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Nearly 30 percent of T-Mobile’s workforce identifies as Hispanic or Latino. Diego Osuna believes this is a reflection of an organization that understands its Latino community for what it is: a diverse range of different individuals and cultures—not a monoculture.
“I think one thing we at T-Mobile do well here is that we understand that there are many layers and nuances to this big group that is lumped together,” explains Osuna, the company’s Hispanic marketing strategy lead. “How we experience our life in America depends on facts like what generation removed we are from coming here, as well as [a] multitude of socioeconomic factors. We are small-business owners, we may live in small towns as well as cities, we are young and old. T-Mobile has always understood this.”
Osuna, who has been with T-Mobile since 2017, says the company’s focus and importance placed on its Latino customers are reflected in a variety of branding and product offerings from his organization. For example, T-Mobile’s Stateside International Talk plan is aimed at customers looking to keep in touch with family and friends outside the US. The $20/month add-on allows an entire family to make unlimited calls to over seventy countries.
“Honestly, ERGs and the access I’ve gotten to learn about other communities has made me better at my job.”
Diego Osuna
“For some customers, the availability of quality Wi-Fi can be an issue, so we want to ensure that our customers can reach people they need to without waiting for that connection to be available,” Osuna says. “Additionally, if you happen to be banking or doing other business outside the country, you’re often going to be calling a landline. We just want to make connecting as easy and affordable as we can for our international callers.”
Osuna says he was already a T-Mobile customer before he joined the organization because of how easy managing his phone plan was while traveling internationally. The marketing lead says that for people living between two cultures, T-Mobile works to create as little friction as possible for those on the go. These efforts can also be seen in how T-Mobile makes shopping so accessible for customers. Whether they are looking for an in-person experience, convenience of online shopping, or a mix of both, speaking with representative over the phone in their preferred language.
Bueno, Bonito y Barato: A Lesson from Abuelita
More fundamentally, Osuna says T-Mobile does a better job of taking its customers’ bottom line into account. That’s why the company, known for its “un-carrier” moves, has established itself as one who over-delivers in terms of benefits included in the “standard offerings.” T-Mobile coined the “un-carrier” term in 2013 with the end of annual contracts and has since used that platform to introduce additional benefits that eliminate customer pain points such as Carrier Freedom, which makes it easier to switch to T-Mobile.
“Before T-Mobile came along, I think wireless customers had gotten used to being nickel-and-dimed every step of their journey,” Osuna says. “There is so much included in a T-Mobile plan because we believe in doing things differently here. We know Hispanic families are historically very budget-conscious, especially right now with an uncertain economy. We have to have a strong value proposition for those customers new and old.”
Osuna says he always remembers his grandmother’s motto before making a new purchase: “bueno, bonito, y barato.” Good quality, nice-looking, and affordable. The marketing lead sees T-Mobile’s model as an embodiment of that ethos.
And for customers looking to enhance their traditional plans with a little more entertainment in their lives, T-Mobile can help.
“We were the first to offer a benefit like ‘Netflix on Us’ which includes a Netflix subscription with select plans,” Osuna explains. “We have continued to roll out new offerings that include Hulu, Apple TV+, MLB.TV for our baseball fans, and MLS Season Pass for our soccer fans.”
Osuna says he may be the face of Hispanic marketing at T-Mobile, but the reason he loves his job is that he has an entire corporate commitment supporting his efforts. Internally, Osuna serves as the national cochair for T-Mobile’s Eleva Network, an employee resource group for Latino and Hispanic employees. Osuna says T-Mobile’s ERGs aren’t set up as individual islands, but instead regularly interact with each other and encourage bonding and networking throughout the organization.
“Honestly, ERGs and the access I’ve gotten to learn about other communities has made me better at my job,” Osuna says. “It’s the right thing to do, but it also makes such good business sense.”
The marketing lead is also proud that his organization backs up its commitments through initiatives like Project 10Million which provides free or low-cost internet access to millions of students across the US Project 10Million provides free mobile hotspots as well as access to low-cost laptops and tablets for qualifying students and even entire school districts. Those districts and students are often from underserved and minority communities.
Osuna remembers visiting his parents in South Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic. He drove by a school and saw families in parked cars next to schools, utilizing Wi-Fi, and it underscored just how far the US has to go in terms of bridging the digital divide.
“That’s what the ‘un-carrier’ spirit here is all about,” Osuna says. “We’re breaking down the rules of what it means to be a traditional wireless carrier. We’ve made our name that way. That’s baked into what we do, and we’re not going to stop.”
