Capturing the Loyalty of a Critical Market Segment Multiculturalism is redefining what it means to be American today. With the changing appearance of the U.S. population comes new definitions of the U.S. consumer and new dilemmas for marketers trying to reach those whose tastes, customs and language may differ from what is commonly know as "general market". Culturally relevant marketing plans will become increasingly critical as the population

Hispanic Buying Power!

becomes more diverse and the buying power of U.S. Hispanics becomes more significant.

The biggest mistake that a company can make is to view the U.S. Hispanic market as homogeneous. Acculturation levels, language preferences and country of origin make for unique sub-groups within the segment.

The Hispanic market's current size, formation of larger households, heavy concentration in the top, youngest, trend-setting markets in the U.S., accompanied by their speedy wealth creation and high consumerism are at odds with the neglect of investment across most advertising and marketing categories. It is imperative for U.S. marketers to reanalyze and immediately adopt new strategies in the way in which they have historically allocated corporate marketing resources.

Hispanic Marketing

Hispanic Advertising

• The visual confirmations provided in television advertising are extremely important, especially so for Spanish-dominant Hispanics.
   
• 49% of U.S. Hispanics who watch television during prime-time hours, watch Spanish language programming.
   
• 40% of Spanish-dominant Hispanics regularly watch English-language programming.
   
• 30% of English-dominant Hispanics regularly watch Spanish programming.

Radio
 

• Radio is a proven, effective medium in targeting Hispanics.
   
• The most unique aspect of Spanish-language radio stations is the time spent listening.
   
• The Hispanic population often listens to the radio all day.
   
• The entire family may listen to one station and tune in, on average, 26 - 30 hours per week. This ranks more than 13% above the general population.

Print
 

• Minority newspapers are an inseparable part of the local minority community. They deliver what no mass medium can -- news that is specifically geared to the needs and concerns of individual minority communities.
   
• Newspaper readership skews to Adult 34-54 age group with an average HHI of $40k+
   

Event Marketing

• Events create excitement, reinforce image, and allow you to hand-deliver your marketing message face-to-face with your target audience. However, many company's efforts at selling themselves to Hispanics are limited to sponsoring the occasional Cinco de Mayo celebration -- these half-hearted efforts will not effectively capture the attention of Hispanic consumers.
   

Direct Response Marketing

• The process of acculturation influences the Hispanic consumer's perception of direct marketing. While most consumers in the general market dismiss direct marketing materials as junk mail, Latinos -- particularly recent immigrants -- welcome it as a means of becoming a more informed consumer.
   
• Overall, Hispanic households are 3.5 times more likely to respond to a direct mail solicitation than a non-Hispanic household;
   
• 72% say they always read their mail, including direct marketing;
   
• 60% of the direct mail sent to homes is in English;
   
• 52% of the respondents speak only Spanish in their homes.
   

Translation vs. Transcreation
Marketers cannot simply transfer directly to the U.S. Hispanic market the conceptualizations or marketing strategies that work with the general market. Many factors -- historical, contextual, cultural, demographic, financial -- place Hispanic consumers in a different category. Brand awareness and usage levels are often dramatically unlike general market patterns and different product attributes are deemed important by Hispanic consumers.

Direct translations and usage of general market strategies tend to miss the emotional and culturally relevant elements. Some results will be there, but not with the sales volume, strength and recall that a truly culturally-attuned marketing and advertising effort can attain.

Make no mistake, the integration of generations and diverse countries of origin within the U.S. Hispanic market has created a complex culture that requires experience and research to understand. What is needed for a successful Hispanic promotional campaign is a sensitivity to what is important to Hispanics - and senior corporate executives willing to initiate a reversal of underinvestment in the Hispanic market by creating new allocation levels in their business and marketing plans for reaching Hispanic consumers. The opportunity is growing. The time is now.

Interested in targeting the Latino market?
BlueTimeMedia, we offer our clients a full complement of direct response, print, Field Promotions, broadcast and interactive solutions, managed by a Hispanic culturally diverse team with be-lingual capabilities. We focus on helping a variety of companies communicate effectively to the domestic Hispanic consumer with culturally relevant marketing. Target Marketing that gets results!.