,000 tweets used #CMTDogAndBeth.

The Facebook page grew to 227,000 fans, securing the page as CMT’s fourth most popular. During the premiere, the Dog Pound was met with staggering interaction – an average of over 8,000 likes, 800 shares, and 700 comments per post. The social media team employed a new Dog Pack Facebook app for fans that had over 22,000 registered users by the morning after premiere.

Of the app’s success, Chris Nelson, Director of Social Marketing, said, “This is a phenomenal number, and blows away participation numbers from any previous Facebook apps.”

There were over 3,500 check-ins on GetGlue, and a ranking of #3 only following “Game of Thrones” and “Once Upon a Time.”

The premiere of Guntucky, which followed “Dog and Beth: On the Hunt,” received what Nelson called “a healthy volume of conversation,” with 5,500 show mentions on Twitter.

Overall, both shows were well-received and proved successful on social due to the huge team effort of the Dog Pound.

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Star Trek fans who downloaded Paramount Pictures’ new Star Trek app were treated to a couple of surprises during the Super Bowl: advance screenings of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness in IMAX theaters on May 15 – two days prior to the film’s official release – as well as an exclusive look at the film’s extended television spot. For new users, there are more rewards to earn, and more exclusive content to gain access to. See above for a visual tour of the app.By employing the app’s cutting-edge technology, fans can immerse themselves into the Star Trek universe, earn badges with every completed mission and work their way through the Star Trek Academy.  Highlights of the game include an audio scan function that can be turned on to automatically recognize and reward users for watching Star Trek Into Darkness content, an image scan function that allows users to interact with images viewable in the real world, and opportunities to win valuable prizes throughout the film’s theatrical and home entertainment releases.

Tickets to early screenings of Star Trek Into Darkness can be purchased exclusively through the app, which is available to download free from the App Store and Google Play at www.startrekmovie.com/startrekapp. Star Trek Into Darkness opens in theaters everywhere May 17, 2013.

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Nev Shulman and Max Joseph, stars of MTV’s latest hit Catfish: The TV Show, visited snowy London in January to promote the international launch of the gripping series.

Nev and Max spent an action-packed four days in London, engaging in a variety of interviews with top-tier press outlets such as Grazia Magazine, Now Magazine, Metro, Sun Woman, Sun TV Magazine, BBC’s Radio 1xtra: The Sarah Crawford Show, Rock FM, Gulf News, Ahlan!, the Telegraaf, and Heat Radio.

These two Catfish stars kept busy on that side of the pond, filming promos and interviews for the MTV international channels and websites, and participating in a Q&A with MTV host Laura Whitmore at MTV UK’s Programming Launch Event, which showcased the channel’s upcoming spring 2013 slate, held at the brand new ME Hotel in Central London. Despite their busy schedule, Nev and Max were able to squeeze in some quality time with their loyal UK fans via a live chat on the MTV Catfish Twitter page, and took  a few photos with some unexpected ‘drop in’ fans who tracked them down to a Camden studio following a tweet from Max merely mentioning where they were!

Happy Birthday, Max! During their trip, Max celebrated his birthday with MTV UK.

During their whirlwind tour, these social media experts also hosted a Valentine’s Day-themed Q&A session with MTV’s London-based staff, who enjoyed Catfish-branded cupcakes and champagne and quizzed the duo over online dating tips and chatted about their own ‘Catfish’ experiences. Their tips to spotting a Catfish:

1. Someone doesn’t have their friends tagged in any of the photos on their page.
2. They claim to be a ‘model’ and their profile picture is a modeling shot.
3. They only have a couple of friends on their profile.
4. They don’t have any comments on their wall to suggest that they actually know the friends on the profile such as, ‘great to see you last night’ etc. If all the comments are ‘thanks for your comment’ or ‘you’re hot’ this often implies that they don’t actually know the person.

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Hispanic Millennials, who are a highly mobile and digitally connected generation, are the prime movers of smartphones and tablets. This group helps drive the dominance of social and networking sites such as Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Latinos, known for their sociability, have firmly established their presence in the online world.

New platforms targeting Latino usage are quickly gaining momentum in the market with organizations like Latinos In Tech Innovation and Social Media (LATISM) pioneering a better future for Latinos via the power of social media. Hispanics Millennials on Twitter use the “#latism” hashtag to watch conversations about anything and everything Latino.

The goal of such digitally-inspired organizations is to advance the social, civic and economic status of the Latino community, and through various popular hashtags they’re able to increase Latino visibility on social networks. Using these hashtags such as “#latism” is an effective way for marketers, advertisers, journalists and consumers alike to keep current on news and topics relevant to U.S. Hispanics.

Last year, LATISM surveyed more than 12,000 bloggers as part of a study that unveils insights into what motivates Latino/a bloggers and the issues that trigger most. These findings give brands, marketers and industry leaders alike a deeper connection to the behaviors and habits of one of the most powerful groups online.

2011 Survey Key Findings about Social Media:

• 61% use social media for personal purposes, followed by Business, Self Promotion and for doing Social Good.
• The top three blogging topics are Latino Issues (45%), followed by Social Good and Education.
• Reasons for blogging vary by individual, but a common thread is their deep connection to their community and their faith in the power of blogging as a tool for change.
• The majority (48%) prefer to shop online.
• Price is the biggest driver at the time of purchase.
• The overwhelming majority described Education as the top priority Latino issue, followed by Health and Jobs.

The marriage of social media and the growing number of Latinos online, whether via mobile/smartphone or tablet, is becoming an important part of the messaging channel for marketers. Connectivity combined with sociability and community awareness is a hallmark of today’s Hispanic Millennial generation. Expect this trend to continue into the New Year and beyond.

Sources: AdWeek, Hispanicize.com, Fox News Latino, LATISM.org

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Forbes contributor Mark Fidelman gives us his take on why social engagement and these rankings are important:

The standard answer is that we need to recognize brands that are leading the way in social business. The real answer is that business leaders need better corporate role models. We need organizations who will convey to those leaders that becoming a social business is the smarter path. That the old playbook will not work in the new social age, and that becoming a social business will increase the company’s ability to adapt to market changes and take advantage of new revenue opportunities.

We think that makes a lot of sense. In the “new playbook,” all media is already social. The conversation will go on with or without us, so our channels and dedicated social teams work hard to make sure we’re there to drive it. We think it’s good business to do so, and our research tells us as much: Be Viacom’s international research project in particular told us that our viewers who engage with our brands beyond TV experience a supercharged positivity toward our brands.

Check out the full rankings below:

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What’s missing in the fashion world today? For those with ‘90s nostalgia the answer is the iconic MTV series House of Style. Fortunately, MTV has now re-launched the popular show as a digitally-driven series extending across television, mobile and social media.

Each week, supermodel co-hosts Joan Smalls and Karlie Kloss will search the streets around the world for fashion trends and innovative styles. The series kicked off with a behind-the-scenes tour of Paris Fashion Week, with interviews from Jean Paul Gaultier, Stella McCartney, MIA and Alexander Wang. Together they will bring audiences backstage at fashion shows and onto the sets of music videos to see what’s trending at the intersections of fashion and music.

To celebrate the return of House of Style, the mini-documentary “House of Style: Music, Models and MTV” will make its televised premiere on Dec. 1 on MTV. The documentary explains the legacy of the series with narratives from former House of Style hosts Cindy Crawford (1989-1995), Daisy Fuentes (1997) and Rebecca Romijn (1997-1999), along with Duran Duran, Rita Ora, Kat Graham, Azealia Banks, Todd Oldham, Anna Sui, and Karlie Kloss to name a few.

Dave Sirulnick, EVP of News and Production for MTV and executive producer of “Music, Models and MTV” is looking forward to reconnecting with audiences across multiple digital platforms, while continuing the show’s signature approach.

“The core value is going to remain which is allowing access to the great creators of art, fashion, design through the lens of House of Style and allowing it to be accessible to people,” said Sirulnick, who also served as executive producer for House of Style in the ’90s. ”That’s the goal of it – to make it relatable, accessible and fun.”

MTV recognized the importance of giving fans access to 11 years of House of Style episodes that were not available previously online. So the network created the House of Style Collection, an online archive that gives fans an opportunity to relive their favorite episodes and for a new generation to see the show’s cultural significance.

“We wanted to make sure people saw how the late ’80s, early ’90s were so influential on fashion today. Being able to contextualize the archive to today was really important,” Sirulnick said.

During the ’90s before online shopping and fashion blogs, it was House of Style that brought consumers into the fashion fold while helping to mainstream fashion designers and models. House of Style will work to recreate that magic and once again bring us closer to the threads, icons and music that define this generation.

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Humor doesn’t always travel well, but Comedy Central is proving that it translates quite nicely for Latin American audiences. Since its launch in February, Comedy Central Latin America has been embraced throughout the continent, and is currently available in 11 million households across the region. The network is now seeking to build on its position, by further localizing its connection to viewers through “Continente Comedia,” an online and social media campaign launched this summer to establish an ongoing dialogue with fans. “Continente Comedia” includes the viral “Siesta” spot (featured above), as well as weekly commentary from local standup comedians on Twitter’s trending topics and a Facebook app.  We caught up with Sean Saylor, VP of Creative for VIMN the Americas, for an inside look at “Continente Comedia” – and to get his thoughts on what makes a winning campaign.

Bernadette Simpao: What is the goal of the “Continente Comedia” campaign?

Sean Saylor: The goal of the campaign was to further strengthen Comedy Central to the Latin American audience.  The concept is based on the fact that Latin Americans really don’t take themselves too seriously, and that Comedy Central reflects that attitude. We built the campaign around the hashtag #continentecomedia so our audience could use it to tweet about the absurd things that happen to them because they live in Latin America.  It was a way for us to start a dialogue with our viewers and help stir up local conversation.

BS: How did you come up with the idea for the “Siesta” spot?

SS: I was in the bathroom. As you know, all great ideas come while you are in the bathroom. (Just kidding!) We commissioned this campaign to the agency Weiden and Kennedy in Sao Paolo, Brazil. They came up with a few ideas around the concept of “Continente Comedia,” and we liked this one because it’s something that as bizarre as it might sound, it wasn’t that ridiculous. This is something that could actually exist, so I think that makes it even funnier.                                                                                                                                          

BS: What has the response to the “Siesta” spot been like from fans/viewers?

SS: It has all been super positive, but what has surprised me the most is that many websites and news outlets have picked up the spot and sold it as actual news, with headlines saying things like “Mexico Celebrates the Nap World Cup?” I love this! The spot has really taken on a life of its own.

BS: How do you know when you have a winning promo spot? What’s the secret formula? What objectives do you always try to hit, or what do you always keep in mind, when coming up with the creative?

SS: Here is what I think is a good formula to a winning promo:

• The right team.
• A clear brief and direction (what it is we want to communicate and what we want to achieve)
• Research (know your product, know your target, know what works, know what is current, know what has been done)
• A great script (a good balance between creativity and messaging)
• The right production (director, art director, music, post production, graphics)
• Time (having enough time to think, to plan, to produce, to give feedback)
• Risk (You need to fail if you want to succeed)
• Freedom (a spot made by a committee is a formula for failure)
• Luck (sometime it just comes down to this)

BS: Comedy Central just launched in Latin America this past February. How is the channel doing so far?

SS: Comedy Central Latin America is doing great. So far we are having a strong year in terms of content and distribution, and our audience has really embraced the brand. The great thing about Comedy Central from a communication perspective is its name – people understand right away what the channel is, even in Spanish, so it makes my job easier.

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Adult Hispanic Millennials who use social media actively participate and share about their lives, as well as about products and brands. Nearly 40% say they often post or comment on social sharing sites. About a quarter say that social sharing sites are a way to tell people about companies and products they like. One-in-five post ratings or reviews for other consumers to read. They also carry what they learn and experience online into their lives offline — nearly 40% say they talk about things they see on social sharing sites in face-to-face conversations.

Hispanics 18 to 29 who use social media appreciate social media’s influence on their shopping decisions. Over 30% follow their favorite brands on social networking websites. Close to 30% pay attention to ratings and reviews posted online by other consumers. Nearly one-in-five say they are more likely to purchase products that they see used or recommended by friends on social networking sites.

Compared with total Hispanics 18 to 29, Hispanic social media users in this age group are more likely to shop online – and to do a lot of research before making purchases. 46% of those using social media are shopping more on the internet than before (vs. 39% of total Hispanics 18 to 29). 64% of social media users say the internet has changed the way they get information about products and services, compared with 54% of Hispanics 18 to 29 overall. 58% like to get as much information as possible about an electronic item before buying it, compared with 52% of total Hispanics 18 to 29.

Adult Hispanic Millennials who use social media are also more likely to enjoy helping others with their knowledge and experiences. 60% like to share their knowledge, compared with 56% of total Hispanics 18 to 29.  62% say they are willing to help others even if there is no direct benefit to themselves, vs. 57% of total Hispanics 18 to 29. 56% say that they provide people with the facts and let them make their own decisions – compared with 50% of total Hispanics 18 to 29.

There are a couple of key differences in social media and word-of-mouth habits between Hispanic Millennials and Hispanics in their thirties. Thirty-something Hispanics are less likely to use social media (56%), and those who do participate are less frequent users (34% check in at least once a day). They are also far less likely to follow their favorite brands on social media (19%). But compared with Hispanic Millennials, Hispanics in their thirties are ahead in a couple of areas: they are more likely to make purchases online and research them heavily, as well as more likely to enjoy sharing information with others to help them make better decisions.

Of course, many Hispanic Millennials already are brand advocates for products and services they care about. But there is opportunity to expand the pool of young Latinos who are invested in your brand. With such a large proportion of active social media participants, combined with their qualities of being informed shoppers who are generous with their knowledge, there can be huge upside for companies that create smart strategies to develop brand advocacy among Hispanic Millennials.

Jose Tillan is General Manager for Tr3s: MTV, Música y Más.

For more research and insights from Tr3s, visit http://inside.tr3s.com/blog.php.

Source: Experian Simmons, Winter 2011 NHCS Adult Survey 12-month

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