WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BB&T Corporation
(NYSE: BBT) today said it has introduced a multimedia Spanish-language
advertising campaign developed with Miami-based Machado Garcia-Serra
Communications (MGS), BB&T's Hispanic advertising agency of record.
The new campaign includes a series of 60-second financial education
messages to air on Spanish television stations, including money management
tips, banking and investment strategies, and news from the U.S. and Latin
American financial markets.
The TV campaign will air through October in select, high Hispanic
population areas in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Washington, D.C.
BB&T also will run Spanish-language newspaper ads to tout its free checking
and money transfer offering, "BB&T Free + Easy Send." To round out the
campaign, BB&T will sponsor community festivals in these markets.
"Machado Garcia-Serra's expertise in brand-building and targeted
advertising to the Hispanic market has been a valuable asset to BB&T in
meeting the needs of our growing Hispanic client base," said Jorge Moller,
BB&T's Multicultural Markets manager. "The new advertising campaign is one
of many steps we are taking at BB&T to communicate to our Latino
neighbors."
Hispanics make up the nation's largest and fastest growing minority
group, representing about 15 percent of the U.S. population. More than half
of all U.S. retail banking growth in financial services during the next two
decades will come from the segment, according to the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp.
BB&T's new advertising campaign is the latest step in its growing
multicultural banking operation. About 10 percent of BB&T branches are
designated "multicultural banking centers" that include bilingual staff
members as well as Spanish signage and brochures.
"BB&T has a unique, multi-faceted approach to reaching their
multicultural markets that is having a direct impact on their business
results as well the lives of their growing number of multicultural
clients," said MGS Chief Strategic Office Gabriela Alcantara-Diaz.
BB&T's multicultural program also includes its long-running series of
"BiBi" educational audio recordings in Spanish. The latest installment,
"BiBi Talks about Voting and Government in the United States" was released
in March.
In a mock talk-show format with a character named "BiBi" (pronounced
Bee-Bee) as the host, "BiBi Talks about Voting and Government in the United
States" covers voter registration and the voting process; American
political parties; federal government branches; state and local government
roles; and more.
"BiBi Talks" follows nine previous editions of BB&T's original "BiBi
Tapes" series, which mimic the "TV Novelas" storytelling approach made
popular on Spanish TV. Designed to help Hispanic immigrants adapt to life
in the United States, BB&T introduced the BiBi recordings in 2002.
Previous "BiBi" editions have featured topics such as emergency
preparedness, basic banking information, school and health care
information, finding a job, driving, housing, insurance and the American
legal system. The free tapes and CDs from both series are available at
BB&T's nearly 1,500 financial centers in the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland,
West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Indiana and
Washington, D.C.
Hispanic buying power in the United States reached $860 billion last
year -- nearly equal to the gross domestic product of Mexico -- and is
projected to hit $1.2 trillion by 2012, according to the University of
Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth.
With $136.5 billion in assets, Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T
Corporation is the nation's 14th largest financial holding company. More
information about the company is available at http://www.BBT.com .
SOURCE BB&T Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.bbt.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/809325.html /
CONTACT:
Yvonne Lorie, MGS Communications,
+1-305-444-4647, ext. 256, for BB&T Corporation; Jorge Moller,
BB&T Multicultural Markets, +1-336-733-2482, Jeff Nichols, BB&T
Corp. Communications, +1-336-733-1472
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