¿Se habla español? Understanding the culture before trying to connect with it
Posted by Elena del Valle on July 12, 2006
By Steve Cody, chairman of the PRSA Counselors Academy and managing partner, Peppercom and Stephanie Chaney, junior account executive, Peppercom
Steve Cody and Stephanie Chaney from Peppercom
Photo: Peppercom
Demographers predict by the year 2050 Hispanics will account for 24 percent of the population. They’re already a majority in California, where they represent 32 percent of the state’s residents. And Hispanics are not only growing in numbers, but in political and financial power as well.
So what does this mean to the PR industry?
The public relations industry is experiencing a growing demand from clients who want to reach the Hispanic markets. The number of bilingual public relations campaigns is steadily increasing. To be successful – and not embarrassed – PR firms need to be sensitive about how they develop and implement their Hispanic campaigns.
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Hi Steve and Stephanie!
Congratulations for taking this step forward. The loco translations (and many, many mistakes) are still going on and all over, no matter where you look at: TV commercials, online, paper, Spanglish written and spoken and more…
However, it́s not that simple to address the Hispanic public as a group in general. We might all speak Spanish but also have to keep in mind that we do not think alike nor have the same cultural background. Each country has it own folklore and traditions. As an example, one end user might (Mexicans) love ‘picante’ food but another end user (Puerto Ricans) might prefer ‘frituras’; both are hispanics, speak the same language with variations, but backgrounds are different because of historical reasons. If it’s a general issue or product message, its okay but in order to reach the powerful demographic group, wording has to be ‘generic’ to keep them alert and happy. Ím a freelancer and translator, work in the Southwest Florida area where migration has brought forth a bouquet of words whose meanings are different for each country. Am trying to work out a list of words with the meanings of each country to find a happy medium of understanding among all.
Would love to have a copy of your survey, if possible! Wish you the best on such an important quest!
Luisa M. Fournier