Hispanic Agencies: It's time to invest

With the US Census in full swing - Hispanic media and marketing agencies are salivating at the potential boondoggle of new clients and a surge in spending from existing players. Yet, I ask myself: is the Hispanic market resting on its laurels? What innovations have been made in the past decade?

The days of saying, "trust us, we are experts," is over. The industry needs to invest in tools. Here are three that the industry desperately needs:

1) Multidimensional segmentation w/ overlay of acculturation
We need to stop treating the US Hispanic market like one big segment. We are all different - just like the general market. We need to leverage those differences and customize messages to the "right" audience. We also need to understand how acculturation impacts Hispanics interaction with different categories. What role then does language play in this mix and how can we use different channels (both Hispanic-targeted and general market placements) to reach this more qualified audience.

2) Channel-Neutral Planning Tools
If I see one more media plan with 100% TV - I'm going to shoot myself. The general market multicultural "experts" are the biggest offenders, but there are several Hispanic agencies that do the same. There is this thing called the internet and Hispanics are totally flocking to it. Crazy idea - perhaps you should include it in your next channel mix? Think about it. A channel neutral tool would help justify these investments if it is properly calibrated with actual data.

3) Culture-O-Meter
This one is related to #1. We constantly talk about the need for "cultural relevance" in order to effectively reach the US Hispanic market. But, we all know that there are cultural insights and then there are just bad stereotypes. Shy away from the latter. Cultural insights should represent how cultural heritage impacts how a person interacts with a specific category. But, all too often - we let clients bully us into a sombrero or a "upbeat" salsa rhythm. Develop a qualitative tool that demonstrates how culture impacts their business. Then leverage that nuance in communications....but spare us the sombrero unless of course you are selling sombreros.

I look forward to seeing how the industry evolves - hoping that it starts investing in its future before the general market agencies do.

Hispanic Behavioral Targeting

As the Hispanic online audience has grown to over 20 million, so too have the methods for reaching them. The level of sophistication for behavioral targeting increased rapidly over the years.

Today, several networks, including AOL’s Platform-A, have introduced several options for advertisers to reach Hispanics via content type, language and geotargeting. Not to mention, there are ways for these ad networks to get as granular as identifying purchase intent for various categories like auto or finance.

While certainly this is a positive for advertisers who want to avoid wasteful, untargeted investments, what about those who are being targeted? Many of us online go about our business without giving much thought to the recording of our actions online by cookies. Yet, the more one sits to think about the level of data being recorded about our activites, it becomes a bit scary.

On one side of the debate, you could argue that this recorded information will make our lives easier. We'll have an online experience that is more customized, personalized to our interests and needs. On the other side, you could argue that big brother watching over us is nothing short of a police state.

As the law struggles to catch up to the realities of today's technology and the promise of more advanced methods tomorrow, how will the world's governments address the growing concern over consumer privacy?

Hispanic Online Banking

Many are surprised to discover that Hispanics participate in online banking. Comscore reports that nearly half (47 percent) of Hispanics looked up bank account balances online. And 12 percent paid their bills online, as opposed to 5 percent of non-Hispanics.

Despite these strong numbers, Latino banking activity still has some growing to do. The challenge: according to Simmons, 52% of Hispanics don't have any bank account at all. On the good side, banks can expect $200 billion in new business over the next few years and Hispanics have the least amount of debt of any ethnicity. However, on the negative side, Hispanics are not fully realizing their financial potential and building their credit history. This impedes their ability to secure better financing on homes and new cars in the future.

Several banks and MasterCard have engaged Latinos for years via financial education campaigns to reduce the number of the unbanked. Prepaid cards have recently been introduced as a stepping stone to building credit history. Similar to prepaid phone cards, a concept that Hispanics are intimately familiar with, is a great way to teach them about the product benefits. However, these efforts have been spotty and certainly have not had the same level of push as other initiatives.

Banks should take note, a financial sleeping giant is starting to wake up. Perhaps more aggressive courting of this key demographic can help pull the industry out of its slump?

Burger King Faces Ethical Dilemma

Burger King is facing an ethical dilemma as they suffer under a firestorm brought on by millions of Mexicans across the globe. The web played a major role in helping to bring to light an ad campaign running in the UK and Spain. The ad and accompanying print work (see above) are for the new Texican Whopper - a fushion of Texas angus beef and Mexican spices, get it?

The advertisements depict Mexicans in a negative light - referring to the barely 5 foot tall, luchador mask wearing Mexican character as "El Cachito" (the little morsel). While the TV spot doesn't include the Mexican flag's eagle, the accompanying print work does. This is concerning as Mexican law strictly forbids its desicration in any way.



Burger King and their agency, Crispin, Porter & Bogusky, are now in an ethical quandary (and business one). Do they continue to push ahead driven by creative freedom or do they respect the desire of millions of Mexicans to have this poor interpretation stricken from the public's view?

Spurred on by the Mexican Ambassador to Spain, Jorge Zermeño, it seems that Burger King is bowing to pressure and is planning to pull the work. It may not be because they see the light, but rather, understand the importance of Mexicans to their business. The US Hispanic market is a lucrative one and Mexico is arguably their second largest after the US. Ethical or not, Burger King understands that not reacting quickly in today's web based world, can really hurt the bottom line.