Hispanic Market

The Hispanic market and three myths marketers should consider

With over 52 million total population and recently converted in the biggest minority in the country, the Latinos are changing the marketing game. The Hispanic society has become a key driver for consumption by a consumer nation per excellence. Its purchasing power in 2010 was set at $ 1 billion and is expected in 2015 to reach the 1.5 billions of dollars. If Latinos residing in the USA were considered as an independent economy, it would be the ninth economy in the world, a potential that has not gone unnoticed by American companies and entrepreneurs who have realized the importance of the Hispanic market.

In the past, companies that realized the importance of attracting Hispanic consumers believed that it was enough to translate ads to the Spanish language, but their campaigns failed because they were limited to adopt language without putting the emphasis on culture. Hispanics are not only interested in products, they also want brands connected to their values. Latinos are not only from Mexico (A common mistake made by marketers in the USA), they come from different countries and backgrounds, yet they all share a common language, each region of North, Central and South America have its own traditions and preferences. You can find people from different countries that use the same exact word in Spanish with up to ten different meanings, the word “ Cachar” in Mexico means to grab something, this same word in Chile means to understand something, while in Peru is a bad word use with sexual implications. It would be a big mistake to target all the Latinos as one (Mexicans) without considering at least their place of birth and the time they have lived in the country. While there are several cultural traditions they share, for most Latinos it is important to feel that products manufacturers understand their personal needs.

Myth #1: Bilingual Hispanics don’t watch Spanish television.

There is a belief that once Hispanics learn to speak English well and become bilingual, they become “acculturated” and use English as their primary language. However, acculturation is a process rather than an absolute classification whereby Hispanics adopt American customs while still guarding their culture, heritage and traditions. While seventy-seven percent of U.S. Hispanics speak English well according to current American Community Survey estimates, sixty-one percent of Hispanics aged 18+ tell Nielsen they prefer to speak Spanish in their homes versus only 17 percent who say they speak only English. Spanish language remains a core component of the Hispanic home long after English proficiency is gained.

Myth #2: I can reach Hispanics through my general market campaigns; Spanish-Language advertising is an expendable part of my budget.

In 2010, Nielsen reports that only 75 percent of the top 200 advertisers spent money on Spanish-language cable or broadcast, and those that did only spent about eight percent of the total advertising budget on Spanish-language TV. For English-language television, Hispanic viewing time is dispersed over a large number of networks, while Spanish language viewing is more concentrated. A brand advertised across all English language national broadcast networks in primetime would only reach about 38 percent of all Hispanics aged 18-49, while a Spanish-language broadcast would reach 53 percent.

Myth #3: Hispanics are late adopters of technology, so using online and mobile campaigns is unnecessary.

According to Nielsen 2010 universe estimates, approximately 30 million Hispanics (62%) have access to the Internet at home. Include the number of Hispanics who have online access via work, school or in other public places and Internet penetration rises to about 88 percent. And mobile Internet access closes this gap even further, since Hispanics are more likely to have a video and Internet enabled cell phone than the general market (44 percent versus 35 percent). While Hispanics spend 20 percent less time online than non-Hispanics, they stream twice as much video online, accounting for almost 30 percent of their online activity. New studies are finding that Hispanics are equally, if not more involved in emerging technologies than the general market.

In this context Advertising agencies that target and understand the Hispanic market are gaining more customers every day.