Posted by Elena del Valle on June 6, 2005
According to TNS Media Intelligence, Hispanic ad spending increased from $865 million in the final quarter of 2004 to $915 million for the first quarter of this year (based on the TNS Media Intelligence Stradegy2 multimedia ad expenditure database across all TNSMI measured media), representing a 5.8 percent increase for the first quarter of 2005.
Overall ad spending for the same period only increased 4.4 percent to $33.5 billion. This makes the overall ad spending increase in the first quarter of 2005 the smallest period of growth since the 4.3 rise in quarterly ad spending at the end of 2003 according to TNS Media Intelligence.
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 9, 2005
Vida Nuestra 53-foot trailer
Integration of 15 Brands into Hispanic Family Experience
Provides Foundation of Mobile Event Marketing Tour
San Diego, April, 2005 – As part of it’s mission to help contribute to
and encourage the health and well-being of the U.S. Hispanic market, a
unique culturally relevant, bilingual educational experience is being
delivered to Hispanic consumers nationwide.
Launched in Miami in March and running through mid-October, the
multi-faceted interactive grassroots mobile marketing program will visit
key Wal*Mart stores and major Hispanic events throughout the U.S. The
program enables consumers to tour an interactive Latino family home,
participate in free health assessments, and receive a free bilingual
magazine and product samples. Accompanying the tour are a team of 7
trained Brand Ambassadors who are available to interact with consumers
and deliver key messages in Spanish and English.
The program created by San Diego based AIM – Alternative & Innovative
Marketing, will enable consumers to discover more about their health,
wellness and available healthcare products through an interactive self
discovery experience. The tour takes place in what appears to be a
“Placita”, a neighborhood environment typical in Latina America, where
the consumer will get to walk through the “home” of the Bueno Family,
featured within a 53 foot trailer adorned with an eye-catching facade.
Consumers are led through the Vida Nuestra experience from the
perspective of Sofía, the teenage daughter of the Bueno Family who
educates consumers about the featured brands by showing how they help
her family. She leads consumers through the interior of her family’s
home, which has been designed in a “maze-like” manner that requires
participants to physically go into each room for a brand interaction.
Upon exiting the Bueno Family home experience, consumers enter the
self-discovery area of the tour, where they can participate in numerous
health assessments, including body mass index, diabetes risk assessment
and blood pressure screening. As consumers conclude the Vida Nuestra experience, they receive a free
custom bilingual health magazine with accompanying product samples and
literature delivered in a poly-bag.
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 9, 2005
New York, NY–(HISPANIC PR WIRE – BUSINESS WIRE)–May 9, 2005–Macy’s announced today the selection of New York-based Latinvox to handle national advertising for the Hispanic market. Latinvox will primarily focus on creating broadcast media campaigns for Macy’s, Federated Department Store’s (NYSE:FD)(PCX:FD) largest store brand, for the Fall 2005 season. This important decision to partner with a Hispanic agency is an extension of Macy’s diversity initiative that is an integral part of the company’s business objectives. Macy’s long-term strategy is to build on the Hispanic customer base, which has quickly become the largest and fastest-growing U.S. ethnic group. “The Hispanic market is an increasingly important part of Macy’s core-customer base. It is critical for us to find new resources in order to reach out to this community. This partnership will complement existing multi cultural marketing initiatives that are being designed to more effectively message the Macy’s brand to our African American and Asian customer,” said Peter Sachse, Macy’s Corporate Marketing President and Chief Marketing Officer.
Federated (fds.com), with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation’s leading department store retailers, with fiscal 2004 sales of more than $15.6 billion. Federated operates more than 450 stores in 34 states, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. The company also operates macys.com and Bloomingdale’s By Mail. Latinvox (latinvox.com) is a 100% minority-owned Hispanic advertising and marketing agency helping clients communicate effectively with the U.S. Hispanic markets in a fully integrated fashion. Latinvox services include advertising, public relations, media planning and buying, research and consumer insights, direct and interactive marketing, events and promotions and branded content among others. Latinvox addresses its clients’ business opportunities through proprietary methodologies that touch upon key areas such as product and category relevance, consumer segmentation, media and channels optimization, culturally relevant creative executions and the tracking of return on investment.
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 4, 2005
When writing in Spanish, accents and special characters such as "ñ" "¡" "¿" are necessary. Words or sentences without them are incorrect. In the same way that leaving out an apostrophe in English is a misspelling, leaving out an accent or special character is Spanish is a misspelling. Although U.S. keyboards don’t usually include keys for these characters or for the "ñ," it is possible to type them using a standard U.S. keyboard on a PC. More
Posted by Elena del Valle on April 15, 2005
Hamilton, BERMUDA–(HISPANIC PR WIRE – BUSINESS WIRE)–April 14, 2005–VistaPrint, the source for high-quality graphic design, Internet printing and premium service, today announced the availability of its new U.S. Hispanic site. The new site provides customized, high-quality, low-cost printed products for small businesses and consumers in Spanish and brings the total number of sites operated by the company to 18.
In the United States, there is a growing need for online business and consumer services to be in Spanish as Internet penetration among U.S. Hispanics grows quickly. Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States total 1.2 million firms, employ over 1.3 million people and generate $186.3 billion in revenues according to the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau 2001 Report. According to the 2000 Census, 29 million U.S. residents aged 5 and over speak Spanish at home, and eMarketer predicts that there will be 16 million Hispanic Internet users by 2007. More
Posted by Elena del Valle on April 11, 2005
Boston. MA–(HISPANIC PR WIRE)–April 11, 2005–HYP Network, the leading independent publisher of Spanish language yellow page directories in the United States announced today that it has acquired Casablanca Publishing, Inc., the leading independent Hispanic Yellow Pages company in Atlanta. Zaida Gonzalez and Julio Garriga, a husband and wife team who founded Casablanca 17 years ago will continue to lead the company. HYP Network will continue to publish two directories in the market, in Metro Atlanta and in suburban North Georgia.
The Company presently publishes 12 directories in Tampa, Orlando, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, Atlanta and North Georgia. HYP Network has announced plans to launch in Phoenix and San Antonio. HYP Network also sells national advertising into Spanish language directories in Miami and Broward County, Florida. The Company is majority owned by ABRY Partners of Boston, MA.
Posted by Elena del Valle on April 8, 2005
Reston, VA–(HISPANIC PR WIRE – BUSINESS WIRE)–April 7, 2005–Nextel Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTL) announced today the further expansion of the successful "Nextel. Ya." Hispanic advertising campaign to Hispanic network television including Univision, Telemundo, Galavision, Azteca TV, Fox Sports En Espanol and Telefutura. The new national television commercial called ‘Blender’ uses humor to highlight the difficulty in creating a service that mimics Nextel’s differentiated International Direct Connect, the only walkie-talkie service to cross the borders of the United States into Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Canada in under a second.
The campaign was created by Accentmarketing, Nextel’s agency of record for Hispanic advertising, and will launch this evening with Nextel’s sponsorship of the anticipated Spanish-language event: "Tributo a Selena." This tribute concert commemorates the 10th anniversary of Selena’s passing. More
Posted by Elena del Valle on March 31, 2005
Newport Beach, CA–(HISPANIC PR WIRE – BUSINESS WIRE)–March 30, 2005–Trycera Financial, Inc. today announced the launch of the Mi Dinero y Mis Suenos Prepaid MasterCard(R) Card (the "My Money, My Dreams" Prepaid MasterCard(R) Card). The card, issued by Meta Payment Systems, a division of MetaBank (NASDAQ:CASH), and supported by the next generation processing platform of Galileo Processing, Inc., enables its cardholder to store or pre-fund money on the card for shopping at millions of merchant locations worldwide where MasterCard Debit is accepted, and for withdrawing cash via the MasterCard global ATM network. Cardholders can reload the card through Western Union(R), direct payroll deposit, bank transfer or at thousands of participating retail locations nationwide. The card program also features Click N Pay(TM) integrated bill payment, allowing its cardholder to conveniently pay bills via the Internet and phone.
The Mi Dinero y Mis Suenos Prepaid MasterCard is available online at http://www.midineromc.com and through various retail locations and direct affiliate programs. More
Posted by Elena del Valle on March 28, 2005
We have written many times over the years about the size, growth and importance of the Hispanic market ($1 trillion by 2010), and the significance of the Hispanic youth market as a bellwether, leading-edge group. In issue #945 (September 2002), we reported on several sources of research that suggested a trend toward English preference among a large majority of US Hispanic youth in terms of media usage (TV, radio, print media, film and Internet). That trend appears to be accelerating. According to a recent study conducted by researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY), English remains the language of choice among the children and grandchildren of Hispanic immigrants, despite continuing waves of migration from Latin America. In contrast to concerns from some analysts that English may be losing ground to Spanish in some parts of the United States, the study finds the majority of Hispanic Americans moving steadily toward English monolingualism. Among third-generation Hispanics, the fastest-growing segment of the US Latino population, 72% speak English exclusively. Further, the study finds that this trend has generally continued among Mexican-Americans, the country¹s largest immigrant group, even during the immigration boom of the 1990s. Even for Hispanics in Los Angeles, a magnet for immigration from Latin America, the pattern of language shifts across generations remains similar to those among Hispanics nationally. The report suggests that many other researchers and analysts have underestimated the pressures of assimilation, and are missing its contemporary signs.
Who We Are, What We Are Becoming
For example, Samuel Huntington, a professor of political science at Harvard, touched off a furor last year by warning in his book, Who Are We: The Challenges to America¹s National Identity, that continuing high levels of Hispanic immigration might ³eventually change America into a country of two languages, two cultures and two peoples.² He is quoted in the International Herald Tribune as saying that the SUNY study reflects the experience of current third-generation Hispanics, but does little to predict the experience of future third-generations. Richard Alba, director of the SUNY study, counters that available statistics do not suggest a substantive change in historical patterns. His view is echoed by Ruben Rumbaut of the University of California, co-director of the largest multiyear survey of children of immigrants, whose findings show that continued bilingualism among Hispanics does not occur at the expense of English. Even among Mexican-born young people who came to the US as young children and are living on the border, the UC survey finds, English is still overwhelmingly preferred. What¹s behind this English preference trend? Although not generally understood or appreciated, Hispanic immigration to the US, as well as the share of the US Hispanic population that is foreign-born, both peaked years ago. Hence, the explosive growth of the US Hispanic population in the coming decades will be fueled more by natural increase (native births) than by immigration. This will speed the processes of assimilation, acculturation and English-proficiency. Spanish is certainly not going to fade away in the regions of the country that serve as gateways to new immigrants. The sheer size and continuous nature of Hispanic immigration, the proximity of Latin America to the US, and the availability of Spanish options in media, business and government services guarantee the continued proliferation of Spanish usage in the US. But it¹s not what the kids are doing: young Hispanics may be very proud of their heritage, but English is the language of that powerful machine known as American culture. According to the Latino Intelligence Report, a national survey of Hispanic teens conducted by a division of Creative Artists Agency, Hispanic teens watch more television than their general-market counterparts and cite MTV, Fox and Comedy Central as their favorite TV networks. While only 8% of those surveyed said they speak Spanish better than English or Spanish only, 48% said they speak English and Spanish equally well. Interestingly, however, only 20% of those responding to telephone interviews volunteered to take the survey in Spanish. In other words, Hispanic teens overreport their Spanish-speaking ability.
Growth Strategies Implications
Note well: while assimilation and acculturation to the mainstream is still the paradigm of ethnic minorities in the US, what is different and unique about Hispanics is how much they have changed, and are changing, the mainstream in the process. Every facet of American culture, every aspect of American society, now includes and is transformed by Hispanic influences, and young Hispanics are driving the trend (a very current example would be Spanglish rap songs). Juan Faura, president of Hispanic advertising agency Cultura, agrees that Hispanic culture has evolved into an integral part of the overall pop-culture fabric in the US. He writes in Marketing y Medios that he has come to realize, after many years in the industry, that the Hispanic market is not so much a mix of two cultures as an emerging third culture: This third culture is unique to its time in history. It is a culture rich in tradition and pride, but defined by its own values, values forged over generations in this country. It is defined more by the expectations of the future than the memories of the past. Andrew Erlich of Erlich Transcultural Consultants agrees, writing that bicultural youth are individuating and creating their own new culture, which they express and experience in just about all aspects of their daily lives. Appreciating the experience of bilingual youth, he concludes, will give marketers a window to understanding the Latino market and a key to designing successful strategies for today and tomorrow.
Posted by Elena del Valle on March 24, 2005
Miami, FL (March 24, 2005) – The Hispanic Marketing & Communication Association (HMCA) announced today four new board members: Suzanne Irizarry de López of Bilingual Research Services, Sylvia Nieto-Vidal of Multicultural Insights, Juan Guillermo Tornoe of The Wizard of Ads, and Richard Velez of MASS Promotions.
Suzanne Irizarry de López is Director of Business Development for Bilingual Research Services (BRS), a unique supplier of dual-language (Spanish/English) telephone interviewing for consumer research and public opinion polling. BRS is based in what the U.S. Census named the most bilingual city, El Paso, Texas. A native of Puerto Rico and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School of Communications, Suzanne has been doing Hispanic market research since the early 90’s and has also worked as educator, simultaneous interpreter, social worker, and journalist.
Sylvia Nieto-Vidal is Managing Partner of Operations at Multicultural Insights a certified minority, woman-owned full-service market research firm for multicultural and niche markets located in Miami, Florida. Multicultural Insights provides full-service qualitative and quantitative research for Hispanic, African American and other niche markets in the U.S. as well as throughout Latin America. Nieto-Vidal has designed, set-up, managed, overseen and conducted qualitative and quantitative research for over 17 years for Fortune 100 companies such as Pepsi-Cola, Cingular, SBC, Pfizer, Pizza Hut, Ford Motor Company, Colgate-Palmolive, and Radio Shack among others.
Juan Guillermo Tornoe is based in Austin, Texas and is Market Research Director for Wizard of Ads, Inc. Spearheading the Hispanic branch of the company, he is creator of Hispanic Trending, a Latino marketing and advertising Blog, which gives access to research, news, and commentaries on the Hispanic market. He has a degree in Pre-Med from the Universidad Francisco Marroquín and an MBA from ESEADE (Escuela Superior de Economía y Administración de Empresas), both in Guatemala.
Richard Velez is Director of Strategic Services for MASS Promotions, a leading Hispanic integrated marketing and strategic promotions company based in Miami. He helps develop strategies for clients to effectively touch Hispanics where they work, live, play, and shop. Richard is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY, where the first association of Latin American students (La Union Hispano Americana-1898) was ever founded in a U.S. university.
The Hispanic Marketing & Communication Association, HMCA, is a volunteer driven national nonprofit professional association dedicated to Hispanic marketing excellence. HMCA roundtables, seminars and conferences serve as forums to discuss interesting, timely issues, and encourage professional development. To learn more about HMCA and to sign up for complimentary copies of InterAcción, the HMCA newsletter, visit www.hmca.org
Suzanne Irizarry de Lopez and Juan Tornoe
