By Mary Beth McCabe
Mailed 2005-06-07
Not long ago, the Hispanic voting bloc was referred to as America’s "sleeping giant" because of its potentially enormous ability to swing an election. Candidates paid attention to the Hispanic voter, but not quite as much as they should have because, at the time, this group was not voting as regularly as the Anglo voters were. All that has changed. In every political campaign today, we see candidates actively courting the Hispanic vote, appearing at forums hosted by Hispanic groups and touting their platforms on issues that concern Hispanic voters. Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin was even asked to shake his bon bon at President George W. Bush’s Inaugural Ball. No one mistakes the Hispanic-voting bloc as a sleeping giant anymore. Inarguably, it is just a giant.
Sales and marketing campaigns are similar to political campaigns. Rather that voting for a candidate in a political election, sales and marketing campaigns aim to influence shoppers to "vote" for their products and services with spending dollars. While political campaigns have realized the enormous impact of Hispanic Marketing, the business community is still a few years behind the curve.
The Hispanic market represents 12 percent of the United States population, yet only one percent of all media dollars are directed to Spanish language media, according to Adweek. Businesses that fail to market their products and services to the Hispanic market are missing a tremendous economic opportunity. The growing Hispanic population has more discretionary income than ever before. Those who do not market to this population have little chance of influencing Hispanic shoppers to spend their money on their products and services.
There are many reasons that businesses need to market to the Hispanic community. First, it is one of the fastest-growing segments of our society. In a few short years, the Hispanic population will be the majority in California. The number of Hispanic teens will increase by 25 percent over the next 10 years - much faster than the general population, according to Starcom. Also, Hispanic people are far more tuned in to media than non-Hispanics. Hispanics watch more television as a family than the general population. They are 25 percent more likely to be listening to the radio at any given time, according to Katz Research.
What does that mean to business? More economic opportunities. Let’s face it, advertising works. That’s why every major company in the United States invests millions of dollars each year to reach its target audience. Some consumers like to believe they are uninfluenced by advertising, but the reality is that the more a company invests in advertising, the greater market share it enjoys. Case in point: Bon Ami cleanser. Have you ever heard of this cleanser? Most people today don’t remember Bon Ami, but at one point it was the number one selling cleanser in the United States. What happened? They stopped advertising. Now people are far more familiar with the squeaky clean you get from Ajax, the lemon fresh scent of Pledge and the mirror image of oneself he or she can see after washing dishes with Cascade.
One of the most effective newer media markets for businesses that want to reach the Hispanic shopper is the Internet. Much of the time, they are shopping. According to Business Week, Latinos were more likely to make their Christmas purchases on-line because it is more convenient for large families to shop on the Internet. Still, traditional media such as television, radio, events and print media are highly effective at reaching Hispanics.
The Hispanic market is growing in size and affluence. It is time for the business community to follow in the footsteps of its political counterpart, and gear more of its sales and advertising dollars towards Hispanic Marketing.
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