Home Depot Magazine Builds a Following

September 2, 2008
By Della de Lafuente

Looking for a hot magazine title that reaches Hispanic men? You may want to skip the newsstand and head to The Home Depot.

One year after launching in Home Depot stores, Constru-Guía al Día (Up-to-date Construction Guide), a Spanish-language quarterly for construction contractors, has emerged as a rare media conduit to Spanish-speaking, under-the-radar male immigrants.

Circulation is increasing and the title is drawing advertisers from outside the building trade like Chevrolet, Coca-Cola and Mexicana Airlines.

Beginning with the spring 2009 issue, which will be available in January at Home Depot stores with large Hispanic customer bases, the magazine will increase its distribution to 170,000 copies in 676 stores, up from 100,000 copies in 400 stores, said publisher Kevin Kilpatrick.

Entirely ad-supported, the magazine's publisher, The Cloud Peak Firm, Marietta, Ga., which is privately held, says the upstart title has been profitable since its launch in July 2007. Most advertisers are in the construction and home repair industry trade, though a recent issue included a full-page ad for Mexican Airlines aimed at expats.

Full-page ads from Coca-Cola and PepsiCo highlight energy drinks sold at 7-Eleven stores (which draw a lot of construction workers for breakfast), suited for staying alert and energized while on the job. A Coca-Cola ad for its Full Throttle Blue Demon energy drink flavored with blue agave, (a Mexican plant that's distilled into tequila), features a masked Lucha Libre character.

"We're starting to get some attention from nonendemic advertisers, those who don't have products inside the construction industry, but who are seeking the U.S. Hispanic male market," said Kilpatrick. "Advertisers say these guys are very difficult to reach and many of them don't 'self-identify,'" whether they are documented or undocumented."

For marketers, the magazine and its free distribution concept via Home Depot is an ideal way to reach the end users of their construction tools and products, as well as consumer goods and services. That's because Hispanic males tend to fly under the radar and usually don't show up on direct mail databases.

"The [magazine's] free distribution in Home Depot is worth its weight in gold. It's in the front of the store at the Depot 'pro' desk, which is just for contractors," said Mark Hartman, svp of marketing for the Ryobi and Ridgid brands, Techtronic Industries North America, which advertises in the title.

He added: "If we wanted to go out and do a comparable direct mail campaign, we couldn't. You can't even buy a database for Hispanic contractors who dominate the residential construction job site in framing/foundation work, drywall, painting and roofing because most don't show up on those lists. But they all shop at Home Depot."

For Home Depot, the Hispanic construction magazine is one way the retailer is aligning itself with content that is of value to its Hispanic contractors customers. The retail chain also markets its contractor-targeted products, materials and services via direct mail and radio, promoting its professional-oriented merchandise.

"The contractor is Home Depot's most important customer," said Manish Shrivastava, Home Depot's director of marketing. "A dramatically disproportional amount of our sales comes from the contractor and an important segment within the contractor industry is the Hispanic contractor, which is why Constru-Guía is of strategic importance to us."

"By having this publication in our stores, we are telling that segment [Hispanic contractors] that Home Depot is a source for know-how," Shrivastava said.

Source: BrandWeek