Online Hispanic Trends

Change.gov moves to Whitehouse.gov and includes an En Español Section

Although the En Español section of the new www.whitehouse.gov site doesn't have much content yet, just a couple of biographies on the new executive team, it is interesting to see the administration is taking a step foward in communicating with this growing demographic and increasingly influential segment of the US population.

Many in the marketing industry might point out that by creating a Spanish-language site the administration is missing out on connecting with the large English-dominant Hispanic segment, but spending large amounts of money to create a culturally relevant, bilingual site might not have been politically acceptable. 

I sincerely hope, though, that the Obama administration will apply many of their innovative Internet communication tools and techniques that they have applied so well over the past few years to reach out to the online Latino community. 

 

African Americans and Hispanics More Likely than Whites to Have a Social Profile

Two interesting survey findings from a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey:

• Whites are less likely than African-Americans or Hispanics to have a social network profile; and

• 31% of online white adults have a social network profile, compared with 43% of African-Americans and 48% of Hispanics...

Source: Washington AFP

What's the Best Approach for Creating Websites for the Online Hispanic Market?

A completely unique site or a parallel version of your general market site?  Or a completely different approach?

I imagine that the answer from many experts on this topic is going to be "It depends..." but I wanted to throw this topic out there for discussion and get feedback from the experts and anyonline Hispanic users that want to share their opinions, so please feel free to respond with your thoughts and ideas.

Prior to focusing my energies on Bixal Solutions, I had the opportunity to work on Sprint Nextel's Hispanic site where the approach was to essentially create a parallel Spanish version of Sprint's English site from start to finish. Sprint highlights certain phones and offers that are more relevant to the  market, but for the most part the Spanish-language site runs in parallel with the English experience throughout the browsing and shopping experience.  Sprints talented HispaniceCommerce group take English site updates and both translate and transcreate as necessary to produce a Spanish-language site for the U.S. Hispanic market.

Kraft Foods, in contrast, has opted for another approach, which I suspect might be more effective based on my understanding of theonline Hispanic market. Kraft has developed a separate fully bilingual site specifically focused on content and recipes that are relevant to the Hispanic / Latino audience, essentially creating a bilingual culturally-relevant experience.

Being that I don't have access to the data on site traffic and revenues, I can't validate my conclusions though and that's why I'm writing this blog spot / question.

I am sure there are a variety of reasons for opting for either approach and that there are many other approaches being used.  I am sure though that the best approach should be based on a strong understanding of your specific audience.

I am very interested in getting feedback from those who have data, insights and/or opinions to share on this particular topic, including my dear colleagues at Sprint, and am hoping that this feedback will be useful to all.

Boy Scouts Targeting the Latino Community to Ensure the Organization’s Relevance in the Future

As part of their effort to increase their Latino numbers, the Boy Scouts has launched a million dollar pilot program to target boys and adults in six U.S. areas. Currently only three of every 100 Scouts are Latino.

The campaign approach will be to get Latino parents to see Scouting as “something that aligns with their hopes and dreams for their kids." and will involved radio commercials, public service announcements and messages on such social networking websites as Facebook.

Additional campaign measures include:

• Hiring more Latino staff to mirror the community they want to serve and facilitate recruitment efforts. The Boy Scouts have set a goal for doing recruiting bilingual and bicultural professionals by its 304 local councils across the U.S. Currently less than 10% are bilingual and bicultural.
• Providing access to more Spanish materials, including the Cub Scouts’ Wolf Handbook
• Recruiting high-profile Latinos to server on local boards
• Creating a Scouting and Soccer program to connect Scouting to the already very popular sport in the Latino community

Some Latinos “see such groups as an indulgence of the well-to-do in their home countries” and are uncomfortable with the official looking uniforms and complex applications that require social security numbers.

John Richers, the director of Fresno's Boy Scout council, says "It can't be all Norman Rockwell Caucasian guys like me," and hopes that “Scouting tomorrow looks more like Marcos Nava than John Richers. He adds that “We have to make sure we still have relevance in the new America, if you will."

"The vast majority can honestly say their grandfathers, fathers and uncles were not in Scouting as youths," says a fact sheet from the Scouts' marketing division. "This is an unfortunate reality when one takes into account that Hispanic Americans/Latinos are among the most 'brand loyal' consumers in this country."

Read full article in the Los Angeles Times