Posted by Elena del Valle on February 16, 2011
Improving direct response ROI with value and cultural relevance
By Barry Gilbert
Vice president, marketing
PowerDirect Marketing
Barry Gilbert, vice president, PowerDirect Marketing
Photo: PowerDirect Marketing
According to U.S. Census data there were an estimated 46.9 million Hispanics in the U.S. in 2008, accounting for 15 percent of the nation’s total population and making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority. Not only is this segment increasing in number, with 2010 Census figures estimated to hit the 50 million mark, Hispanic audiences are also growing significantly in wealth and economic clout. Smart marketers are recognizing this explosive potential and turning to Hispanics for brand growth opportunities.
Sounds promising, but rest assured the Hispanic market is not a heterogeneous one that can easily be tapped. The Spanish language is a common thread, but audiences vary based on acculturation levels, language preference, country of origin, and more. Cultural relevance matters and it’s in the details such as messaging, language and creative.
Click here to read the entire article U.S. Hispanics open to front door marketing
Posted by Elena del Valle on February 2, 2011
By Laura Scheiber
Co-author Unequal Fortunes
Laura Scheiber, co-author, Unequal Fortunes
Arthur Levine and I recently wrote a book called Unequal Fortunes: Snapshots from the South Bronx (see Fellowship foundation leader, assistant examine challenges faced by South Bronx youth). It focuses on three Latino teenagers coming of age in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the nation. For ten years Carlos, Leo, and Juan Carlos shared their worlds with us. It was a scary place where kids went to more funerals than graduation parties. Drug dealers were on every corner and gangs ruled the streets. Kids were forced to go to local schools with inadequate resources, under-qualified teachers, and a high staff turnover rate. The outcome was not surprising: half of the children in the neighborhood would never graduate from high school. By 16 years old, Carlos, Leo and Juan Carlos could count on one hand the number of friends who graduated from high school. Their other friends were either working minimum-wage jobs, unemployed, in jail, or dead.
Click here to read the entire article Make the world a better place for you and your family
Posted by Elena del Valle on December 1, 2010
By Juana M. Véliz
Managing director, Hispanic Practice, Lagrant Communications
Juana M. Véliz, managing director, Hispanic Practice, Lagrant Communications
Photo: Lagrant Communications
New data from the Yankelovich Monitor Multicultural Study 2010 reported what we, as multicultural communicators and marketers, have experienced: Hispanic and African American consumers are more willing to purchase from, and be loyal to, companies actively engaged in their communities to make a positive change.
While one-third of Hispanic and African American consumers said they almost always choose brands because they come from companies that help the causes they support, just one in five non-Hispanic Whites agreed to do the same.
Accordingly, in order to build long-lasting relationships and earn the loyalty of Hispanics/African American consumers, it’s essential to include a social component into our strategies that shows understanding and commitment to their needs.
Click here to read the entire article CSR: A door to social and organizational growth
Posted by Elena del Valle on November 17, 2010
By Dianna L. Stone, Ph.D., professor of Management
Joy Row, MBA, research project manager
Teresa Svacina, M.S., and Julio Canedo-Soto, MBA doctoral students
University of Texas at San Antonio
Dianna L. Stone, Ph.D., Joy Row, MBA, Teresa Svacina, M.S. and Julio Canedo-Soto, MBA
There has been a dramatic rise in the number of Hispanic owned businesses in the U. S. One reason for this is that entrepreneurship often provides a springboard for the economic advancement and social integration of minorities. Despite this growth, little research has focused on the success of Hispanic owned businesses. Studies have shown that minorities are more likely to start small businesses, but are less likely to be successful than Anglos1.
Although there may be a number of reasons for this, researchers have argued that the lack financial skills may be a key source of the problem. Results of other research shows that Hispanics2, and Hispanic business owners3 may have limited knowledge of financial planning. Thus, the primary purpose of this article is to relay results of some recent research on Hispanic business owners’ knowledge and use of financial planning.
Click here to read the entire article Hispanic business owners are more knowledgeable about financial planning than previous research suggests
Posted by Elena del Valle on November 10, 2010
By Larry Thomas
Chief Executive Officer
Latergy, LLC
Larry Thomas, chief executive officer, Latergy, LLC
Photo: Larry Thomas
Rather than fill this space with statistics about the growing population of U.S. Hispanics with Internet access, watching online video and using social media, I’ll simply mention that there are:
– 500 million active Facebook users spending 500 billion minutes per month
– 50 million Tweets per day on Twitter
– 2 billion videos watched daily in the U.S. alone
The two fastest growing components of the Internet, social media and online video, are fueling each other’s growth. According to a recent study about online video usage and drivers, referral traffic from Facebook and Twitter lead to the longest video viewing times and it’s growing faster than traditional search engines as a source of video views. At current rates, Facebook will surpass Yahoo! within the year to be second only to Google in referral traffic to online video content for media companies. For a deeper look at what I call Social Video please read my recent column in Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Do, BP Takes U.S. For a Slick Social Video Ride — Viral Lessons for Paranoid PR Pros.
Click here to read the entire article Social Video and Webcast Communication
Posted by Elena del Valle on November 3, 2010
By Mark Sneider
Managing partner, RSW US
Mark Sneider, managing partner, RSW US
Photo: RSW US
In this brave new and ever-changing world of the marketing of marketing services, managing your new business program the same old way simply isn’t going to be sustainable. You have to be more aggressive and you have to get more of your agency’s team to embrace the spirit of new business.
In our most recent survey on agency new business (rswus.com/surveys/index.php – requires sign up), marketing services executives state that the top reason why they find it more difficult to obtain new business this year, relative to years past is because it is much more challenging to break through to prospects.
The real eye opener is the fact that this year 63 percent stated that this was a top reason – compared to only 46 percent in 2009 and 44 percent in 2008.
Click here to read the entire article It Takes A Village
Posted by Elena del Valle on October 27, 2010
How Issues Management and Professional Expertise Can Work for Your PR
By Ronn Torossian
President and CEO, 5WPR
Ronn Torossian, president and CEO, 5WPR
Photo: 5WPR
Yesterday we were informed that the banking industry has regained profits, bringing it close to its pre-crisis levels. An analysis of the industry’s rebound revealed that the bigger lenders that assisted the still-struggling public performed better than those institutions that kept funds to themselves. With that in mind, I am well aware of the substantial role PR played in helping large banks – some of whom we envied for their success – reach this point.
But, this was not a PR tactic that started over night. Analysis and insight show that financial institutions have begun to seriously adopt ‘issues management’ as an effective and required tool that allows companies to reposition their brand in the new business environment. This rebound did not happen merely by chance, but with the help of PR and repositioning their company in a positive light.
Click here to read the entire article PR No Longer a Dirty Word in Corporate Lexicon
Posted by Elena del Valle on October 20, 2010
and what you need to know before hiring your next one
By Art Montes De Oca
Owner, Montes De Oca Photography
Photographer Art Montes De Oca
Photo: Montes De Oca Photography
How do I know?
My first language is Spanish. My second is photography. Over the decades my career has spanned, I’ve photographed many award winning ads, brochures, and annual reports. Along the way I’ve learned a thing or two, and I’d like to share with you some of the secrets that every good photographer knows. These insights should end up saving you time and money in your marketing and advertising budget.
What do I know?
From the camera of a good photographer, it a rich medium filled with nuance, symbolism, and abstract concepts that can deliver a variety of meaningful messages. A good photographer uses the subject matter to convey a larger message to the viewer and to the marketplace.
Photography is not a universal language. The same picture can mean different things to different people. For instance, shooting for the Hispanic consumer marketplace means more than styling a photo with primary rather than tertiary colors. If your photographer doesn’t understand this, you have the wrong photographer. You need someone who didn’t learn Spanish in high school. Your photographer needs to know the difference between pan dulce and a donut.
Click here to read the entire article What Every Photographer Knows
Posted by Elena del Valle on October 13, 2010
By Romano Richetta
Senior Vice President, Participant Services, TIAA-CREF
Romano Richetta, senior vice president, Participant Services, TIAA-CREF
Photo: TIAA-CREF
Baby Boomers, move over! Within the next 40 to 50 years, a very large number of Americans entering retirement will be Hispanic.1
Hispanics are younger than the general U.S. population; today less than 6 percent of U.S. Latinos are in retirement age less than half the percentage for non-Hispanic whites.2
Unfortunately, many Hispanics will not be prepared financially for retirement.
An October 2009 report of the Hispanic Institute and the Americans for Secure Retirement coalition found that only 25 percent of Hispanics are covered by employer-sponsored retirement plans, compared to 42 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 40 percent of African-Americans. When they reach retirement age, Hispanics often find that their savings do not stretch far enough; on average, Hispanics spend more than half of their retirement income (54 percent) on food and housing, while non-Hispanic white retirees spend just 11.4 percent of retirement income on these items, the report states.
Click here to read the entire article Making Retirement Planning Household Words for U.S. Hispanics, Latinos
Posted by Elena del Valle on October 6, 2010
Part six of a series
By Hilda Luisa Díaz-Perera
Hilda Luisa Díaz-Perera
Interestingly enough, as I was doing research for this piece, I came across several articles written by Cuban researchers living in Cuba that bemoan the fact that younger generations of Cubans raised in the island were not interested in the guayabera, did not wear it and considered it attire only for older men. Coincidentally, then, as the guayabera was becoming more popular among the younger Cuban generations that went into exile, the opposite was true in Cuba, where the use of the guayabera waned, partly because with the revolution, it somehow became tied to the government’s definition of corrupt politics and politicians, and the so-called “decadent” way of life of pre-Castro Cuba.
Probably a better reason is that as the Cuban revolution implemented its communist economic policies, which included the taking over of all of the means of production and distribution, such as the textile industry and all of the existing department stores, the country became immersed in years of scarcity and dearth during which very basic materials like cloth and thread to make guayaberas, were not readily available. Another reason very prevalent in the late 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, probably still valid today, helps explain this rejection of the guayabera among other Cuban patriotic symbols, especially that of national hero José Martí: unhappily, it was probably the only way that the Cuban youth, trapped by a Marxist system, as many believed they were, could quietly reject a revolution which insisted on ramming political indoctrination down their throats disguised as patriotism.
Click here to read parts one through four of La Guayabera
