Project Auténtico was an internal initiative between Taco Bell and Edelman to conduct first-party research, uncovering insights on the Gen Z Latino community—Taco Bell’s largest audience growth target. This work involved:

• Quantitative: I collaborated closely with Edelman’s data and intelligence arm (DxI) to develop a survey that explored current attitudes toward Taco Bell among Mexican-Americans, the broader Latino community, and the general population. The survey also identified effective strategies for engaging all three segments moving forward.
  
  
• Qualitative: I developed discussion guides for in-depth interviews with key groups representing Taco Bell’s desired audiences, synthesizing the results to uncover interesting insights and tensions in conjunction with the survey findings.

In the end, the work from this project informed earned campaigns that resonated authentically with both contemporary Latino audiences and the Taco Bell brand, including their collaboration with Omar Apollo, which brought his family’s hot sauce recipe to Taco Bell restaurants nationwide.