Ø      The Hispanic population boomed 61% between 1990 and 2003 – exploding from 21.9 million to 35.3 million – making it the fastest-growing group in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Ø       It is projected that the Hispanic population will triple in size by 2050, reaching 24% of the total U.S. population, according to Strategy Research Corporation.

Ø      The Santiago Solutions Group reports that Hispanic purchasing power is expected to hit the $675 billion mark in 2003, $928 billion by 2007 and $1.2 trillion by 2010. 

Ø      The Selig Center states that the top ten states, as ranked by the rate of growth of Hispanic buying power over 1990-2002, are North Carolina (912%), Arkansas (778%), Georgia (711%), Tennessee (655%), Alabama (466%), South Carolina (463%), Nevada (443%), Minnesota (418%), Kentucky (415%), and Iowa (370%).  Georgia and North Carolina also rank ninth and eleventh in market size, making them two of the most attractive Hispanic markets in the nation.

Ø      The Selig Center also reports that in 2002 the ten states with the largest Hispanic markets by spending power were: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and New Mexico. 

Ø    According to Strategy Research Corporation, the top 10 markets by Hispanic population are:

Ø     The top areas where Hispanics spend more than non-Hispanics are: groceries, telephone services, furniture, mens’ and boys’ apparel, children’s clothing and footwear, according to a study conducted by the Selig Center.

Ø     Between 1990 and 2000 the Hispanic population more than tripled in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Ø     According to Hispanic Trends, the median age of the Hispanic population in 2000 is 25.9 versus 35.3 for the entire U.S. population.

Ø    Presently, more than one in six (17%) of all babies born in the U.S. will be born to a Hispanic mother and about one in seven Hispanics are over 50, according to Santiago Solutions Group.  

TRENDS IN HISPANIC ADVERTISING

Ø  The Hispanic advertising industry has been growing at an  average rate of 17 percent per year over the past five years.

Ø     While the average consumer receives 350 pieces of English-language direct mail per year, Hispanic consumers receive roughly 35 pieces – only one-tenth of what the average consumer received, according to Simmons Research data.

Ø   Scarborough Research reports that in 2002, 18 percent of Hispanics made a direct mail purchase.

Ø   72 percent of Hispanics say they open and read direct mail, 66 percent say they respond to it and 30 percent say they want to receive more of it, according to reports from Walters Media Group.  

Ø   96 percent of Hispanics use at least some Spanish at  home and 86 percent do so at work or school and two-thirds report that Spanish is more important now than five years ago, according to the 2002 Hispanic Monitor.

Ø   The 2002 Hispanic monitor reports that a majority (69 percent) of Hispanics get more information about a product when it is advertised in Spanish than when it’s advertised in English only.

Ø   Nielsen research reports that Hispanics are driving the overall growth of the country’s television audience with 18 percent of the viewers in the 18-34 age range.

Ø   Cheskin reports that two-thirds of Hispanics agree that it  is risky to buy a brand you are not familiar with – suggesting  that brand awareness is very important in this market.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: VAST CORPORATE UNDERSPENDING IN THE U.S. HISPANIC MARKET

According to the 2002 AHAA spring study:

 Ø   While Hispanics represent about 13 percent of the U.S.  Population in aggregate, America’s leading advertisers  allocated an average of 2.4 percent of their measured  media advertising resources to target Hispanics over the  past three years.

 Ø   At least, an 8% spending threshold is needed to be  effective in reaching the Hispanic market.

 Ø   The industries that are leaders in investing in marketing   to Hispanics are: food and beverage products, food   services, general merchandise, telecommunication,   personal care and insurance.

Ø   The laggards in investing in marketing to Hispanics are:  pharmaceuticals, U.S. government, auto industries,  travel/entertainment, software, computer makers,  securities/financial services and specialty retail.

THE RIGHT SPEND: SETTING YOUR BUDGETS TO BEST REACH THE U.S. HISPANIC MARKET

According to the 2002 AHAA fall study:

Ø   Over the next 5 years, continued demographics shifts will create even more pressure to fix past allocation shortfalls to appropriately tap the consumption of Hispanics.

Ø    Hispanic consumer demographics and purchase behavior for categories such as children’s OTC remedies, baby products, personal electronics and personal care, beauty and cosmetics, make it imperative that corporations allocate between 10-25 percent of their total national business and marketing resources to the Hispanic Spanish/Bilingual market.

 Ø  For categories such as fast food, apparel, home cleaning, grocery items, beer, non-alcoholic beverages, autos, home electronics, telecom, entertainment, travel, health information and armed services, corporations should allocate 7-13 percent of their total national marketing and business resources to the Hispanic Spanish/Bilingual market.

Ø  For categories such as financial investments, computers and insurance, corporations need to make substantial investment increases up to 7 percent in their total national marketing and business resources over current spending.

Ø In addition to looking at total national marketing and business resource allocation levels, corporations should make even greater resource allocations based on specific Hispanic population density and language preference in key Hispanic markets like New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Phoenix and Houston.  For example, beer manufacturers and wireless providers should be allocating 10% of their overall national marketing resources to Spanish/Bilingual Hispanics.  Meanwhile, they should allocate about one third of their Southern California resources and nearly half of their South Florida resources to reach Spanish/Bilingual Hispanics on a local basis.  

HISPANICS ARE ONLINE

Ø 11.1 million Hispanics are currently online and Hispanic consumers are spending more time online than the average non-Hispanic consumer – 9.5 hours per week at home, reports the first annual U.S. Hispanic Cyberstudy.

  Ø U.S. Hispanics and Technology Usage, 2003

Source: Winning Strategies for the New Latin Markets

HISPANIC MEDIA IS MASS MEDIA

Ø  Nielsen reports that half of Hispanic-American households are thought to prefer watching programs in Spanish.

Ø  40 percent of all Spanish-language TV viewers also regularly watch English-language TV, according to Interpublic.

Ø  On average Hispanics watch an average of 4 hours of television a day (2.5 hour in Spanish) and listen to the radio for 3 hours 11 minutes every day (2.10 hours in Spanish).  Over half (55%) subscribe to cable, 26% look at the newspaper daily and nearly half of Hispanics (42%) read regularly at least one national Hispanic-orientated publication, reports Cheskin.

Ø According to Hispanic Opinion Tracker 2001, each week 74 percent of Hispanics watch Spanish-language television, 82 percent watch English-language; 60 percent of Hispanics listen to Spanish-language television, 67 percent listen to English-language; 29 percent of Hispanics read Spanish-language newspapers, 67 percent read English-language; 53 percent of Hispanics read Spanish-language magazines, 63 percent read English-language.

Ø  During the fall 2000 TV season, the networks offered 31 programs featuring multiracial ensembles, the largest of any season in the past five years.  Among Hispanic viewers, the top-20 prime-time programs consist of a mixture of animation, NBC Thursday night offerings, and kid/teen-orientated programming, according to a TN Media report. 

Ø  In 2001, of the approximately 16,000 stories aired during the evening newscasts on ABC, CBS, NCB and CNN, only 99 (.62 percent) were about Latinos, reports that National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

GENERATION  Ñ

According to studies by Nielsen Media Research:

Ø  One in five teens in the United States (20%) is of Hispanic descent.  Between 1993 and 2001, the Hispanic teen population grew 30%, while the non-Hispanic population grew 8% during the same period. 

 Ø  By 2020, the Hispanic teen population is expected to grow 62% compared to 10% growth in the number of teens overall.

Ø  Hispanic teens hold $19 billion in spending power; most of this is spent on clothing and jewelry.  Other areas to which Hispanic teens allocate this money include music and entertainment, food and snacks, savings, gas and automobile expenses, and gaming and hobbies. 

Ø  The average Hispanic teen spends $320 a month, 4% more than the average non-Hispanic teen spends.  Shopping malls (84%), supermarkets (80%), and discount chains (78%) are the most popular retail destinations for teens of Hispanic descent.

Important Marketing Considerations

Applying the following marketing tenets is vital to fostering successful relationships with the growing Hispanic segment.

• Transcreation not translation—never translate.
• Latinos love to be courted.
• With marketing materials, use in-culture visuals and models.
• Ensure Spanish language infrastructure support is in place.
• Be sensitive to cultural nuances—learn about your target audience.
• Explore grass roots efforts; Get involved in the community.
• Relative product lifecycle stage is very important.
• Invest early on--brand loyalty is strong among Hispanics.
• Assess what stage your audience is in the acculturation process.
• Be respectful, sensitive and polite in marketing to Hispanics.

Direct Response

• Pieces of direct mail received:
  - 300/year - non-Hispanic, English only
  - 20/year - Hispanic, Spanish language
• More than 70% make it a habit to read direct mail
• Hispanics are eager for information
  - Importantly, the nature and type of information is likely very different vs. the general market.
• Mail open rate and readership are high for Spanish language
  - 33% are interested in receiving more
• Response rates can be 25% to 100% greater
• 12.4 million U.S. Hispanics accessed the Internet from home, work or school in January 2003.
• U.S. immigrants whose first language is Spanish will be responsive to mail in Spanish
• Second generation Hispanics
  - Speak both English and Spanish
  - May feel more comfortable in one of the two languages
  - Will be responsive to mail in both languages
• Hispanics not educated in the U.S., but bilingual and bicultural, will be more responsive to Spanish direct mail

Source: The National Underwriter Company, SRI Consulting Business Intelligence, StrategyResearch.com, U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanic Magazine