Online Hispanic Trends

Finding Dulcinea Developing a Spanish-Language Presence

The folks at Finding Dulcinea are busy creating a Spanish-language version of the website called Encontrando Dulcinea. 

Finding Dulcinea's tagline is the Librarian of the Internet and focuses on providing access to the most convincing and trustworthy sites on the Internet and organizing them in entertaining and easy to use Web Guides. 

The Spanish-language version of the site, www.encontrandodulcinea.com, offers articles and news reports on topics that are particularly relevant for readers within the Latino community.

Please contact Ulysses Garcia for more information -  ulysses.garcia@dulcineamedia.com

Multicultural Media for Multicultural America - March 10th, 2009

The 9th Annual Horowitz Forum: Multicultural Media for Multicultural America
will take place on March 10th, 2009 at the New York Hilton.

Join TV, multichannel, advertising & financial executives at this research-and-strategy driven event focusing on cross-platform programming, branding, and advertising for multicultural audiences...and get the newest data on Hispanic, Black, Asian, and White urban consumers and the market for broadband/mobile video!  Get some data from this study here: www.horowitzassociates.com/bcspr.html

Register now for discounted pricing:  Visit www.horowitzassociates.com/forum09.html for more information. To download a registration form, visit www.horowitzassociates.com/forum09registration.pdf.

Speaker list includes executives from Time Warner Cable, ESPN, NBC Universal, Winglatino, Uniworld, Yum! Brands, MIapogeo.com, Olympusat, and others...Hear industry experts discuss opportunities for America's young, multicultural, urban, and global audiences when it comes to:

• Evolving Platforms: Digital/multicast, VOD, HDTV, DVR, mobile...
• Shifting Audiences: America's multicultural youth, the next generation!
• Expanding Content Options: The newest and most compelling in-language and culturally relevant programming...
• Multimedia Branding and Advertising: How major media brands, ad agencies, and advertisers are taking advantage of cross-platform opportunities to stay relevant in a multicultural, multiplatform world.
• Plus, get a sneak peek at new content for Hispanic, Black, Asian, and urban audiences!
• And learn the best strategies for building your brand among everyone, everywhere, all the time.

EVENT DETAILS:  The Forum takes place on March 10th, 2009 at the Hilton New York, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, NYC. Registration and breakfast starts at 7am.  The event begins promptly at 8 am-12 noon.  This event is at the same location as the WICT NY/Multichannel News Wonder Women in Cable Luncheon.

New Program Helping Elderly Latinos Get Online

Generations on Line, a nonprofit group, is helping decrease the digital divide with its online software designed to help older Hispanic adults get online. 

The software uses "simple elder-friendly and culturally sensitive Spanish in a clear, uncluttered interface with familiar icons. Onscreen help pages guide users through basic applications, including free e-mail, searching, and links to useful information."

Kudos to IBM for helping fund the translation of this program for this underserved population.

For more information: www.generationsonline.org.

Source: PRNewswire

African-American and Hispanic Use of Mobile Video

As of the end of 2008, African-Americans (non-Hispanic) and Hispanics represent a disproportionate share of the mobile video audience, coming in at 14% and 24% of the audience as compared to 9% and 13% of all subscribers.

Source: ingThink.com

Web Access and Social Networking Growing Quickly in Latin America

A Google commissioned study by Pyramid Research shows that the number of Internet users in Latin American and Puerto Rico is growing quickly due to more affordable computers, greater access and use of broadband, and a growing interest in the use of social networking sites and applications.

Pyramid Research projects that the regional residential base would grow to 160 million in five years from the 2009 figure of 100 million.

Alexandre Hohagen, Google’s managing director for Latin America, says “A lot of people in Latin America use the Internet just to be part of a social network.”

Another study conducted by Comscore in the Fall of 2008 found that 8 out of 10 users in Latin America said that they used social networks, with the favorites being MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, Orkut and Sonico.

Source: eMarketer

Recent Research on Language Preferences for the Online Hispanic Community

A study conducted of a nationally representative sample of 513 Hispanics in the Fall of 2008 produced some useful findings on the Hispanic community's online language preferences.

Over half (55%) of the sample interviewed said that they preferred English online.  However, among the 18-34 age bracket, 39% said they preferred Spanish-language sites, with more women preferring Spanish-language sites (42%) than men (29%).

Source: IPSOS Omnibus Study

63% of U.S. Hispanics Online according to Ipsos

Research done by Ipsos indicates that 63% of Hispanics in the U.S. access the Internet at least once per month.

Key numbers reported include: 

• 84% of this group are reading online news
• 79% research products online
• 53% purchase products online at least once a month, with the age bracket of 35-55 being more likely to do so (62%)
• 58% are watching videos
• 54% uploading pictures
• 47% downloading music
• 40% maintaining their social networking profiles

Cynthia Pelayo, senior research manager at Ipsos, says “We know that millions of Hispanics are online, either at home or at work, and they are engaging in functions, often in higher numbers, than the general population.”

Source: Marketingcharts.com

Best Buy Targeting Hispanic Audience with Fervor Despite Economy

After having made a significant investment in creating a fully bilingual version of their website, Best Buy is pursuing the Hispanic market on multiple fronts.

During the holidays, Best Buy launched a series of campaigns on many of the major Spanish-language portals, including Univision, MSN Latino, Billboard en Español and Batanga, and ran an email marketing campaign to reach out to Latino technology enthusiasts.

Ana Grace, Hispanic Initiatives Site Manager, told Portada that they are currently planning a number of initiatives aimed at this growing audience, specifically focused on the Hispanic passion points of sports and entertainment.

Ana says in the Portada article “We are really proud of our role as market leader in being able to offer Hispanics and specifically Spanish preferring Hispanics an end to end robust Spanish language shopping experience across our online channel, phone channel and in our stores.”

Latinos tend to be more brand loyal than the general market and they over index in the use of many technologies, particularly mobile phones and applications. By investing in this market in difficult economic times, Best Buy is likely to go far in establishing a very strong competitive position with this segment.

See original Portada article