The Latino Chamber of Commerce of Dane County (LCCDC) and their Marketing Membership Strategist, Eric Zuniga, have been making an impact, especially with their new web series featuring various local businesses, LCC TV.
After partnering with Food Fight, a locally owned and operated restaurant group, the LCCDC began to promote local businesses in a unique and innovative way. Zuniga, who also manages social media for the LCCDC, visits local businesses (restaurants in this case) in order to give them a platform to showcase and promote the history and future of their businesses. He also tries the food at each restaurant, giving a small preview for the viewers.
The first few episodes, which are available on the LCCDC Facebook page, featured three restaurants where Zuniga briefly interviewed the owners and reviewed their food and specialties. The first was with owner Juan Gonzalez from the Dominican restaurant L&J Deli. Gonzalez is looking to bring a Dominican and Cuban flavor to Madison. The second video in the series featured owner Arturo Ruiz and his restaurant Village Pizza, which combines a mixture of Italian and Mexican styles in their dishes. The third video featured Aureliano Montes and his restaurant Canteen Taqueria & Tequila Bar, where they focus on tacos and other traditional Mexican cuisines. All of the restaurants are currently in downtown Madison.
Zuniga got the idea for the series from a few videos he saw online and added his own experiences and passions to the mix.
“I’ve always loved theatre in high school and I’ve always been interested in business. I’ve always liked to help people. How can I mix those three things in one?” Zuniga says. “I watched a few video series and I thought it would be nice to have a platform to promote these local businesses. People liked and enjoyed it. I’m just the person you recognize.”
“It’s Chamber (LCCDC) on the go. We go and visit businesses to feel that connection and help out. I was already doing this and thought it would just be nice to do it with a camera,” says Zuniga. “It’s also member recognition. You have to push innovation. You’ve got to take risks and be different. We want to push innovation and new things for the Latino Chamber of Commerce.”
People who liked and shared the videos on Facebook were entered into a raffle where two people had the opportunity to win a $40 giftcard to Canteen or a $50 gift card to Food Fight, giving incentive to the viewer while promoting the businesses.
“(LCDCC CEO) Jessica Cavazos wants to turn the Chamber into the ‘Netflix of Chambers’. Implementing ideas and bringing in a strong reality and sense of community. A lot of members are business owners. I would like to see more people join the cause,” Zuniga says. Each restaurant owner featured in the videos is also a member of the LCCDC.
Another new implementation will be the new Incubator called “Tu Empressa”. This is a six-month process to help start a new business. Zuniga also looks to bring the ‘young creative side’ to become more media based to promote these businesses.
“We’re also having a talk show in Sun Prairie,” he says. “Having people talk to the business owners. We’ll be creating a platform for the customer to communicate with owner. The goal is to promote local businesses in general starting with Latino.”
They’re also focusing on a Junior Chamber, which will focus on promoting entrepreneurship at a young age. The partnership will be with Nuestro Mundo – A local non-profit focused on cultivating a space in which the community members can all experience enhanced educational opportunities in Spanish and English.