How Verizon Is Using J.Lo, Kids’ Playgounds to Sell Smartphones to Hispanics
Across the street from the Jay-Z’s home court, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, is a block-long billboard of Jennifer Lopez and her own new business venture, Viva Movil, a series of Verizon retail locations targeted at Hispanic wireless consumers. The Viva Movil flagship store is located directly beneath the billboard and is the first of 15 locations slated to open up in Hispanic neighborhoods across the U.S. in 2013.
Targeting Hispanic-American consumers was the result of Verizon recognizing the importance of phones among Hispanic-Americans, according to Jeetendr Sehdev, the branding expert hired to spearhead the Viva Movil launch. Hispanic-Americans use their phones more than the general population and are more celebrity-focused, Mr. Sehdev said, thus making Ms. Lopez a natural fit.
While designed to take advantage of Hispanic-Americans’ heavy phone usage, Viva Movil also functions to help bridge the digital divide between consumers fluent in English and those who only speak Spanish.
