January 2007 - Global View Newsletter
BEYOND FIESTA FONTS & CHILI PEPPERS
There is an underserved $1 trillion market out there waiting and hoping for your product, your service, your company! Who is this market and how do you tap into it – with savvy creativity, careful understanding and an action plan to succeed.
The Hispanic population in the U.S. is booming. We see statistics in the newspaper, specials on TV and issues on the internet, so as business owners, sales managers and marketing directors, we need to look at this as a new and exciting opportunity to tap into a massive market with staggering purchasing power.
Statistics show that the U.S. Hispanic population of 41.3 million is second only to Mexico. Think about it… of all Hispanic countries in the world, the United States has the second largest Hispanic population… that’s HUGE. This group also has the highest purchasing power per capita of 8.5% in the Hispanic world and is expected to increase to 11% by 2010. (Statistics taken from the CIA World Fact Book.)
With these numbers, why isn’t there more effort to attract their dollar? Of the country’s top 671 advertisers who control approximately 80% of the total ad dollars - $56 billion, only $3 billion was spent on targeting the Hispanic population in 2003. That’s not to say it was even effective, savvy, careful marketing. With a purchasing power growing to 11%, the effective advertising directed to this market is sorely underserved!
It’s painfully obvious now that there is a lot of money burning a lot of holes in our neighbors’, co-workers’ and friends’ pockets, but how do we attract their attention to buy our product or service? Just as we do with any market. Take off your Anglo thinking cap and put on your Hispanic thinking cap - not your sombrero. One of the worst mistakes any advertiser can make is by assuming that if we ad a “Mexican Flare” like Fiesta Fonts and Chili Peppers, that we’ll attract all Hispanic Americans and they’ll flock to our product. WRONG! There is a much better way to target Hispanic American’s than Fiesta Fonts and Chili Peppers, so don’t make that mistake.
The buying habits of Hispanic Americans are centered around different impulses than non-Hispanic Americans. If you want to be effective, you must know what they want and why - the emotional factors behind it. The buying priorities are often centered around cultural customs like quinceañera, a customary party for a girl turning 15 that is almost equivalent to a wedding celebration, the importance of family and friends, the love of sports such as fútbol (soccer) as well as many other factors.
There are also a variety of different demographic groups as well. There are first generation immigrants, second-generation high-tech, savvy teenagers, middle-class white-collar workers and the list goes on and on. So, we not only need to carefully consider the buying habits of the community, but we need to look at the specific group as well and target each appropriately. For example, a 1st generation Mexican Immigrant in the United States may not understand the Americanized concept of “Health Insurance”, so when targeting this group, more explanation and clarification would need to be involved. Teenagers are high-tech and savvy. They buy great clothes, the latest technical gadgets, music and like to be targeted that way – with cool graphics, hot pictures, beautiful people and so on.
Taking a look at how this group buys should also be a huge factor in your plan. For example; Hispanics spend more time online than Non-Hispanics and are among the biggest online spenders on travel, consumer electronics and baby supplies.(USA Today) ADVO, Inc. found that Hispanic Americans spend 20 percent more per week dining out at casual/family, fast-food and pizza restaurants than the general market. Hispanics, especially acculturated Latinos-defined as having adapted to mainstream U.S. culture while maintaining the values of their native culture-also outspent non-Hispanics when it came to having food delivered at home or office, and are twice as likely to choose a restaurant based upon the availability or receipt of coupons.
After careful consideration of the market to target, get creative, be a part of the community in which you wish to sell. Word of mouth is one of the greatest marketing techniques among the Hispanic population. Sponsor a local soccer team by buying their jerseys. Get to know who the influential members of their community are. Focus on relationships and community rather than individualism.
Most of all, make sure whatever you do, you do it professionally. Remember, just by including Fiesta Fonts and Chili Peppers in your campaign you will not generate the results you are looking for. There is no better way to kill a campaign fast and lose time, money and credibility than careless communication whether in pictures, words or by other means!
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