By Humberto Caspa
About twenty-five years ago, when ‘reaga-nomics’ became synonym of open-market economics and Arnold Schwarzenegger just had his first dose of success with Conan the Barbarian, Latinos had few Spanish-language radio stations to listen to. We just didn’t have many options in the market.
It didn’t matter whether someone was flipping hamburgers at a restaurant [...]

Telemundo Communications Group and Meredith Hispanic Ventures announced the results of their national “What Latinas Want” study. The study combined quantitative and qualitative methodologies to explore the attitudes and opinions of U.S. Latinas with regard to life choices, finance, health, beauty and technology. 
The “What Latinas Want” study revealed that the Latinas living in the country [...]

By Lou Victor

Back in 2005 I did a write up on the topic of how marketers were really missing the mark as it relates to the Hispanic market, and just reviewing the current situation I decided to revisit this topic and just expanding on my current views on it.

Over the past twenty-five years the buying power of the Hispanic community has almost tripled, even in this current economy those numbers continue to escalate. For the first time the U.S. Census has indicated that Hispanics have become the largest minority group in the United States today. They have reached this point five years earlier than reports projected eclipsing African Americans. Advertisers and their agencies have taken notice of this but will they really be able to connect with the Hispanic community.

The greatest misconception that marketers as well as their advertising agencies still have is that all Hispanics are the same and they can be marketed to in the same manner. There are several different Hispanic groups in the US, and a marketer would be throwing their money away if they have come to the conclusion that they can advertise to a Puerto Rican community the same way they would advertise to a Cuban community.

The Hispanic culture is both rich and diverse so first they must understand who their audience is before they can market to them. For example an advertiser would be foolish to create an advertisement that has a Puerto Rican flavor and market that in a Mexican or Cuban community. Lets take it even further, an advertiser will totally miss their target market if they figure that by running an advertisement in Spanish that is covers the total spectrum of the Hispanic community.

The Hispanic community consists of both English and Spanish speaking people from different cultures. This is something that marketing directors have to begin to understand, until they understand they will never be able to take advantage of the large Hispanic population here in the US. Most marketers file in line to ride the bilingual trend, but in reality they haven’t done their homework, they would have greater results if they just created the campaign in English instead of stereotyping the Hispanic community.

When a marketer just assumes that all Hispanics speak Spanish, react to Spanish or Spanglish type ads and have the same preferences, this is considered “Stereotype Marketing”. An example of this would be to market hip hop music to just the African American community, or to market pasta just to the Italian American community, when we know that all nationalities listen to hip hop music and everyone loves pasta, of course it sounds ridiculous, but marketers are doing this when they try to market to the Hispanic community.

Marketers and their advertising agencies need to change their view, even four years after my write up on how they were missing the mark it still holds true, which amazes me, they are still looking at the Hispanic community as a group when in fact there are many factors that make up this “Group” and they must take into account the diversity which includes the country of origin, whether they are the first or second generation here in the US, and their general location

For example a second generation Latino living in Texas would react differently to an ad that is geared toward a second generation Latino living in New York or a second generation Latino living in Miami Florida. Hispanics are like every other line of immigrants that have come to the United States, they aspire to do better for their families and embrace the American culture. It is very possible that close to half of third generation Latinos marry Non-Latinos, which should be a flashing sign for marketers.

With President Obama sitting with leaders both in Mexico and Cuban, as well as other Latin American countries, we are sure to see not only an increase in the number of Hispanics in the United States but also an increase in trade between the United States and Latin American countries. I make mention of this because it will impact how the Hispanic communities through out the USA need to be viewed by marketers.

Granted some commercials that I’ve seen have an appealing feel to them, and there are a few english speaking commercials that are fun on the Spanish Television Programs, but that is a select few marketers compared to the majors that may just be out of the loop with the times.

With banks such as Citigroup, Astoria Federal, JPMorgan Chase and First Commonwealth coming out of the financial abyss little by little, and retailers such as Circuit City Stores going out of business and General Growth Properties becoming the most horrific bankruptcy in US history to date, you would think that generating interest from the Hispanic communities would be part of a marketers main focus and it may be in focus but in my opinion not enough to impact their bottomline.

By Lou Victor
Back in 2005 I did a write up on the topic of how marketers were really missing the mark as it relates to the Hispanic market, and just reviewing the current situation I decided to revisit this topic and just expanding on my current views on it.
Over the past twenty-five years the buying [...]

Press Release



comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a report on the U.S. Hispanic Internet market, finding that the Hispanic online population reached a record 20.3 million visitors in February 2009, representing 11 percent of the total U.S. online market. During the past year, the growth of the U.S Hispanic Internet audience outpaced that of the total U.S. online population in terms of number of visitors, time spent and pages consumed, as Hispanic online adoption and engagement accelerated. 


“It’s well known that the Hispanic market is a growing and increasingly important segment to advertisers and marketers,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. “However, any business attempting to effectively reach this segment needs to understand the behavior of the U.S. Hispanic online consumer as a fundamental component of their marketing and media strategies.”

Hispanic Online Audience Growing Faster than Total U.S. Internet Market

The U.S. Hispanic online population reached 20.3 million visitors in February 2009, an increase of 6 percent from the previous year. Hispanic Internet users also exhibited a surge in online engagement, including strong increases in time spent and pages consumed. The total amount of time spent online by Hispanics increased 6.9 percent in 2009 (3.9 times faster than the total U.S. online population), while total pages consumed grew 6 percent (3.6 times faster than the total U.S. population).

U.S. Hispanics are Heavy Online Entertainment Consumers

Though they represent 11 percent of the total U.S. online audience, Hispanics account for just 9 percent of total time spent online. To understand where Hispanics are most likely to consume content online, the study looked at the site categories where they spent an above average share of their online time.

 The top ranked category was Community – Teens, where U.S. Hispanics accounted for 18 percent of total time spent in the category, followed by Gaming Information at 13 percent. Other entertainment- and leisure-related categories were heavily represented on the list, including Radio (13 percent), Multimedia (12 percent), Discussion/Chat, Instant Messengers (11 percent) and Music (11 percent).

“Though U.S. Hispanics are less engaged Internet users on average, they do show a predilection for communication and entertainment online – high engagement activities that offer a potentially strong marketing opportunity,” added Flanagan.

Press Release


comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a report on the U.S. Hispanic Internet market, finding that the Hispanic online population reached a record 20.3 million visitors in February 2009, representing 11 percent of the total U.S. online market. During the past year, the growth of the U.S Hispanic Internet [...]

The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, today released a statistical profile of Mexican immigrants living in the United States. On the eve of President Obama’s visit to Mexico, this profile reveals that a record 12.7 million Mexican immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2008, a 17-fold increase since 1970. Mexicans now account for 32% of all U.S. immigrants and more than one-in-ten of all persons born in Mexico now reside in the U.S.
 
No other country in the world has as many total immigrants from all countries as the United States has immigrants from Mexico alone.  
 
More than half (55%) of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. are unauthorized. Immigrants from Mexico are younger than other immigrants and less likely to be U.S. citizens. Compared with the U.S. born population, Mexican immigrants are more likely to be male, married, and live in larger households. They are less educated, more likely to be unemployed, have lower incomes and higher poverty rates.
 
The statistical profile is based on data from the March 2008 Current Population Survey. 

The profile, Mexican Immigrants in the United States, 2008, is available at the Pew Hispanic Center’s website, www.pewhispanic.org.

The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, is a nonpartisan, non-advocacy research organization based in Washington, D.C. and is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, today released a statistical profile of Mexican immigrants living in the United States. On the eve of President Obama’s visit to Mexico, this profile reveals that a record 12.7 million Mexican immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2008, a 17-fold increase since 1970. Mexicans [...]

Is brand building with consumers an art or a science? And how should ad agencies build brands?  Angel Martinez answered these questions during his keynote presentation at the AHAA (Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies) media conference where he told the story of his arguably “American Dream” life of growing up in the Bronx, becoming CMO of Reebok, building it into a sports powerhouse and more recently joining the Deckers Outdoor Corporation, maker of the Uggs and Teva shoe brands, as CEO and Chairman.

Born in Cuba, Mr. Martinez and his family moved to the South Bronx where he spent his teenage years.  In 1967, during the height of the summer of love, his family moved to the Bay Area.  He summed up those two different worlds with two different versions of the same shoe: A black pair of high-top “Cons,” or Converse’s “Chuck Taylor” shoes, versus a white pair of low-top “Chucks.” Wear the white low tops in the Bronx and you’ll get beat up.  Wear the black high-tops in the Bay Area and you’ll get beat up there.  It was the purchase of his first pair of “Cons” that ultimately drew him to the footwear industry and build his success in understanding consumers no matter what their background.

Growing up in the two different worlds of the South Bronx and the Bay Area gave Mr. Martinez insights into his work today as CEO of a trend-setting shoe and fashion marketer whose goal is to understand consumers needs and deliver upon them.  He shared 15 “key insights” for what all brand stewards – Hispanic or in the general market – ought to follow.

1. Pay attention: What is your product doing around the country? How is it being used and understood by consumers?  At one time, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Dr. J all were all spokespeople for Converse and yet they lost market share.  Why?  Because Converse lost touch of their brand value to basketball players and what those players needed. 

2.  Stick to what comes naturally: Maximize what you are good at.  Know your limits but don’t stop dreaming.

3. Love what you do and do what you love:  Mr. Martinez cited advice back from his days studying at UC-Davis that he gave to one of his fellow runners who didn’t like running – stop!  If you don’t like it, you’ll get injured.

4. Marketing is the rhetoric of business: Rhetoric, or the art of speaking or writing effectively, parallels marketing in every way.  Follow the three main rhetorical styles, as expressed in Latin:  Logos, ethos, and pathos; or meaning, purpose and empathy.

5. “The last 3 feet of the sale”:  When Reebok was first getting started and only had $300,000 in revenues its first year, they were up against the 800 pound gorilla – Nike – with its $60MM ad budget. Reebok decided to let Nike’s ad budgets bring consumers to shoe stores and then worked to communicate to shoe sales people that Reebok was the “fun shoe to sell.” So, Reebok put its entire marketing budget towards point of sale, or “the last 3 feet of the sale,” that wall of shoes facing consumers in stores.  Not long after that, Reebok surpassed Nike in sales. Reebok has sold 31MM pairs of their trademark aerobics shoes worldwide. 

6. Aerobics had nothing to do with shoes: The most important thing to remember is to learn about consumers from the marketing process. Back in the 80’s, it was un-feminine to sweat.  Women weren’t supposed to have muscles.  Reebok offered women the possibility to discover their physical potential through aerobics. Also, women buy 8x as much footwear as men.  That should have been obvious to everyone.  But it wasn’t.  There is a five step process for consumers evaluating shoes.  One, how do they look? Second, does the shoe feel good? Third, how much does it cost? Forth, will this help my running and will it make me look cuter? And fifth, do they have it in my size?

7. Have a story that can change someone’s life and stick to it.  Every great brand is built on a great product that represents the values of company like Nike, Apple or Porsche.  And they avoid falling prey to the “F” Word – Fad.  As an example in the shoe business, Mr. Martinez cited Crocs, the brightly colored plastic clogs, which he compares to making muffins since they are literally baked in a mold.  Crocs are in the muffin business!  That company grew from nothing to almost $300MM in 3 years…and then their sales fell dramatically.

8. Eventually, all brands become irrelevant and obsolete without reinvention

9. Brands endure because a creative vision stays intact. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Ralph Lauren all kept their creative visions intact for their respective brands, and therefore created long-term value.  What is “North” for your brand, or the strategic intention?  That’s a key role for an agency.  Ensure that companies stay true to the “North” for the brand and delivery clarity of vision for what the consumer wants.

10. You learn more by observing what not to do than what to do

11. Without brand vision, we are blind to opportunity:  When we come across new products or stories, we all need to be clear on why and how.  The agency is the brand steward for managing that process.

12. Core brand values are the DNA of any marketing organization:  They cannot be altered without a significant price.

13. Build your strategy on those core values: Duh!  Don’t be tempted

14. Resist the temptation to “Dumb it down”: That’s the result of being greedy and power hungry.

15. An agency should be the keeper of the Eternal Flame: That is what makes a great brand.

In conclusion, Mr. Martinez asked, “Is brand building an ART or a science?” By highlighting his preference, he answered his own question.  Then, he asked why did Aristotle title his classic, “The Art of Rhetoric” and not “The Science of Rhetoric”?  Because it is an art and marketing, like rhetoric, is an art as well.

Source: Joe Kutchera

Is brand building with consumers an art or a science? And how should ad agencies build brands?  Angel Martinez answered these questions during his keynote presentation at the AHAA (Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies) media conference where he told the story of his arguably “American Dream” life of growing up in the Bronx, becoming CMO [...]

Source: eMarketer.com
Adoption of broadband, digital downloads high.
More US Hispanics are going online than ever before, and most are using broadband.
According to Scarborough Research, 54% of Hispanics were online in 2008. While that is up slightly over the previous year, it still trails the 69% penetration rate of total US users.

The adoption of broadband by Hispanic consumers, [...]

by Rochelle Newman-Carrasco

During the AHAA conference in Vegas this past week, there were several references to those who “get it.” These references were either stated outright or implied. For example, right off the bat it was mentioned that the conference co-chairs, Grupo Gallegos’ Ken Deutsch and Global Hue’s Tracey Decker, were both non-Hispanic (an AHAA conference first). However, there was no doubt about their credibility, as their professional backgrounds have earned them great respect as U.S. Hispanic-marketing specialists.

Then there was an excellent panel featuring the 4A’s Nancy Hill, the ANA’s Bob Liodice and Adriana Eiriz of the CMO Council. Nancy Hill introduced herself with a comfortable level of bilingualism and shared some personal connections to both Mexico and Ecuador. It was her way of suggesting “I get it.” She did not, however, just rely on that. She also spoke about her professional involvement with big agencies, small agencies, holding companies and independents: another “I get it” moment spoken from industry professional to industry professionals.

Bob Liodice acknowledged no ability to speak Spanish and refrained from doing so. In a way, it was also an “I get it” moment, suggesting in his tone and manner that he is well aware that our industry is tired of the uncomfortable and awkward moments when a non-Spanish speaker feels forced to say a few words in Spanish to a bilingual audience for no specific reason other than possibly to pander or brush off some high school memories. He gracefully spared us that. What he didn’t say was that in the ’80s as a brand manager at General Foods, he was an early adopter of U.S. Hispanic marketing practices in his business strategies. He also went on to join Televisa prior to joining the ANA. In other words, he, too, gets it. The clarity he exhibited during the panel quickly confirmed his level of awareness and interest in building the skill set of ANA members and creating a culture of CMOs that “get it” more often than they don’t.

Keynote speaker Angel Martinez, CEO of Decker’s Outdoor (home of Uggs and Teva), is of Cuban descent. He spoke of marketing as the rhetoric of business. His rhetorical skills were evident as he eloquently laid out the story of how his career in the shoe industry has informed his philosophies about branding and marketing. Nary a mention of U.S. Hispanic marketing in specific, but there didn’t need to be. It was clear that we were being spoken to by someone who “gets it.”

The second day included T-Mobile client Tim Switzer, who again, while non-Hispanic, clearly got it. He, too, made an “I get it” reference when he spoke about his past work with Nike and its lack of interest in marketing to Hispanics at a time when soccer was a brand priority. Following this, there was a compelling panel featuring Doug Darfield of Nielsen and Sterling Green, president of Spike DDB. This allowed for a different layer of “get it” to rise to the forefront. The panel addressed commonalities as well as tensions that exist between African-American agencies and U.S. Hispanic agencies, particularly as it relates to fighting over the “crumbs” (to quote Mr. Green) all too often allocated to support those initiatives falling under the convenient but questionable labels of diversity and multiculturalism.

Leaving Las Vegas, I was left wondering what makes the “get it” crowd so capable of accepting targeted marketing based on ethnicity and culture as a valid and important pursuit, vs. those who ignore it or, in some cases, are disdainful of both the marketing technique and of the consumers in question. Undoubtedly, much of what we talk about in conferences and here in the Big Tent becomes actionable when you’re dealing with people who get it. Business obstacles are minimized when you’re dealing with clients who get it.

Perhaps it’s all about personal life experience and upbringing. Certainly that helps, but it can’t be all there is. I have worked with many individuals for whom the U.S. Hispanic marketing arena is uncharted territory. Yet professionally they have been able to embrace the value and importance of this segmented marketing opportunity and act upon it. So I set out to classify the types of marketers I’ve known and see if I could find patterns that exist and qualities that distinguish the “get its” from the “never going to get its.”

I drew an axis.

On one end of the horizontal I wrote “Enlightened.” On the other end, “Frightened.”

On one end of the vertical I wrote “Trial.” On the other end, “Denial.”

This created four quadrants. Two that “get it” and two that don’t. Here’s a description of each:

Enlightened and Trial: These are individuals or companies that understand all consumer behavior is influenced by culture and that have specific insight into the cultural nuances that define the U.S. Hispanic market, both collectively and in all of its various segmented forms. They are open to Hispanic marketing opportunities, so they embrace them on behalf of their brands, and they keep digging deeper. They are busy doing what marketers do: trying things. Creating initiatives that are well thought out, supporting them and activating them in order to generate desired or even unexpected results. Which sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t, but that’s not their sole measure of success. They’re also measuring success by evaluating how their levels of enlightenment help to drive innovation and how their commitment to stay curious propels them to try new things.

Frightened and Trial: These are the individuals or companies that are, often justifiably, concerned about making mistakes or offending consumers. Perhaps they have heard horror stories about failed programs or poor agency partnerships. Nonetheless, they are willing to get over their fears and put possibilities in front of perfectionism. These are the brands that are trying to build their knowledge bases but don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. In my experience, their efforts to enter uncharted territory or to innovate in spite of their fears are often richly rewarded. This is the category into which I would say most early adopters fall. U.S. Hispanic marketing is full of many success stories from clients who started in or even currently exist in this quadrant.

Frightened and Denial: This category is tricky, because these clients/companies can often look like their Frightened/Trial counterparts. The difference is that they will never greenlight a program. They will, however, have their agency partners jump through hoop after hoop to bring them data and persuasive arguments that they say might change their positions. Nonetheless, their positions never change. No matter what is brought before them, they will not invest in this space. Their motives may range from professional lack of interest to personal objections that they are not willing to admit. Some, for example, are concerned that marketing to Hispanics will damage their brands vis-a-vis the non-Hispanic population, although they’ll never tell you that. They live in fear and are often found keeping their heads in the sand.

Enlightened and Denial: Finally, there are those who know all the data, all the facts, and don’t quarrel with them. They simply don’t want to associate their brands with Spanish-speaking consumers for a variety of reasons, including a personal belief that English should be the official language of the U.S. Talk to them about bilingual consumers who are reached in English, and they’ll reject the notion that these consumers are at all distinct from any other English-speaking consumer being targeted via existing methodologies. Whether you agree with them or not, they are at least straightforward and forthcoming in their approach. They won’t waste your time like the Frightened/Denials will. They are simply not interested, and they will let you know that so you can save resources and move on.

I should add that not all non-participants in U.S. Hispanic marketing are in denial. There are those who choose not to allocate dollars toward the U.S. Hispanic market in any specifically targeted way, and do so purely based on sound business practices. Sometimes there are legitimate business reasons governed by the realities of a specific brand that make it impossible to allocate budget specifically toward a Hispanic marketing program. (I can’t think of any, but I do know they exist.) If this is your situation, you owe it to yourself to make sure your decisions are not rooted in denial but rather in smart decisions driven by adequate analysis and discovery. The measure of whether you are in a Denial or Trial quadrant is if your willingness to address the U.S. Hispanic market would flourish if you were in charge of a different product or service line where the upside potential of the Hispanic marketing opportunity could not be called into question.

So, ask yourself: When it comes to U.S. Hispanic marketing, do you get it? Are you working with people who get it? Do you think there is anything to get? If you want to share, I’d love to hear what “getting it” means to you.

Source: AdAge

by Rochelle Newman-Carrasco
During the AHAA conference in Vegas this past week, there were several references to those who “get it.” These references were either stated outright or implied. For example, right off the bat it was mentioned that the conference co-chairs, Grupo Gallegos’ Ken Deutsch and Global Hue’s Tracey Decker, were both non-Hispanic (an [...]

By Tim Bradshaw, Digital Media Correspondent

Two-thirds of advertising agencies are not prepared for the industry changes prompted by social networks and new forms of digital media, a report has found.

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, which will publish the “Social Media Futures” report compiled by Future Foundation next week, has warned that advertising agencies face growth of just 1.2 per cent a year by 2016 if the industry fails to tackle the changes to the media created by sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Social networks enable consumers to pass on information about products and services, and recommendations from friends are more influential than traditional forms of advertising.

Advertisers are already taking advantage of the trend, with the Cadbury “Gorilla” spot being viewed over 10m times on YouTube as well as being aired on television.

The Dove “Campaign for real beauty”, which advertised Unilever’s cosmetics range, was also boosted by a YouTube video showing a high-speed transformation of a model’s natural face to the made-up and touched-up final version which appeared on a billboard.

But not enough agencies are adjusting to the online world, the IPA warned. In its worst-case scenario, the resulting decline in paid-for advertising space could see £16m ($23m) of revenues lost by the industry by 2016, if agencies fail to create new products and services to cater to the social media world.

However, the report says that two-thirds of that decline could be made up by creating new forms of web content that contains branding messages, and by analysing the data expressed on the web.

Clients’ investment in new content and rapid data analysis will increase by around 5 per cent, according to the IPA’s survey. Other sources of revenue derived for social networking include consultancy and e-commerce.

“The current downturn will accelerate these trends in agencies as everyone is looking to innovate and stand out from the crowd,” said Moray MacLennan, IPA president and chief executive of M&C Saatchi Worldwide, an agency.

“I don’t think [social media] is a replacement for paid-for media, it is just going to be a challenger for [consumers’] time and attention.”

Social networks themselves are still figuring out how to make money from advertising on their sites. Pricing for generic banner advertising on social networking is relatively low compared to other sites, because their users are logging in for communication rather than commerce.

That has prompted both networks and advertisers to look for more innovative ways to connect with consumers.

“Within this environment, one needs to acknowledge that more often than not you are interrupting private conversations,” said Mr MacLennan.

Joe Staton, planning director at the Future Foundation, who co-wrote the report, said that marketers needed to secure “permission” to approach users on social sites.

“As people are being more considered about purchasing, they want to go out and find information themselves rather than just receiving it,” he said.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

By Tim Bradshaw, Digital Media Correspondent
 
Two-thirds of advertising agencies are not prepared for the industry changes prompted by social networks and new forms of digital media, a report has found.
The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, which will publish the “Social Media Futures” report compiled by Future Foundation next week, has warned that advertising agencies face [...]

By Al Carlos Hernandez
Have you ever made the mistake of saying a few phrases in Spanish, only to have the other person speak for the next 45 minutes in the mother tongue, while you have little clue as to what they are saying because it is too fast, and you don’t know how to stop [...]