Online Hispanic Trends

Spanish-Language Content - A Tremendous Advocacy-Driving Opportunity

Pete Blackshaw, Executive VP of Neilsen Online Digital Strategic Services, wrote an excellent article in Advertising Age on the surprising lack of Spanish-language content on the Internet, "even for brands where Hispanics or Latinos dominate the buyer or emerging buyer set," as Pete says.

He mentions companies that do get it, like Wendys and Home Depot, and some of the big brands that have some Spanish-language content including Coke, Kraft, McDonalds and Pepsi. However, the content for these larger brands is not always easily accessible.   

Pete points out that winning with Hispanics and Latinos will require much more than just a Cinco de Mayo or Hispanic Heritage month event. It will require Spanish-language advertising and enabling in-language feedback and the use of new techniques, such as video, to better communicate key messages. 

With the quickly growing online audience and the fact that Hipanics are more brand loyal than non-Hispanic white consumers, Pete is right on target when he says that "What's most important is that we dignify all consumers with whom we have a loyalty or advocacy-driving opportunity."

Read full article on AdAge

Understand Values First and Vehicle Second

In an article in Media Post on branding for Hispanics, Leigh Benatar argues that a focus on values is more important than the particular vehicle you use to reach Hispanic consumers, and that marketing and communication messages need to support inherent Hispanic values.

Leigh references findings from the  Brand Keys annual Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, which assessed brand and purchasing values of 6,700 Hispanic customers, ages 21-59.

Some of the key findings from the assessment, as cited by Benatar in the article:

• Hispanics are 21% more loyal to brands that have a real "sense of family" about them.
• Hispanics are 7% more brand conscious than non-Hispanics.
• Hispanics are 9% more likely to regard the shopping process as a social experience. 

A key consideration that Leigh highlights is that "Hispanics don't just want to be reached, they want to be touched," and to do that marketers need to place more attention on first understanding their values and then worrying about the vehicles used to reach them. 

Source: Media Post

Great Potential for Multimedia Growth as Broadband Penetration Increases

In a presentation by Alex Banks of comScore at the TV 2.0 Summit in Sao Paolo, Banks shared recent comScore findings on the use of multimedia sites in Brazil. The data shows that use of multimedia sites, particularly video sites such as YouTube, is limited by slow download speeds. Despite these slow download speeds, Brazilians are still visiting these sites in large numbers and it is expected that, as broadband penetration increases, their use will rise considerably.

Read full article in MarketWatch

One Label Doesn't Cut It

Two really interesting points from an an article by David Montgomery of the Washington Post highlight the complexity of neatly categorizing Latinos.

Depending on who your asking and who is listening, Latinos may consider themselves similar or very  different. As David explains, "What Latinos like to tell themselves is how much they have in common -- even as they laugh at their differences. What Latinos like others to notice about them is how diverse they are -- and they consider it politically incorrect if not downright hostile for outsiders to lump them all together."

The article also talks about how language is sometimes used as a proxy for identity and the differing media models being used by SiTV and Univision. SiTV focused on the under 30 set, of which a good number are bilingual or favor English, whereas Univision continues to expand its network of Spanishy-language programming.

Jeff Valdez of SíTV points out that "The two media models aren't mutually exclusive," saying that  "about 25 percent of the Latino audience prefers Spanish, about 25 percent prefers English, and about 50 percent is bilingual. That means there's the same-size slice of pie -- 75 percent -- available for English and Spanish outlets.

Read the full article in the Washington Post.

Telemundo's new Digital Media and Emerging Business division

Recognizing both the growing importance of the Hispanic market and the explosion of digital media, Telemundo is creating a new Digital Media and Emerging Businesses division that will focus on delivering programming and content around the world on websites and mobile phones. Users will be able to access more shows, watch their favorite novelas (soap operas), and even suggest alternative plots to Telemundo producers.

Jose Cancela, of Hispanic USA, a Miami-based consulting firm, points out that over time local TV stations will be less and less important and “how you get content before somebody's eyeballs is going to be changing in the next few years.”  He adds that Telemundo's strategy is smart because this is where the market is headed.'

Peter Blacker, the head of head of Telemundo's new Digital Media, said that Telemundo is “pushing the envelope . . . to use this new technology not just to distribute but to engage our audience.'

Read the full article in the Miami Herald.

Heavy Hispanic Internet Usage Not Translating into Greater Ad Spending

According to Lisa Phillips of eMarketer in a new report entitled US Hispanic Media Usage, ""Hispanic consumers under the age of 35 are spending more time online than watching TV—and are often doing both at the same time."  Philips also points out that "Overall, Hispanics are heavy users of all digital media, embracing innovations more rapidly than non-Hispanic whites."

Phillips cites a study done by Terra and comScore that indicates that:

• 96% of Hispanic Internet users spend at least one hour online, compared with 91% who spend more than an hour watching TV; and
  

• 30% of respondents went online 13 or more hours a week, compared with 23% who watched the same amount of television.

However, advertisers continue to invest their dollars in more traditional media. Phillips suggests, though, that Hispanics will lead the "uptake of mobile Internet and video in the U.S." and that soon the savvy marketers will realize where they should be investing a greater portion of their budgets.

Source:

eMarketer